NZ’s TV community website Throng (www.throng.co.nz) recently surveyed four free-to-air local news bulletins in depth over a four week period: ONE News, 3 News, PRIME News - First at 5:30 and TVNZ News at 8. 

In many areas the four bulletins were very similar but there were also some surprising differences.  This summary focusing on sports coverage marks the first of a series of releases comparing the news bulletins over this four week period. 

How long are the bulletins - really?

Once advertising, upcoming previews, promotions and news bulletin summaries were discounted, both ONE News and 3 News had similar bulletin lengths on average - 40:14 and 40:58 respectively.  TVNZ News at 8 on Freeview offered an average bulletin length of 49:49 - shorter than one might expect given the network is advertising-free.  PRIME’s half hour 5:30 bulletin averaged 20:34.

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