Is it OK for Veitch to stay on?

OK the, the story has broken, followed by 2 days of silence, then the PR confession and then the outrage.

We dont want to go into the morality of the situation or domestic violence. That is covered much better here

What we want to do is look at this from a purely pragmatic, sports related, point of view, and ask whether Tony Veitch is in any position to present the sports news on the countrys largest TV network, and the prime radio slot.

Asking the hard questions
Any broadcaster needs to be able to interrogate as part of an interview. He or she needs to able to take a principled stand on something, like player greed or the current state of Zimbabwe. How can Tony do this now? Therefore we are going to get bland interviews.

Sponsors should not be placed in the position to judge
Radio Sport, in particular, depends on sponsors for its survival. Nature Bee, all sorts of mens arousal stuff, and farming equipment know their target market and they keep the station going.

If Veitch were to stay on, theyd be stuck with the dilemma. Is it good for a company that sells pills to give men erections to run on a show fronted by someone who has admitted to kicking a woman on the floor?

And once one of them pulls out, so to speak, then the rest will need to be seen to follow. Even the companies selling pumps for milking sheds, even though they probably have yet to hear of the story.

Advertisers want an audience
In case you hadnt noticed, both TV and radio are ratings driven. And the evening news and breakfast radio are the two big slots.

If we say that 20% of the existing audience, a deliberately conservative number, switch channels as a moral protest then thats a huge loss in the tight market. Therefore less money to the stations, and on it goes. It is financial suicide.

Coaches hanging onto jobs for too long
There is a pretty widespread feeling in New Zealand at the moment that Graham Henry and John Bracewell, our two highest profile coaches, have outstayed their welcome. And in Bracewells case there is the suspicion that he is clinging on because NZ Cricket can not afford to terminate his contract.

But its not easy for a broadcaster to comment on this if he clings to his job courtesy of the employment law process.

Contributors should not be placed in the position to judge
What does Grant Fox make of this? Or what about one of this countrys greatest philanthropists The Mad Butcher? They appear on Radio Sport to milk their profile, but if Vietch was to stay then theyd be compromised by cheery banter. Is it fair to expect them to make a stand they might want to make? Of course not..

And if Matthew Ridge, of all people, is getting on the moral high horse you know you are in trouble.

The laddie banter
Whether its the chemistry of the weather-link banter with Bernadine, or the stiled banter with Kath HW, this is now gone. How can he joke with Bernie about who she might fancy? And how can he bend Kaths ear about how men think lectures? That last line looks particularly vulnerable now.

What I did in the weekend
Always a big part of his Radio Sport show. But, seriously, does anyone want to know now? Visions of spine soccer in the bedroom will be hard to escape.

So, whichever way you look at it, it is not OK for Veitch to remain in the sporting media.