Chosen Television News Bulletin Sources
TV News Bulletins Selected for Analysis in Australia
- ABC News at 7 pm
- Channel Nine News at 6pm
The ABC National Nightly News at 7:00pm is aired each night for a half hour without any advertising breaks. It covers local, national and international news as well as sport and weather. It is immediately followed by the reputable in-depth news program, The 7:30 Report.
The ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) is the only truly independent national network. Although it relies on government funding (which might lead some to suggest it is anything but independent) it does not accept any advertising; this is no longer the case with the SBS which now includes limited advertising in its programming. The ABC's news services are highly regarded by the Australian population and current audience figures are second only to Nine's National Nightly News. As well, the ABC news tends to cater for and attract a more highly-educated audience, thus informing those media and political elites of interest to this project.
The Channel Nine Nightly News bulletin at 6pm is screened every evening. Also a half hour broadcast covering news, sport and weather, it is immediately followed by the popular in-depth news program, A Current Affair.
Packer's Channel Nine is the obvious selection from the commercial networks. It has a broad demographic appeal and not only does it command the greatest share of the viewing market with the highest overall ratings, it also has the highest rating news program.
TV News Bulletins Selected for Analysis in Thailand
- Channel 7 news from 6 to 6.30 pm and from 7.30 to 8.30 pm
- ITV news at 6.00 pm
The Royal Thai Army's Channel 7 has been operated by the concessionaire, Bangkok Entertainment, since 1967. ITV is an 'independent' television station operated by Siam Infotainment Co. Ltd. Although the original terms of reference demanded that no person or business hold a sum of shares more than 10%, this was changed during the country's economic crisis. Shin Corps, which belongs to Prime Minister Thaksin's family, becomes the major shareholder with a 43% share. Other shareholders include Tripob Limprapat, a leading TV figure, and the Kantana Group, an entertainment business. Each hold a share of 10%.
Channel 7's prime time news airs from 6 to 6.30 pm and from 7.30 to 8.30 pm. It prime time news is the most popular news program and hence, reaches out to mass audience.1 This is probably due to the fact that the program is sandwiched between Channel 7's local dramas, whose ratings are the highest of all TV programs in Thailand. The early evening (18.00) start and the rather peculiar time schedule (the news bulletin is sliced into two) is a result of a battle for ratings between the dramas (soap operas). In the past, all the evening news programs started at 20.00, beginning with the Royal Court news. Channel 7 and Channel 3 then constantly made changes to their TV news bulletins in order to win a better rating for their local dramas, which are the primary source of income for the stations.
Channel 7 is evening news is very brief, catchy and straightforward. The news during 6.00 to 6.30 tends to be more serious, presenting political news, domestic news and international news. The news aired between 7.30 and 8.30 briefs the highlight news of the day, followed by sport, entertainment and royal affairs news. Channel 7 spends only a little time at international news, if domestic news is longer than usual on a particular day. Because of the tight schedule, the international news focuses on extraordinary events like terrorist threats and attacks, Iraq wars and the Israel-Palestinian conflict. News concerning the East Asian region then gets accorded second priority.
ITV has just undergone a structural change of its TV programme in order to be more commercially competitive. Its evening news has just moved from 19.00-20.30 to 18.00-19.30, in order to give way to the station's newly introduced drama and game shows. The prime time news covers a fairly large amount of political news and domestic news, followed by business and economic news, international news, entertainment, Royal affairs, and sport news.
Because of the spirit of the origin of the station, the public's expectations of the quality of ITV news are very high. The audience of ITV are educated, middle-class and urban people. Hence, ITV news is not merely a series of footages with quotes from leading political figures with no comment and analysis like the Channel 7 news. Its news is much more systematically developed and includes short commentary. Indeed, the international news section usually ends with a special scoop analysing news in public focus like the Iraq war or presentations on the politics and cultures of East Asian countries. Having domestic correspondents reporting from abroad, ITV's international news offers a touch of local perspective, and does not entirely depend on international agencies. After the schedule change in April, the rating of ITV evening news has moved up the third, after those of Channel 7 and Channel 3.2
TV News Bulletins Selected for Analysis in Korea
- KBS news at 9 pm
- MBC news at 9 pm
As the nation's representative public broadcaster, with 25 local broadcasting stations, KBS (Korean Broadcasting System) is the leading TV and radio network in Korea. KBS is firmly committed to its mission of providing unbiased and independent public broadcasting with the highest priority placed on the public interest. They continuously endeavor to maintain our competitive advantage through a wide variety of quality programs, the latest broadcasting technology, as well as complete audience satisfaction. Our financial resources are derived from license fees and advertising. With its public service complemented by commercial competitiveness, KBS represents a new paradigm for future public service broadcasting.3
MBC's driving purpose is evident from its very initials, which stand for Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. The word 'Munhwa' in Korean means 'culture'. With a public foundation created by the legislative enactment as its main shareholder, MBC is a public service broadcaster. But MBC is, according to relevant civil and commercial statutes, also a corporation. It must serve the public trust but operate like a private business at the same time. MBC does not, for example, receive government subsidies or license fees to operate. MBC earns money the old-fashioned way; it earns it mostly by selling commercial spots, just like private broadcasters.4
TV News Bulletins Selected for Analysis in New Zealand
- TV 1 news at 6 pm
- TV 3 news at 6 pm
TV 1 is part of the state-owned enterprise Television New Zealand. The network was initially formed in 1962 as the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) and was modeled on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The NZBC (later known as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand - BCNZ) was disestablished in 1988 to allow the formation of the now known TVNZ state-owned enterprise. The current legislation binding TVNZ's operations dictates that it must meet a list of public broadcasting objectives, as well as being commercially viable.5 TV1 is targeted at a more mature and educated audience than TVNZ's other channel, TV2. The One News reporting and presenting team is comprised of well-known New Zealand journalist and sports personalities, and the primetime bulletin has recently reverted to a solo anchor presentational format as it had in its initial days as the NZBC. One News at 6pm is frequently the highest rating national news program, gaining, on average, a 20 percent share of the domestic viewing audience, and it was recently awarded the Best News and Current Affairs Show at the Qantas Media Awards. One News also regularly features in the Top 10 rating television programs in NZ,6 and is currently rated as the number 2 most popular program in NZ.
3 News at 6pm is TV1's main rival for ratings in the television news battle in NZ. TV3 is owned by Canadian company CanWest, which also owns C4 - a national music video channel. TV3 was established as NZ's first commercial network in 1989 when NZ television went through deregulation. It was initially limited in its success - falling into receivership after only two years in existence - but has since become a competitive rival to state-owned TVNZ. TV3 describe their nightly news hour as being produced and presented by NZ's top journalists,7 and indeed 3 News' reporters and presenters are consistently among the winners at NZ's annual Qantas Media Awards. TV3's core demographic is the 18-49 year-old bracket which is seen as the most appealing audience for advertisers, from which TV3 gets its operational revenue. TV3's 3 News at 6pm screens nightly seven days a week, and the network boasts that their flagship news bulletin receives the highest ratings in major urban markets. Despite this claim however, the current AC Nielson Media Trends information does not list 3 News in the Top 10 of NZ's television programs.8
References
1 From AC Neilson's report January 2004 and March 2004, published by Bangkok Post. Unfortunately I have recently re-organised my desk and lost the file. I made a phone call to AC Neilson but they say that their report is not readily available to the public. I am trying to find the article.
2 'ITV introduces a new schedule for morning news to welcome a new rating as the third most popular channel', Thairath, 11 August 2004, p.9
5 http://corporate.tvnz.co.nz/tvnz_detail/0,2406,111549-247-252,00.html, 2004
6 http://www.acnielsen.co.nz/MRI_pages.asp?MRIID=3#Top, 2004
7 www.tv3.co.nz/listings, 2004
8 http://www.acnielsen.co.nz/MRI_pages.asp?MRIID=3#Top, 2004