Alan Tristram says the elephants in all NZ tv are the ghastly ads that pervade and degrade all serious programmes.

The worst example was on Waitangi Day when the fine NZ documentary Whina was ruined by constant crass advertising.,

This would never happen in Australia where viewers get their news and current affairs straight.

In NZ, the junked plan for merging radio and television would not have cured this.

It all comes down to money.

So here’s an idea: Why not use a fixed amount of lottery money to fund decent ad-free programming.

The money is there: Kiwis are inveterate gamblers and this could provide the money the Government is looking for.