TVNZ U closes at the end of August and its frequency will carry a time-shifted version of TV2.
TVNZ said it's made a commercial decision to take the free-to-air channel down after two years of running at a loss.
CEO Kevin Kenrick: "Despite our best efforts, we've not been able to make it work financially. As it is, the channel is a very lean operation and no significant savings can be made to address the shortfall."
TVNZ plans to launch TV2+1 on the vacated frequency on Sept.01 - an exact duplicate of TV2, broadcast an hour later. Time-shifted TV has proved to be popular with viewers.
Quite WHY it has taken two years for TVNZ to reach this decision is beyond me. Time and time again, youth-targeted programming has shown it struggles to generate revenue. Jeans and
bubblegum just don't bring in the large sums of dosh needed to run such an operation. And forced exurberance in the name of teen entertainment became painful a very long time back...No-one should be at all surprised that the U-boat sank. It was aimed at the 15-24yr.olds, featuring reality and factual entertainment programming, on Freeview Channel 6 and SKY Channel 016, but the internet is the first option for many young people. So how many actually watched U? It has over 60,000 likes on its Facebook page (woop-de-doo), but again, how many viewers? Weeeeeell, U doesn't actually know. TVNZ U brand manager Cindy Carleton: "We don't get specific ratings for U because its audience is small." Riiiiiiight.
1 comment:
Why SHOULD "youth" have 24-hour tv made just for THEM? Whats wrong with playing sport, or heaven forbid getting off their lazy behinds and WORKING for a living, instead of bludging off their parents and/or the state, expecting everything to be GIVEN to them?
Maybe the loss of their precious tv channel will make them realise the value of REALITY.
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