'Killarney, where have you been these past 5 or so years? Living in Killarney, Ireland?'

I wish! :)

Raycom, before consigning the ABC (and SBS) to a similar fate to TVNZ, you should watch TVNZ's commercial channels, as well as TV3 and Prime.

I wouldn't be against privatising ABC and SBS (or the BBC in the UK) but no way should they just become ratings-driven commmercial channels like TVNZ - better to run them as subscription-funded channels like HBO in the US. All TV is 'pay-TV', however you choose to fund it.

TVNZ is a state-owned enterprise, which means it is a government cash cow designed to return a dividend to the Treasury. However, that doesn't mean that the NZ taxpayer is let off the hook, because NZ On Air is publicly funded, to subsidise local versions of commercial formats. So what you have is the worst of both worlds.

It's a pity Australia and New Zealand don't share a long land border, like the US and Canada, as then it would be easier to make comparisons between the two countries, especially TV, as the signal spills across the border. Canadians complain about US cultural influence but most of them watch American TV. And if you think the ABC is left-wing, try the CBC in Canada, or PBS and NPR in the US.

Killarney, it's just as well you haven't been in Killarney, Ireland given the country's reversal of fortunes. RTE isn't too bad, TV3 is forgettable, TG4 is unintelligible unless you speak Irish, which most Irish people don't, but there's always BBC and Channel 4 from the UK.

Jon J, if taxpayers aren't interested, they're 'uninterested' - 'disinterested' means they're impartial.

Malae Oan

Alot of interesting observtions about international TV viewing. You must either do a lot of travelling or a lot of TV watching.

Re Ireland's reversal of fortunes, I actually have been to Ireland twice since 2009 and among the oridinary population, personal finances don't seem that much worse than they are for ordinary people here. In fact, I know a lot more people who've gone broke here in Australia as a result of the GFC and plummeting real estate, compared to everyone I know in Ireland, who all seem to be doing OK. The main difference I notice is that, in Ireland, the media is obssessed with the country's financial woes - and I suspect this is because the political and financial elites have been hit so hard. Here in Australia, the elites have not been hit hard (yet), so the media pretends that everything's fine and dandy.

As for Irish TV, I always enjoy it when I'm there and hate coming back to the blandness of Oz TV. I can't recall much of TV3, so it must be as you say - forgettable. I tend to stick to RTE and TG4 (the latter particularly, as I study Irish Gaelic - and BTW about 1 million Irish are fluent in the language). As for the BBC and Channel 4, they remind me too much of the ABC. Come to think of it, they ARE the ABC!