We did it - TVNZ OnDemand is canning the ads!
Seven days is apparently all it took to get the state broadcaster to change its tune.
Look, I wasn’t going to send anything out today. I’ve got a great iMax building update planned for tomorrow, so I thought I’d spend much of today finishing that up. Then someone sent me a link that made me so happy so I just had to fire this out. Let’s go…
Seven days ago, I caused a very minor shit storm. I’d spent all weekend watching the amazing shows TVNZ OnDemand has to offer, like Creamerie, Starstruck and Popstars, and was struck by dual emotions.
I loved the shows, but hated the constant barrage of ads every 10 minutes. It was so infuriating I spent last Monday ranting about V energy drinks and Farmers lingerie.
The feedback was instant. Many of you agreed with me. Others didn’t. Some pointed out it’s not that easy turning on a subscription service if it’s not your business model and you don’t have the correct streaming rights for the shows you own.
Others said they didn’t want to pay for another streaming service, which is fair enough.
And some said the problem wasn’t the ads but the volume they were played at.
Someone even went so far as to call my Monday morning rant the musings of a “petulant child”. A bit harsh, but after talking to my therapist for three hours yesterday, we came to the agreement that “petulant child” sums up my overall demeanor quite well.
Anyway, this morning, someone sent me a link that made me so happy. The Spinoff’s Duncan Greive has interviewed TVNZ CEO Kevin Kenrick, who admitted there’s a problem with TVNZ’s streaming service - and they’re going to fix it.
Kenrick is talking about a future in which TVNZ’s broadcast services are entirely online, with multiple channels, more news services and - YES! - an ad-free subscription service.
Here’s the relevant quote…
More services! More choice! No ads! Possibly by the end of the year?! This is AWESOME. It’s remarkable that it took just seven days for TVNZ to admit there’s a problem with its OnDemand platform, that they’re on top of it, and that they’re going to sort it out. This is great.
Of course, this was probably all in the pipeline before my “petulant child” rant. Either way, I guess the moral of this story is that some Mondays you wake up grumpy and annoyed, and on other Mondays you wake up to news about change for good.
That’s today, and I’m going to take it.
Read The Spinoff’s full report, and listen to Duncan’s interview, here.
Five things you need to worry about this week…
The Black Keys have a new album coming this Friday. Called Delta Kream, it’s supposedly a super bluesy ode to their roots, and judging by this jammy first single, that’s entirely true. Hopefully they don’t forget to rock out just a little…
I really enjoyed the first season of Mythic Quest, an Apple TV+ comedy about the lovable nerds working on a MMORPG video game. The second season is apparently even better. Rolling Stone even compared it to The Office…
The third and final season of Shrill is on Neon now, and if you’re up for a gentle comedy about some weighty issues, this might be for you…
Oxygen is a claustrophobic Netflix film landing on Wednesday that looks hella creepy…
And, finally, J Cole is one of the world’s most popular rappers and his new album The Off-Season is out on Friday. This is a big deal! But he screwed it all up by releasing the first single, Interlude, which is clearly not his best work. Who releases an interlude as the first single? FFS!
OMG I am just so over trying to watch Brave New World on TVNZ On Demand. It stops every few minutes for advertising... for other TVNZ programmes!!!!!!!! FFS what is wrong with them??? I wouldn't mind if they put PROPER advertisements on once during the episode so I could make a cup of tea, but constant short interruptions every few minutes just to advertise yet another TVNZ programme - that is just plain annoying and can't have anything at all to do with revenue. I will try not to watch anything at all on TVNZ On Demand after this experience.
TVNZ OnDemand seem to be sneaking extra ads in to live tv show streaming. I've noticed that bits of The Chase are missing for example. It's as if OD cuts to adverts earlier than the broadcast version and you miss some of the show.