Radio/Talkback
Your comments on TV and radio
LOTTO TIME
As the Lotto draw on Saturdays is set at 8.00pm, why is it not possible for TVNZ 1 to have a set time for the Wednesday draw? It seems to be at quite random times on Wednesdays. That time could also be listed in the Listener.
WE King (Auckland)
TVNZ responds: Wednesday Lotto plays at the start of the 8.20pm commercial break, and although the exact time will differ slightly based on programme length, it will always be between 8.15-8.25pm. We’ll work with our scheduling team to get the exact time in the electronic programme guide, but it will miss the Listener listings as they’re printed too far ahead.
ALL DOWNHILL
I can’t believe the decline of television. There are no programmes worth watching any more. My husband and I have returned to the video shop. All we watch on TV now is the news and The AM Show. Coast New Zealand was wonderful and the thriller The Missing was well done. We need more such programmes, not reality shows and dumbing-down garbage. Joanne Hunter (Masterton)
LEAGUE OF OUR OWN
In a similar vein to the question as to why rugby games start at 7.35pm, not 7.30pm ( Talkback, June 24), my request is on behalf of all those who start work at 6am or thereabouts, as I do.
Why can’t the rugby league grand final be played on a Saturday night, not on Sunday, so we can view it live and not have to avoid radio sports and newspapers all day on Monday if we plan to watch it after work? It would not clash with the AFL grand final, which is played in the afternoon to a different audience.
If ever the Warriors get to the NRL grand final, many people here would welcome the rescheduling. Murray Hunter (Titirangi, Auckland)
CARDS FALL
My wife and I have enjoyed the US political drama House of Cards, but why is the fifth season only on Netflix and not on a free-to-air channel as it had been for all previous seasons? Brian Collins (Aro Valley, Wellington) Talkback responds: House of Cards was Netflix’s first commissioned series and screened exclusively on that platform in the US. However, before Netflix launched here in 2015, the first two seasons screened on TV3 (as it was then). In 2016, Netflix sorted out any remaining rights issues and made all seasons available on its platform.
PRIME HITS SPOT
Dear Prime, re Human Planet: awesome. Thank you. More, please. DL Calder (New Plymouth)
SAY WHAT?
My husband and I keenly followed all five screenings of What Next? (TVNZ 1). We enjoyed the laid-back Kiwi presenters, Nigel Latta and John Campbell, and were very impressed with the panel of futurists. There are a number of major challenges facing our planet that are very worrying. These programmes addressed issues that face
New Zealanders today and gave some ways forward and hope for the future. Trish and Martin Rossiter (Waikanae) I watched the What Next? series with interest but was somewhat disconcerted to hear Nigel Latta make a throwaway remark about learning to knit at age 65.
I would like him to know that many older people do not sit around being bored. They are too busy learning new things and making themselves useful. I believe that if all volunteering were to stop tomorrow, many of the things we take for granted would grind to a halt. There is life after paid employment ceases. Peg Cummins (Tauranga) I followed What Next? and at the conclusion felt less than satisfied. Analysis was thin, and the panel of futurists articulated little more than a rosy utopian world view.
Choosing the programme’s plan B was all very well, but the public voters who responded were self-selected and could hardly represent a true cross section of society. Further, the elephant in the room was not mentioned.
The planet is in the thrall of a neo-liberal financial elite whose objective is profit and wealth at any cost. Those promoting the neo-liberal project are typically unseen and totally undemocratic.
There are signs of a growing disquiet among thinking young people. One hopes that a political awakening and an intention to vote by the disadvantaged young will stem the trend towards undemocratic corporate rule. Bill Wright (Pleasant Point)
WHAT A MITHER
It seems that the TV programmers are “flipping the bird” at people like me who don’t want the expense, inconvenience or extra electronic clutter of a recording device, when Coronation Street (TVNZ 1) is put on at 10.00pm on a Friday.
Spending two hours watching repeats on a Saturday intrudes on weekend activities. The programmers will no doubt be pleased when the majority of the avid long-time Coro watchers have passed on and the spectre of letters like this will have faded away likewise. Clare Dudley (Coromandel)
Owing to a printing error, last week’s Radio/Talkback page was repeated from the June 24 issue. As a result, we have expanded coverage this week.