Time change for ‘Video Dispatch’

Press, 27 July 1988, Page 15

Time change for ‘Video Dispatch’

“The Video Dispatch,' Network Two’s current affairs programme for younger viewers, moves to the earlier time of 4.30 p.m. in the new season, beginning this afternoon.

Presenter Rodney Bryant says the show’s target audience of 10 to 12-year-olds will remain the same, and while he will be delighted if older viewers continue to watch, there will be no real changes.

“We made minor concessions this year by adding news headlines before the commercial break when the show screened at 5 p.m.,” he says. “It

was the first TV news bulletin of the day and was successful.

“We take a lot of care with the way we script our series. A lot of viewers are confused by the pace and jargon of the network news, but we don’t use jargon in “The Video Dispatch.” “Viewers don’t necessarily know what an economic downturn is. There’s an assumption that people who watch the network news do so on a regular basis.”

Items of interest coming up in the new season include a report on security measures in Seoul for the Olympics (which

Bryant describes as “a cross between ‘The Ninja' and ‘Rambo,’), a visit to Parliament for a day in the life of a politician (Inland Revenue Minister Trevor De Cleene), and a look at how Cromwell’s young people are coping with the knowledge that they are soon to be uprooted from their homes.

In keeping with the show’s policy of explaining issues from scratch, the Seoul item will background ‘the political history of north and south Korea and the possibility of terrorism, which is the reason for the stringent security surrounding the Games.