Lost opportunity
On the 16th of November, 2009, TVNZ told an auditorium full of advertisers and media that the final season of Lost would be simulcast here in New Zealand. We clarified what that actually meant afterwards and were told that that would be as soon as physically possible after its US broadcast.
On the 20th of November, ABC announced the return date for Lost in the US as being Tuesday, Feb 2nd, 2010. We had hoped for a Tuesday which would have been perfect as TVNZ had scheduled Lost for a Wednesday night here.
On the 6th of January, it was revealed in TVNZ's planit advertising planning schedule that Lost had been scheduled to premiere on the 3rd of February, a mere 7 hours after it had aired in America. Everyone got excited. The prospect of TVNZ screening a show so soon was inspiring. However, that inspiration has turned out to be nothing more than false hope as Lost is now returning to screens on the 10th of February.
TVNZ tried to justify the situation by telling us that
due to a contractual agreement between the Studio and the Commissioning Broadcaster our distributor is unable to release tapes of the episodes to us before the completion of the ABC broadcast in all US time zones.
I guess as the commissioning broadcaster you have every right to dictate the rules around when a show is released internationally. But hang on a second, tapes?
they have to physically take the tape to a completely different location and feed them to us via Satellite in real time.
Why not just get a file and download it? Well, as you'd expect, a broadcast quality HD episode is large. TV3 told us that it would take them close to three days to download something of that quality and would cost considerably more.
TVNZ also told us
We wouldn't have received the master tapes until far too close to transmission (which wasn't guaranteed in any case) meaning we would be unable to time out the schedule, effectively promote the show, add captioning and legally required classification information.
Stating that you're going to simulcast a show to people you're trying to bleed money out of may not be a guarantee and I guess the argument "as soon as physically possible" still holds true but for anyone thinking that things in broadcast television were showing a glimmer of hope, this situation proves otherwise.
So what does this really tell us?
1. New Zealand will never be able to screen big US television series within hours until stateside commissioners and international distributors decide to trust their international broadcast partners with advance tapes.
2. American commissioners appear more concerned about a tape being leaked by an untrustworthy international broadcaster than they are about preventing illegal downloads.
TVNZ are happy with how well Lost performs in its Wednesday night time slot and are complacent enough to leave it where it is.
One can be fairly confident that that complacency won't be tolerated by those eager to watch the show. As such, anyone hoping for faster internet speeds on Wednesday nights may discover the opposite applies.
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Lucas
F*** TVNZ. I downloaded and watched the episodes yesterday. Next week I will watch the first 30min of Lost and then move to Letterman, which is, by the way, aired here less than 2 days after the US.
Pablo
Maybe it is time to cut the middleman and find ways to deliver content in an alternative way. I couldn't care less about TVNZ showing LOST, maybe ABC should allow digital downloads via iTunes or their own site.
I was able to watch these two episodes in HQ within hours of their broadcast. The technology is available, they just need to ditch conventions and broadcasting rules from a prehistoric era.
LOST
I think any fans of lost should start sending emails to TVNZ to try and get them to at least play the First episode of lost as a 2 hour double episode instead of the 1 hour episode they have scheduled on the 10th of February. Otherwise we will end up being the last country in the world to see each episode.
Every Other county in the world seems to be getting a double episode except us.
They could delay flash forward for one week and run it from 8.30 till 10.30 or delay torchwood for one week and run it from 9.30 till 11.30.
Lise
It doesn't take a whole week for the episode to air all over the US so I don't buy that excuse. I don't care if they change the night. I know it's had the Wednesday night slot ever since it began but I couldn't care less if that got changed. TVNZ should never have promised something they couldn't deliver on.
Anyway, the premiere here is listed as one hour in the TV Guide and it's definitely a two hour premiere in the States so very quickly we will be two weeks behind and not one.
Lucas
In Israel they'll be able to watch Lost two days after The US.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_(season_6)
Lost will commence airing in the United States and Canada on February 2, 2010[2], February 4 on Israel's HOT network[3] and Ireland's RTÉ 2 [4], February 5 in the UK[5] and on Turkey's DiziMax[6], February 9 in Spain, February 10 in Italy and New Zealand[7]
jhjh2000
that not means CTV is sent the tapes in advance
CTV just pick up the abc feed from ny and put in different station iogo and advertisements
JoeSpag
Yeah, but that means CTV is sent the tapes in advance. But TVNZ is saying that they won't send the tapes to ANYONE until it is done airing in every US timezone - which doesn't match up with what is actually happens since, as you pointed out, it will air there at the same time as ABC.jhjh2000
but your see that Canada is different story from us. they use simultaneous substitution that means Canadian viewers can watching the same program but different station iogo and advertisements
JoeSpag
Yeah, I was just going to point out that the show is going to be airing in Canada on CTV the same time as ABC airs it so clearly they have the tapes in advance of it airing in all US timezones. I guess TVNZ is trying to pull the wool over our eyes...aaronimpact
All this talk of TVNZ not being allowed the master tapes is interesting.
I would like to point out that back in Season 3. Canada was airing new episodes of Lost a few hours ahead of the US.
I remembered some US fans venting their frustrations about Canadian fans leaking spoilers on the IMDb Lost messageboard.
Ryan
Myabe you should just all move to the States. That will solve your problems rather than a state broadcaster. Obviously NZ just doesn't cut it. Oh well.
Mr. Media
I have no desire to avoid spoilers...part of the enjoyment of shows like Lost is discussing it in real time with fans around the world, not 2 weeks behind the rest of them. I'll be viewing it via Channel BT...again.
AaronB
can't say i've ever been on twitter (or have any urge to do so) so don't know the first thing that goes on on there. i'm just saying that for me i usually have no problems avoiding spoilers and am more than happy seeing lost only a week behind the states. i guess it depends on what websites you frequent and how often you frequent them. but i will admit it is a pain if you do find out what's gonna happen before you've seen the show.
regan
How many times have you loaded TV.com and seen something like X wins survivor or hints at someone being killed off? It happens. Not always. But it does happen. Twitter, even more so with their trending topics just sitting there in the sidebar.
2 weeks is a lot better than it was and if you're happy to settle for that then that's great. But if you want to participate in discussion or read commentary on various blogs about the show, it's harder.
AaronB
if i watched reality tv that might be an issue. lol
Rachel
The main problem I've found is overseas news sites which plaster the photo of the winner of a reality show (e.g. any Idol show or Survivor) all over it. That ruined it for me many times in the past
AaronB
i frequent facebook/tv.com etc & manage to avoid spoilers. the only time i've ever found out what's happening is when i've gone looking for it. guess it depends on wether you've got a need-it-right-now personality or don't mind waiting. i'm more than happy with seeing lost only a week or 2 behind the states.
bobscoffee
I have to agree, it isn't too hard to avoid spoilers for a few weeks if you know the right places to stay away from
Ryan
I'm a frequent Twitter/Facebook/Tvblog viewer etc & i manage to avoid spoilers. It's not hard. I think a couple of weeks behind is pretty good! Usually the gap is far greater. Anyway Lost is a crappy show so why do people care? xP
regan
It is a big deal if you frequent twitter, facebook or various TV blogs etc. Spoilers are rife. You can avoid the internet for a couple of hours but not a couple of weeks.
AaronB
is it really such a big deal??? only having to wait a week or two to see a programme after it's been aired in the states is pretty good. a lot better than it has been in the past anyway
B
So disappointed with this......
Why would TVNZ make such a bold announcement when they know they have to have a tape physically sent to them?
Mr. Media
Ep 1 is on the 10th of Feb here on TV2, a week after the first 2 episodes go to air in the US, so by the 17th of Feb, US will be showing the 4th episode of the Season, NZ the 2nd.
bobscoffee
So exactly how soon can we expect each episode to be screened in NZ after it is screened in America?
Gaz
At least C4 is playing 24 within weeks of the US premiere.