Powerpoint: Let’s do the Time Warp again

By EWAN MCDONALD

Somewhere — in a carton in the garage, along with the Chase shares and the Lifetime Driver's Licence — is an old Post Office Savings Bank book. One of those orange ones with a pataka on the front, used to come in a brown envelope, from the school banking service. When NZ Post (re)opens its bank I'll cash it in. The 3s 6d might come in handy.

Perhaps it's penance for the years since Roger Douglas' bold experiment but much of New Zealand seems to want to go back to the future. Remember Top Half? Regional news programme, used to come on after the Network News at 6.30 every weeknight. The presenters were a couple named John Hawkesby and Judy Bailey. Wonder what happened to them?

Seems Television New Zealand is thinking about bringing back those local news and magazine shows as one way to meet the Government's demand for greater emphasis on public service broadcasting. Word is that they might screen at 5 pm, replacing Susan Wood's Today Live chat show. If nothing else that would certainly improve the rush-hour traffic flow around its look-at-me
studio in central Auckland.

Both TVNZ chairman Ross Armstrong (cautiously) and Broadcasting Minister Marion Hobbs (warmly) have welcomed the idea, while TVNZ spokesman Liam Jeory has been quick to point out there is no talk of returning to regional networks, which went off the air in June 1997. Don't mention the words "Horizon Pacific" or "$900,000 a month down the toilet" anywhere near a TVNZ executive whose contract dates from those days.

Reviving regional news bulletins is an attractive move for a company that many New Zealanders feel has removed itself from the community in its ratings-driven recent past. How better to identify itself with the Kiwi heartland when it has lost ownership of some of the strongest pillars of our self-image? Don't mention rugby, cricket or league anywhere near a TVNZ executive whose contract includes the word "sports."

And this idea is bound to be popular with their political mistresses. In a country which has only 3.5 million people to do interesting things like play the saw like a violin, regional news bulletins will have to fill their time with A&P shows and kindergarten fundraisers. Guess who's going to be queuing to open those when they know there'll be a Top Half or The Mainland Touch camera on the scene?

Attractive, also, to the network's advertising department. The country's thriving provincial newspapers scoop a good deal of revenue from cities like Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier-Hastings and their surrounding districts. TVNZ, which has limited provincial advertising, would have a vehicle to expand into more clearly targeted markets.

If this idea does get on the ground, where would the shows be based? The myth of "the four main centres" had been exploded before Top Half, Today Tonight, The Mainland Touch and The South Tonight went off air: Hamilton and the Waikato were making a strong case to host their own show. The country's fourth-largest centre had its own studio in those days. Given population trends the Waikato-Bay of Plenty could easily sustain a regional news programme with associated local advertising. Other areas could, too.

One of the strongest arguments in favour of TVNZ resuscitating regional news is that it might improve the quality of the network bulletins. Only a few weeks ago TV One should have been embarrassed by the Qantas Media Awards. In what is essentially a two-channel race, 3 News and 3's Nightline were the finalists in the Best News Programme, the premier honour. Where was One Network News?

With far less resources, Prime Television
runs bulletins out of Hamilton and Christchurch and consistently picks up journalism awards, often for younger staff.

So, is returning to regional news programmes the future of New Zealand TV? Let me think about that while I put the milk bottles out.