I had thought twice about commenting over at the New Zealand edition of Throng when my departure from Good Morning was noted, and my rather grim opinion of TVNZ reported. Quite fairly, I might add. But it was nice to get some positive comments from viewers after I wrote my bit, especially intelligent ones such as Sarah, who wrote about the fragmentation of audiences and the nature of bloggers.
   Below is an excerpt of my reply to Sarah, which has some relevance here. The full reply is at Throng.

You are right that it is perfectly natural for a blogger to go online post-show, or even pre-show to get some opinions to share—what TVNZ never realized was that this worked in their favour and, really, the negative posts I made about the show were very, very few during my tenure. To disallow mentions of my work was one thing, but a non-profit blog that usually promoted the show? …
   It was a case of over-promise, under-deliver.
   The networks, or, indeed, any major old-media organization, have not caught on to the fact that the audience has fragmented—I agree with you fully. In such cases, there should be a strategy to create greater unity with the audience, not pissing off the talent or generating rifts. These ideas have been around relationship-marketing academics for well over a generation—which places some of TVNZ’s strategists’ knowledge somewhere in a drug-hazed 1960s where Peter Sinclair is still boogying to the Chicks in black and white. Networks should welcome bloggers who have connections to their shows, putting themselves as accessible, normal human beings who work with the audience. Indeed, we should be accessible, especially in a tiny country, and we should be discussing these issues on Throng and elsewhere.
   Right now, I only see al-Jazeera embracing blogs as a major part of its programming.

   What can I say? I like being the antithesis of the TV wanker snob. Posted by Jack Yan, 11:55  permalink

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