I'm a highbrow sort of guy.
Last night, for instance, before bed, I took in another chapter of Emmanuel College Fellow Peter Hunter Blair's Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England.
Everyone is called Athelstan or Edmund or Erik Bloodaxe or something, which is really cool.
Also, I have a degree.
From Otago.
Therefore, upon hearing about the imminent demise of TVNZ 7, I instantly screamed "the dumbing down of the media" at the top of my voice, without having to even think.
And sure enough, as soon as you scroll to the bottom of news stories about the Government's decision not to extend funding for the channel beyond June 2012, you see that exact sentence.
I bemoan the loss of individual thought. Seriously, though, the loss of TVNZ 7 is a pity.
It was in this very column, but a few weeks ago, The Court Report got a fabulous write-up for its weekly discussion on New Zealand's hot legal topics.
How, then, to explain why I have never watched another episode, despite being a highbrow sort of guy?
How then to explain the 207,000 viewers a week TVNZ 7 apparently attracts, compared with TVNZ's One News, which attracts 600,000 viewers a night?
Here is one possibility.
Despite my highly intellectual tastes, my favourite show at the moment is Entourage, the Comedy Central show that chronicles the acting career of Vincent Chase and his childhood friends from New York City, as they navigate the unfamiliar terrain of Hollywood. It's just soooooo good.
And when I was watching it this morning, I heard an excellent song I liked in the show's score.
I stopped watching, and Googled the lyrics to find out what it was.
Then I put the song title in YouTube, and listened to Pretty Green, by the Jam, which was good.
Then I forgot what I was doing and flicked to Tyra, which was looking at "the grossest people in America", which held my attention for up to 30 seconds.
Then I made a coffee, started reading the paper, and forgot I had been watching television in the first place.
What can we learn from all this?
Despite the best of intentions about wanting to learn about important things while watching television, most people just want to be entertained. And nowadays, there are so many other inputs, worthy shows are up against it as they jockey for the attention of the fickle and feckless.
Maybe the answer is just to pick the best shows from TVNZ 7 and slot them in with all the other best shows on TV One or TV2 at 11.45pm.
Then I could watch TV before bed instead of reading Peter Hunter Blair's Introduction to Anglo-Saxon England.
I'm a bit sick of it.
