Friday, September 6, 2013

Greg Boyed Makes Intelligent Choice

Presenter Greg Boyed is leaving TVNZ's Seven Sharp to return to primetime news - and will finish tonight.
Boyed has worked alongside has-been consumer interviewer Alison Mau and wanna-be comic Jesse Mulligan to host the 7pm nightly current affairs show, which launched last February to dismal reviews and lacklustre ratings.
Boyed will co-host One News Tonight with Miriama Kamo from next Wednesday. His replacement was still being recruited, but the press release says a raft of 'familiar faces' will join M+M in the meantime.
Fact is, there've been so many 'familiar faces' guesting on Seven Sharp, that its format seems to have morphed from attempting to hook into the younger demographic (by blending social media with light news), into a veritable "who's-who" of NZ's "you-ain't".
Television channels adopt widely varying strategies for current affairs programming in the hunt for viewers, and networks have to adapt to the market. So do presenters. Boyed's initial move to Seven Sharp was perhaps an attempt to do just that. His decision to return to serious news is a far more intelligent choice. He is one of NZ's top news presenters, and does us all a great service by coming back to what suits him best.
TVNZ still trumpets Seven Sharp as the new face of current affairs but, for many, it's evidence of the channel 'dumbing-down'. Maybe it should take a leaf out of Boyed's book.

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