More TV!

Today we were trying to watch CCTV on Triangle TV, and because Triangle is on UHF, the picture we got was a bit fuzzy. We have had to put up with fuzzy UHF channels such as Prime, Maori TV (not that we've ever watched it), Juice and Triangle TV for years now, that we decided we'd had enough and that it's time to move into the 20th century and get a UHF aerial! We still have to buy some wire before we can get it working but hopefully we'll be able to have more clear TV channels by tomorrow!

The lack of progress being made with free-to-air digital/satellite television is a bit of a shame. Some of us can't afford to pay for Sky and it would be great to have a wider range free-to-air TV channels! Of course we could get satellite but there's hardly much on offer apart from TV ONE, TV2, Maori, DW TV, Nasa TV (exciting!) and CCTV, plus a few Christian and ethnic channels. If the National government several years ago hadn't made TVNZ sell its shares in Sky TV, TVNZ would be in a lot stronger position today than it is right now. With Sky's purchase of Prime, most delayed sports rights will be kept by Sky, and Sky will have even greater power than it has now. The government seems to be continuously delaying progress with free-to-air TV, but apparently TVNZ are planning to make recommendations to the government within the next one or two months. It is heartening though to hear that TVNZ will be streaming the Commonweatlh Games live on the internet though, like they did with the ASB Classic earlier this year.

Let's hope something gets done about free-to-air digital television in this country THIS year! (Oh yeah and its time to regulate Telecom!!! We want cheaper broadband!!)