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This past weekend saw New Zealands first Telethon in over 15 years, and the first Telethon put on by TV3.
The Telethon is a part of Kiwi TV history and an important part of our pop-culture from the 80s and early 90s. They raised money for worth charities, provided 24 hours of entertainment and allowed anyone anywhere to get their name on TV. They used to be held as much in communities as they were in a studio and everyone got involved.
I had great hopes that the same would happen for the Big Night in Telethon, only it didn't.
The cause, while meaning well, was not well received. How many Kiwi's really want to give money to people twice, through Taxes as a benefits and again through donations? The nature of cause is even harder to stomach after weeks of bad press for the Government and it being reveled just how much money a beneficiary with kids can get.
The event was poorly marketed. Something of this scale, for such an apparently important cause deserved more media attention than some contrived adds on TV3 and the odd mention on a couple of Radio Stations also belonging to TV3's parent company. Large numbers of people who don't watch or listen to either simply did not know it was happening.
The old Telethons were about everyone in New Zealand getting involved, the big night in was reserved for fans of TV3.
In order to live up to the country wide involvement of a real Telethon, all the Major networks needed to put aside their differences and work together. Broadcast it on TV2, TV3, Prime and Sky all at the same, and use personalities and resources from all 4 networks. Maybe next year?
There was always some dodgy talent on display during a Telethon, but the Big Night In seemed to have more than the usual. I expected fun and frivolity, with impromptu comments and acts from celebrities and ordinary Kiwis. Instead we got boring rehearsed and stage-managed acts, with presenters who who made lots of noise with out saying anything while Jeremy Corbett made an ass of himself insulting his co-host.
Love him or hate him, Brook Howard Smith did do a good job though, when he wasn't promoting an auction website that is. TV3 weather Girl Toni Marsh also did a very good job, and of course Dobbo is always good value. But I expected more, especially from the opening hosts on the Saturday night. Instead I can't even remember who they were.
But the ultimate proof that this was a Telefail comes from a guy who is not yet famous. Hamish Coleman-Ross from www.throng.co.nz spent the whole 23 hours at the Alinghi Base in Auckland, blogging and twittering with a Webcam on his laptop about the whole event. He uploaded a pile of videos to youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/throngmedia.
With 1-2 minute long clips he managed to do what TV3 and millions of dollars couldn't. He made the Telethon interesting, he got people involved, created user interaction, and he made it really entertaining. He did it all with a blog, youtube, twitter and facebook. I enjoyed every single one of his updates.
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Comments
In regard to "just how much
In regard to "just how much money a beneficiary with kids can get". That has nothing to do with this. The Telethon was not aimed to beneficiaries, unless you are implying that those who can not give their children sufficent lunch are all on the benefit. If the selfish and ignorant public, in particular Paul Holmes, of New Zealand did the research or better yet lived in a single mother of three's shoes they wwould see how hard it is. $700 may sound like alot but it is not. Living in a three bedroom house, where two children share a room in an undesirable area of auckland with wide spread crime and paying the average price for rent is hard. Add on top of that school fee's, food, electricity, maintanence- e.g.lawn mowing, personal hygeiene and other essentails and non-essentials( dial-up internet for home-work etc) Beneficiaries are in most cases barely surviving and sometimes better on the benefit than off.
Your original comment was
Your original comment was spot on...the majority of beneficiaries squander their (read Taxpayer's) money on smokes. alcohol and drugs while neglecting their children. One only has to see the crowds waiting outside the TAB and pubs on benefit day. It is bad enough having to fund their chosen lifestyle without being asked for more!
Hi I'm the original poster
Hi I'm the original poster and the one behind the first comment. What you state has taken my words completely out of context, in fact not even out of context but rather using part of a sentence I wrote. What a horrible and untrue generalisation you have made about beneficiaries. I don't doubt that there are a select few manipulating and milking the system, and I completely agree that they are a waste of hard-earned taxpayer money. I would even call these people abusers, but that does not mean I am calling all beneficiaries 'abusers' as you have done (read "smokes, alcohol and drugs). If I were to generalise, as you have done, I would say all those people you see on 'benefit day' outside pubs etc are of maori or pacific heritage. Like you have done that is a unfair generalisation. And furthermore how do you know those people are "negelecting their children". Also what you are supposedly seeing is only the face of beneficiaries, not the one's struggling, sacrificing and trying to regain dignity and live indepenataly again from the benefit. Your seeing the minority NOT the majority.
I hope this article was
I hope this article was written to provoke a response, due to the unimaginative bagging of an otherwise magnificent help to members of society who need help.
Would you prefer everyone clubbed together to give more money to poeople who already have lots?
Its about community and you (the article writer) should encourage it!
Well done Telthon...hopefully the same for next year.
Have to admit Hamish was
Have to admit Hamish was AWESOME!! stayed up all night with twitter keeping me awake watching his blog updates :)
I absolutely agree with this
I absolutely agree with this blog. I chose not to donate to, or be involved in the Telethon, as I did not believe in the KidsCan cause. I think what they do is an ambulance at the bottom of the cliff approach and essentially, a black hole. That money does not provide any long term benefits and it is very shortsighted. We need to teach people how to provide for themselves, rather than hand out free label gear.
Referencing another blog here from Michael Laws (http://www.stuff.co.nz/sunday-star-times/opinion/2733298/If-you-re-looking-for-charity-don-t-call-me), I restate this paragraph:
"KidsCan will argue that they are simply meeting a genuine need. But they are also creating it. It was interesting to hear a board of trustee member from a decile 1 school last week say, on my radio show, that his school did not need the donated items. But, hey, they were free. Who looks a gift horse in the mouth?
And who does? Which school would not like to receive free All Black-branded stuff? Little wonder there is a waiting list to receive the Telethon-generated goodies."
I think they achieved the result they did, due to the Telethons popularity and reputation from past years, as well as the corporate support KidsCan has, its more a slick corporate promotion machine. I would love to see another Telethon but done again for a more deserving cause, such as CureKids.
if $700 isn't enough to pay
if $700 isn't enough to pay the rent in auckland, the obvious solution would surely be not to live in auckland. And whats wrong with sharing a room? I had to share a room when i was a kid.
Best really not to go about calling those people who's money u live off in benefits "ignorant & selfish" if you're sitting there with your hand out at the same time.
Hey, again, I am the poster
Hey, again, I am the poster of the first comment and the one you have replied too. I don't really know where to start with your shallow and uninformed reply. First off you have said "if $700 isn't enough to pay the rent in auckland..", well you obviously did not read my post thoroughly. If you read my original post you will see i said that $700, and less in some cases, has to cover not only the rent but maintenence of the house, school fees, personal hygiene, food, electricity, water rates and other essenetials and in some cases non-essentails such as dial up internet (for courses, job prospects and children's homework) meaning there is no money left over for savings. Secondly you suggest "not to live in auckland" (NB: Auckland starts with a 'A' not 'a'), that's a fine suggestion but where do you suppose the cost of moving factors into this? If beneficiaries can barely survive now, how do you expect them to come up with the money to move. Adding to this you are saying beneficiaries abandon routine, their community and most importantly their support systems. without all this beneficiaries will be even worse off, so your solution is a poorly thought dead end. I agree there is nothing wrong with sharing a room, except when there is a wide age gap. Try having a child and a late teen share a room. The teenager clearly not being a 'kid'.
I admit I may have used the word 'selfish' a little too loosely but what I was trying to say was, to be apart of a community and a country require's sharing and helping others out, which you don't seem to understand. Also to be apart of a community and country require's contributing which you seem to think beneficiaries don't do, When infact they do. People can contribute to society in other ways instead of being in the workforce. Or ensuring their children get a part time job to supplemnt their education. Or ,in most cases, inspiring their children to live for a better life with luxuries they were not afforded as youth, and live independantly not on the benefit as they are.
Lastly you seem to think I am on the benefit, quote "who's money u live off in benefits...sitting there with your hand out" un-quote, when infact I,myself, am not on the benefit.
And as for Fly Buys being a
And as for Fly Buys being a 'platinum' sponsor.... how many times did we have to hear that smarmy CEO say "we are a small company" - is that your way of justifying Fly Buys raising/donating under $10,000? For a small company, they managed to do masses of advertising during the event - maybe that's where all their money went????
Thanks for your flattering
Thanks for your flattering comments about our live blog. It was an absolute blast!
My goodness, I hope we
My goodness, I hope we haven't become a nation of whiners! I remember telethons of the past where people worked together for the greater good. 15 years is a long time to forget what we can achieve in NZ - telethons from the past were fun! Maybe that spirit of giving went out the door once globalisation kicked in and materialism became the new 'god'. Yes, my child goes to a low decile school but we're not on the benefit, we work hard for our money, pay taxes and own our house. I am proud of what our local school can achieve and if someone took the initiative to nominate our school then we are not going to say no. The amount of money raised by the telethon is commendable, thanks to all the organisers and supporters for raising their hands and saying we do have child poverty in NZ. The stats in this country is shocking for child welfare, child poverty, plus we have families who earn less than the average income. Then add to the mix the number of people who are losing their jobs. Wake up and smell the roses NZ!
I also chose not to donate
I also chose not to donate because I didn't buy the "raincoats, shoes and lunches" theme. Though I did send a bit by txting for the singing competition. "Every day 20,000 kids go to school without raincoats", they said over and over. Sorry, but that made me laugh out loud. That's poverty??? My kids REFUSE point blank to wear the raincoats they have because it's not 'cool'! No Lunch and no shoes? That's bad parents not providing the necessities of life. And that problem should be addressed by the government via CYFS or whatever after the schools who identify these kids report it. Recession or not, I reckon this Tlethon would have really 'gone off' if the charity was one we could all relate to and feel for. And BTW I got sick of the presenters say 'it's going off here' - to a half filled studio populated with little kids. This Telethon was also way to structured and scripted. I got sick of the pre-recorded 'JohnCampbell with Celeb' interviews being played over and over, frustrated with the same old promo-adds playing half way through an interesting singer's performance. The presenters and celebs looked - overall lasting impression - way too polished, makeup, hair, clothes & pristine all the way thru. John Campbell in his suit. The old days they started out 'normal' TV people but as the hours wore on, they got sillier and funnier and let their hair down in spontaneous ways that delighted us, they dressed down, & looked dog-tired and endeared themselves to us. Not so this one - in this telethon we had forced silliness - within the hour (or was it half-hour) of kickoff, John Campbell & Mike McRoberts made reference to pashing each other and the 'sexual tension', 'he wants me' comments made by John among studio full of little kids, was inappropriate, badly timed & just too rehearsed. He did soon after kiss Mike on the cheek, and it was again, forced and not funny! That kind of silliness used to happen in the wee hours of the morning when our 'celebs' were pretty much zombied out on lack of sleep or on their 2nd wind highs! Nolstagia hour in this telethon was way too short. The old telethon hands have still got it. Even my son, who was not even born when the last Telethon was broadcast & who is now 14 - really laughed and said they were the funniest of all, got the crowd working. Roger Gascoigne (ahhh!) and Nick Tansley, Bob Parker and the Bubble machine guy....he liked them the liked best, and said they were way better than the 'lame Comedy Hour'. Even Tom Bradley - they shoulda had him sing, like he used to. Where was Judy Bailey? John Hawkesby? Jason Gunn? Not asked? Refused to join in? COuld go on...! Could'a been much better. Monty Betham in drag was good though - should have had more of that sort of thing. I wanted to see for example, Carly Flynn at the end in her Jeans, wearing a lame T-shirt, tired, singing,doing press ups or whatever, no makeup and hugging Mike-McRoberts with joy and camaraderie, sitting in a row with other celebs and stars from all TV channels, taking phone calls. Not standing on stage with a mic., dressed in her best designer frock with a flash funky hairdo & makeup newly done by the TV3 makeup department!
1. Too much pre-recorded
1. Too much pre-recorded material (ads, promos, sponsored inserts)
2. Not enough experienced live to air presenters (compares)
3. Not enough average everyday New Zealanders doing their bit on screen.
That's the top three negative Nancy comments from me, but the thing that really bugged me was the collected donations of average New Zealanders that got presented by big corporates like the Warehouse.
The commercial factor really ripped the heart out of this one.
There was a guy who had started running an hour before Telethon started and got a few minutes on air towards the end...where was the outside broadcast equipment for people like him?
I ended up not watching too much of it at all. It just seemed to lack humanity...
telethon 2009 to me
telethon 2009 to me personally was a well packaged and labeled promotion designed to lift their sagging ratings statistics and what better way to do it by pretending to care for kids that go without and promote their own celeb status while they are at it. after all if they do note reflect performance with their shareholders,they are all out of a job and may need those raincoats shoes and a lunch while waiting in the rain outside of the local dole office. and of course with the waiting list so long,you may need to take a lunch...
Thanks for all the comments,
Thanks for all the comments, there are points that are well made and some I feel may have missed the point. I rate my experience at The Big night in on par with anything I've ever been involved in. I agree there's room for improvement. But so so many people worked so hard and the end result in my opinion was out of this world. If we failed to relay the atmosphere at the centre's then it's our fault. Although I didn't see very much of the broadcast believe me, a lot of very good people were trying their best. The fact was for the first time in a very long time people from all over New Zealand got together and worked towards a single cause. From hour to hour I was blown away by the unbridled generosity of all those involved. It was a chance for parents to teach their kids about giving and community, and may be a chance to remind themselves about it as well.
For far too long we've all being trying to achieve by proxy. Rugby World cup etc... Finally this was a chance for people to just step up and do something.
One of you raise a really good point about Alex "Macca" McKenzie the soldier who ran non stop for 22 hours and covered 200k. Yes he needed more coverage. I was lucky enough to have been with him for much of those 22 hours. But he'd be the last person to complain. He just went out and did his best to help others. May be we could all take a page out of his book.
PS: Hamish was amazing! And re the ads and corporate involvement. It's my understanding that this years set up means for the first time ever almost ALL of the 2 million goes directly to the charity and non is taken out for production costs. I think it's worth it.
Wow what a response to this
Wow what a response to this post. Nice one Andrew. I was not exposed to anything Telethon, heck I was busy doing other stuff like contributing to the economy.
I guess my main comment is I agree that the cause did not really render with me. Of all the charities in NZ why was this one chosen? Why could TV3 not have chosen to contribute to a charity which would see positive, proactive enduring contributions made. To me it all seems a little fickle.
However It is as Brooke pointed out fulfilling to experience the generosity that obviously came out on Saturday night.
Given the recession is does make you feel good about our country.
Kids Can came up with the
Kids Can came up with the idea of re-launching Telethon, so it was more a case of them choosing TV3 :) I understand that each of us have charities that we favour. It comes down to personal experiences etc. From my experience this charity IS doing good work. I've been out in the schools and seen what a difference they are making. But like I said a second ago the charity getting the money is the icing on the cake. The country getting together for once and striving toward a common positive goal. That's what felt amazing. It's exactly what we needed right now. I'd love to see it bigger and better in 2010.
BHS
Brook, thanks for your
Brook, thanks for your comments.
It is great to hear some feedback from someone who was there.
I don't doubt the sincerity of everyone involved, and I don't feel any one person or even group can be blamed.
The short videos by Hamish made it clear that there was a great atmosphere, that it was about giving and community, BUT that simply failed to come across on the TV3 broadcast.
Maybe it failed to reach an audience that has moved on since the 80s and 90s, or maybe it was over produced and lacked in spontaneity, or maybe Kids Can is simply not appreciated by enough Kiwis.
As a viewer I simply did not feel any reason to watch it, or any desire to get involved. And it is not because I am cynical git, plenty of other friends felt exactly the same way. They showed it in their facebook status, in emails, and in person when they talked about it at work on Monday.
The big night in was just a big fail at grabbing peoples interest and attention, and, this I believe is the important part, it failed at getting people involved.
Maybe next year Brook and Hamish can host it together and broad cast it from a laptop via youtube.
What ever happens I am sure people will have learned from this years, but there is now a huge hill to climb to prove that a Telethon can be a great New Zealand wide get everybody involved event.
A friend has also pointed
A friend has also pointed out a small error in my post.
The last Telethon was in fact hosted by TV3, with money raised going to the Starship hospital.
Do you think its possible
Do you think its possible for another charity to come in and do a Telethon now? Or will it be purely KidsCans thing?
Hey Moppie I don't know if
Hey Moppie
I don't know if you can call it a big fail. 2 million dollars, lots of people watched (I think it won all weekend) and those involved felt good about it. Would we rather a weekend of re-runs? It Did however fail to inspire you and I've read other peoples comments. May be Hamish is the key!!!
Telethon was not the kind of
Telethon was not the kind of telethon NZers experienced long ago.
This one was corporate and obviously designed to attract corporate sponsorship, in short a glorified marketing gimmick.
Yet it wasn't properly marketed to NZers.
The ASB logo was nearly as big as the total counter. That is not what telethon is (was) all about.
Perhaps the cynical attitudes of the new neo-liberal mainstream media, which really only exists now to capture viewers for advertising sales purposes, and which is not socialist-friendly, are to blame for the inept, obviously sponsor-sales driven attempt to take our fond memories of past telethons and cash in on them for mainly the benefit of the TV station. Let's face it, socialist ideals and altruistic acts for their own sake are beyond the average nat-voter, of which are all or nearly all the powers that be and the newsreaders and presenters of the TV stations.
It was a failure, not because of the final total, but because the spirit of telethon was not evoked. Rather than including us all, they just used us and our memories. This generation has missed out, and perhaps the strengthening of socialist ideals in NZ, being anti-nat, was not wanted by TV3 so was played down? After all, they pretty much are the media arm of the nats, aren't they?
The "old" Telethons had no
The "old" Telethons had no sponsorship so the money to pay for their production came from the donations, sometimes as much as a quarter. Although I love your politicizing of this. (I'm guessing there are green votes, labour votes and even one vote for NZ First at TV3) the decision to go with sponsors was all about keeping the donations untouched. So what if companies had logos up. Socialism not communism bro... Go live in... wait there are no communist countries left! lol (That stands for lap of luxury not laugh out loud) lol (that one stood for laugh out loud)
Not here to weigh on the
Not here to weigh on the debate as I've said everything over on my blog http://www.throng.co.nz/blog/hammynzl Nope, just stopping by to say a big thank you to all for really really super nice comments about me and the web cam. I swear I must of looked a bit weird wandering around with a laptop permanently attached to the end of my arm all weekend! So thanks everyone its all very humbling, it was just really cool to be a part of the experience of Telethon.
To Jess, that's cool but for
To Jess, that's cool but for the fact that it was a bit soulless BECAUSE of the emphasis on sponsorship, and if you don't think that had an effect, you must be one of these idiots at TV3 who designed the thing. And I bet there aren't many green or labour votes among the high-salaried at the station. Maybe among the low-paid digitisers or boom handlers...but they don't make decisions about policy. The decision to go with the sponsors was about keeping your profits untouched. You must think the public is as you schedule for... the lowest possible denominator. Sorry, but you are transparent. And I bet you voted nat...don't worry, the way they're going, they'll be gone very soon.
Don't work for TV3, but did
Don't work for TV3, but did a little crazy thing called research before I posted.
1) invertebrate literature: An opinion from an anonymous poster.
2) TV3 Donated air time and COVERED production cost with sponsorship. making a zero profit.
3) I'm guessing you contributed nothing to the event, or the end total so you're not really in a position to talk about people looking after their own interests.
:)
As for soulless. If you'd gotten off your ass and got to any one of the hundreds of schools or centre's involved you would have found the heart and soul of this country.
Conversation over.
Oh. And sorry no, voted
Oh. And sorry no, voted Green / Labour... (Mt Albert so twice) have never and can't see myself ever voting right. But nice way to make any one who disagrees with you seem like some right wing nazi. lol
Hi Jess. I don't think we
Hi Jess. I don't think we need to get vitriolic on it...or political for that matter...
I think you're right about getting along to a local event, we had Andy "The voice" Stankovich do a bit of a concert thing out in Helensville, (he's an Elvis tribute artist), which was a bit of a laugh (in a good way), but I think this just illustrates the lack of contact the broadcaster had with those communities and events. In turn, the opportunity lost to invoke that spirit most of us feel was lacking in the broadcast.
Let's remember, it is a Telethon, broadcast on TV, and part of the population is supposed to sit on their arse and watch it...
Hey Brooke. Thanks for posting. Without pissing in your pocket, you were one of the more competent presenters throughout the broadcast (Sella commitments aside). I think, generally speaking, we've lost some of the art of the live broadcast.
Even the shows that are broadcast live today are "in isolation". IE remote floor cameras, minimal staff on the floor and no studio audience. Even recording a show with a studio audience is different to a live event...
A bit of cross pollination with TVNZ would have been good. As much as I don't really enjoy him, Jason Gunn holds a live broadcast together well and that's the kind of experience you need to anchor the offering.
I see ol' Russ is having a
I see ol' Russ is having a crack at KidsCan on Public Address...it's a fair call, but due diligence needs to be done before the event. As is typical in NZ media, the knives come out after the fact when as many people as possible can become sullied by the pooh fan...
Look at the MP Travel perks story today. Same kind of thing...only I digress...
I think what I enjoyed most
I think what I enjoyed most about Hamish's updates was the fact that we could get involved and perhaps request he talks to someone, or does something. We could pledge an amount that we would pay when the task was complete. Obviously it would be a logistical nightmare to do this country-wide how ever it gave you far more a sense of being involved and being part of something much bigger. I donated and would have done even without seeing Hamish’s updates, however I donated more because of Hamish's blogs and the personal connection I developed with the people their on the night.
Lap Of Luxury...it WAS
Lap Of Luxury...it WAS lacking the spirit. There wasn't that bonding of the nation. It was an amateurish effort. The spirit of the people was there, but the broadcaster, TV3, failed to articulate it...
I guess Jess will just have to live with that. Best get TVNZ to do it next time. We all wanted that 'feeling' to happen...but...oh well.
I think the real problem was
I think the real problem was that not enough importance was given to the concept or to the need to do the pre-event leadup hype-building. Sure, everything is constructed in the media, but the magic happens when the television media acts as the medium of the people, not as an entertainment center. A telethon has to be different and stand apart from other kinds of programming, because it is an experience that has to be shared en mass not just virtually, as happens when we all sit down to watch a show, but in the real world too. In past telethons sponsors made donations in the companies' names. It was 'down-home'. This time the branding overkill took away the charm and rapport that those sponsors COULD have achieved with the nation. I repeat, an amateurish effort, not on the part of presenters, but in the conceptual think-tank. NOSTALGIA was what we wanted, and we got slick production.
For once we agree. Voting
For once we agree. Voting Nat IS a great way to appear to be a right-wing nazi. Now why is that I wonder...