Throng will start an upgrade this morning which is the first step in introducing some new features and changes to the site. This upgrade will fix the slow loading issue when posting new blog entries and comments – among other things.
If you experience any issues, please note them here so we can address them for you.
Thanks!
Clicking on TV program listings does not take you to the anticipated information. Eg “Aftershock” is about to show on telly, but I don’t know what channel. Clicking the frontpage link for Aftershock takes me to the url http://www.throng.co.nz/documentary, but searching the text of that page for the letters “shock” finds no results. Stink!
This seems really odd. I love that I can quickly hit Throng for an idea of what’s coming up on telly, but what’s the point if I can’t find out the channel of a program I want to see by clicking on the frontpage links?
Also, the competition advertised at the top of each page closed a month ago. This gives the impression the site is not being currently updated, which I know can’t be true.
Great idea, poorly executed — without covering ALL the available channels any TV website that attempts to provide a schedule is doomed to failure.
Throng, drop me a line when you’ve got all of my available stations covered and I’ll come back for another look.
— Deck
Throng recently surveyed four free-to-air local news bulletins in depth over a four week period: ONE News, 3 News, PRIME News – First at 5:30 and TVNZ News at 8.
On average, how much celebrity/entertainment news were in each bulletin? 3 News: 4.7%, PRIME News: 3.2%, TVNZ 7: 2.9%, ONE News: 2.8%
What was the most common type of celebrity/entertainment news item?
For each bulletin except PRIME, movie news was the most common type of story with coverage of premieres (Sex and the City, Prince Caspian), movie updates (James Bond, The Hobbit), trailers (Batman) and film festivals. PRIME’s most popular story was following Amy Winehouse.
Which celebrities were given the most air time?
3 News:
Westlife (7% of their celebrity/entertainment coverage during the survey period)
Amy Winehouse
Gabriella Cilmi
Miley Cyrus
Jenna Bush
PRIME News:
Amy Winehouse (28% of their celebrity/entertainment coverage during the survey period)
Royals
Tom Cruise
Ted Kennedy
Angelina Jolie
ONE News:
Royals (13% of their celebrity/entertainment coverage during the survey period)
Gordan Ramsay
Jenna Bush
Wing
Miley Cyrus
TVNZ 7:
Gordan Ramsay (6% of their celebrity/entertainment coverage during the survey period)
Amy Winehouse
Jenna Bush
Miley Cyrus
Royals
See part one focussing on sports coverage and part two focussing on overall coverage »
Data collected from 21/4/2008 – 18/5/2008. Contact us for further information.
Throng recently surveyed four free-to-air local news bulletins in depth over a four week period: ONE News, 3 News, PRIME News – First at 5:30 and TVNZ News at 8.
In many areas the four bulletins were very similar but there were also some surprising differences. This summary focuses on overall comparisons between the bulletins and is the second of a series of releases comparing the news bulletins over this four week period.
How did the news bulletins compare for news, sport and weather coverage?
How often was breaking news used?
Live crosses have become more common in recent times with some Throng commenters recently discussing if they are used too frequently:
With recent controversies over the in-bulletin promotions for other TV shows – such as the Deal or No Deal models’ dresses story, how many TV shows did the news bulletins mention or show clips of?
See part one of this report focussing on sports coverage »
Data collected from 21/4/2008 – 18/5/2008. Contact us for further information.
Throng recently surveyed four free-to-air local news bulletins in depth over a four week period: ONE News, 3 News, PRIME News – First at 5:30 and TVNZ News at 8.
In many areas the four bulletins were very similar but there were also some surprising differences. This summary focusing on sports coverage marks the first of a series of releases comparing the news bulletins over this four week period.
How long are the bulletins – really?
Once advertising, upcoming previews, promotions and news bulletin summaries were discounted, both ONE News and 3 News had similar bulletin lengths on average – 40:14 and 40:58 respectively. TVNZ News at 8 on Freeview offered an average bulletin length of 49:49 – shorter than one might expect given the network is advertising-free. PRIME’s half hour 5:30 bulletin averaged 20:34.
How long is the sports coverage?
Once upcoming previews, promotions and sports summaries were discounted, both ONE News and 3 News devoted a similar proportion of their bulletins to sports coverage on average – 27% and 25% respectively (average lengths of 10:53 and 10:05). PRIME News gave a much higher proportion of sports news at 36% on average (7:28). While TVNZ News at 8 was on average more than double the length of PRIME’s bulletin, it devoted less time on average to sport (averages of 7:21 and 15%).
TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said “we do not deliberately schedule more or less sports news on News at Eight. However as we spent more time covering other bulletin elements such as weather, business, world news and interviews than other bulletins it may seem that there is less sport on News at Eight”.
Richards also commented on TV ONE’s figures saying “One News bases its sport content on two basic principles: is it newsworthy, and are the pictures strong enough to sustain interest for New Zealanders. That’s how we judge how much time in our bulletin is devoted to sport.”
TV3′s publicist Stephanie Taylor said “3 News takes its responsibility to the public very seriously, and this remains true when it comes to sports coverage. Our sports reporters and presenters are passionate about sport, and are dedicated to keeping our viewers up-to-date on the latest sports news and results both locally and internationally. We ensure that our reporters and presenters cover sports that they are enthused by, for example Hamish McKay as Rugby Editor and Shaun Summerfield with motor sport.”
PRIME’s Richard Sutherland said “we have no hard and fast rules about how much of each bulletin is “news” and how much is “sport”. Everything is based on editorial decisions made on the day on what is most important. For us, what counts is a story’s news value, whether it’s crime, politics, rugby, football or tiddlywinks. For example, you may have noticed tonight’s bulletin led with a sports story (All Black captain out for much of the Tri-nations through injury), because in the judgment of the EP, that was the most significant and newsworthy story of the day.”
Weeknight versus weekend coverage
Sports coverage on all bulletins was slightly higher on the weekends than during the week. One PRIME News weekend bulletin devoted 48% to sport (average of 43%) while the other news bulletins did not give much over a third of their show to sport on the weekends.
Top sports
Rugby followed by rugby league were the two sports with the most coverage by each bulletin taking up an average of 43-46% the sports bulletin time. TVNZ News at 8 gave the most coverage to netball – Richards commented that this was not deliberate however many trans-Tasman netball league matches finish in time for their broadcast.
Note that while Olympics coverage may seem lower on ONE News than 3 News, during the survey period ONE News ran a number of Olympic “news” stories such as the Olympic team uniform launch and the Olympic torch relay which were classified as news, rather than sport.
3 News gave more coverage to motorsport than any of the other news bulletins. Taylor says “as TV3 is the home of motorsport with the A1GP and V8 Supercars we do make a deliberate effort to keep our viewers informed”.
Top sports on ONE News:
Top sports on 3 News:
Top sports on PRIME News:
Top sports on TVNZ News at 8:
Data collected from 21/4/2008 – 18/5/2008. Contact us for further information.
Ok, I just tried to access Throng Australia for some H&A spoilers and it seems I can’t access it.
Anyone else got the same problem by chance?
For those who missed the print version on Friday, it’s now online here
PlayStation3 – PlayTV
See the beautiful game, played beautifully by a bevvie of beauties in this clip by Burger King.
Tips on how to win Glastonbury tickets by playing Spot the Bull in the biggest Glasto ticket giveaway ever.
Film maker and writer Terry Jones discovers a colony of penguins, which are unlike any other penguins in the world
Just goes to show you should always have something in
The Hollywood Quiz and challenge your mates to play against you online
MTV Europe are looking for a new presenter
Throng has today launched a world-first web 2.0 television listings format.
In development for more than two years, the new format replaces the traditional TV guide grid and makes it easier to find what is on at a glance.
Shows are displayed based on what is on now, what starts in the next hour and what is on in prime time tonight. Shows are weighted according to popularity on Throng.
Members may personalise their listings to highlight their favourite shows and hide ones they’re not interested in.
“We’ve thought long and hard about TV listings and what we’d like them to be. We found traditional listings hard to scan because they’re organised by channel and you can easily miss things. We’ve removed the clutter and made your choice simpler,” says co-founder Regan Cunliffe.
See the new look listings from today at Throng!
1. One News
2. Shortland Street
3. My Kitchen Rules
4. The Force
5. Border Security
1. CSI:NY
2. C.S.I
3. Whitechapel
4. Law & Order Los Angeles
5. Saving Gen-Y
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