TV3 winning in the race to the bottom of the barrell

THERE IS a conspiracy afoot, but you don't have to be odd to believe this one.

New Zealand "free" television is closing down and they're not going out with a half-price sale.

Perhaps the lease is due for renewal, or maybe the big cheeses have grown tired of looking for new ways to fool the viewing public, but we know they are preparing to close down because they are deliberately trying to make us hit the "off" switch.

It is easy enough: just stop making or buying good quality programmes in favour of cheap and nasty franchises and "reality" shows that appeal only to the sub-human.

TV3 bosses have proven to be particularly adept at the process with their termination of Campbell Live, filling the valuable timeslot with an NZ version of a very bad British reality franchise, Come Dine With Me. Comedian Guy Williams will front the show, earning him some online vitriol from unhappy viewers. It's not his fault, folks - he has to earn a living, too.

It is everywhere. Bad cooking shows, mostly imported; franchise copies of failed overseas reality shows; cop dramas and situation comedies from the bargain basement at Walmart and entire shows based on low resolution YouTube clips from anywhere that doesn't charge a copywrite fee.

All designed to make the once loyal viewer look for something else to do - or, if they have the technology, scour the world via computer for something more resembling entertainment.

This is not a whinge, it is a forecast - television, including the state-owned channels, is disappearing up its own cathode ray tube, taking viewers to a new dimension of rubbish and boredom. Once there, they will be enticed into paying for access to programmes that, again, don't measure up to the trailers and advertising.

Fancy a good book, anyone?