Petition numbers convert into ratings for Campbell Live

Wednesday, 15 April 2015, 8:32 am
Press Release: ActionStation

MEDIA RELEASE
For immediate release
15 April 2015

Petition numbers convert into ratings for Campbell Live

Almost 70,000 New Zealanders have signed local campaign group ActionStation’s petition to save TV3 current affairs show Campbell Live and overnight those same people raised $10,000 to fund a creative petition delivery that will be, according to Campaign Director Laura O’Connell-Rapira, "impossible to ignore."

John Campbell has thanked organisers of the petition for their support, but some media commentators have criticised the campaigners efforts, arguing that petitions won’t help, only ratings will. They may, however, have underestimated the power of petitions to rally Campbell’s fans into action.

On Friday, organisers of the ActionStation petition asked everyone who had signed to tune in to watch the show. And they did, together with thousands of other New Zealanders, in great enough numbers to give Campbell Live it’s highest average audience for 2015, and making it the third-highest rated TV3 show on Friday.

‘’Petitions are often the best way to get the ball rolling,” said ActionStation Director, Marianne Elliott, “But they are not always enough, alone, to win the campaign. That’s why ActionStation is not just a ‘petition platform’ but a campaigning organisation using online tools like petitions to connect like-minded people and make it easy for them to take action offline and online. Our job is to make sure that when people choose to get involved, they can be confident that their efforts are part of smart, strategic campaigns that have every chance of being successful.”

On Monday night viewers returned in even greater numbers: 333,960 people tuned in to watch John Campbell, beating Friday’s record numbers.

“We’ll continue to remind our members, and everyone who signed the petition, to tune in at 7pm every night,” says Campaign Director Laura O’Connell-Rapira, “and we’re already planning the next steps in this campaign. Overnight our members raised almost $10,000 to fund a memorable petition delivery that will be impossible to ignore.”

Link to the petition: http://www.actionstation.org.nz/savecampbelllive

ActionStation is an online campaigning movement of more than 70,000 progressive New Zealanders who stand for social fairness, environmental sustainability and a transparent democracy. They launched in July last year and are part of an international network of similar member-led, multi-issued groups that use online tools to encourage online and offline action.

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