Paul Henry says there is no danger of TV One's show tonight being as "unwatchable" as the quiz show three weeks ago.

Straight-talking TV host Paul Henry has put his foot in it again, calling his employer's programmes "banal" and "unwatchable", and questioning the taste and intelligence of the TV-viewing public.

Henry, who as presenter of TV One's Breakfast has delivered sniggering put-downs of targets including a hirsute Greenpeace spokeswoman and British singer Susan Boyle, said "banal" stories on TV One's news show Close Up and its TV3 rival Campbell Live end up being some of the "most-watched, the most commented-upon stuff" on television.

"I sometimes see stuff and personally despair, and I think: is that current affairs? But it actually is."

When asked if programme-makers were underestimating or overestimating the intelligence of the New Zealand public, Henry giggled and said: "I seriously worry we might be overestimating it."

He is often surprised by which stories rank highest on the TVNZ news website: "My God! The things people care about. They really do care about Victoria Beckham."

Henry made the comments to the Sunday Star-Times during an interview to promote 50 Years of TV News, a whistle-stop tour of the history of Kiwi news broadcasting, which he co-presents with newsreaders Simon Dallow and Wendy Petrie tonight.

The programme comes three weeks after TV One screened the similarly nostalgic Cheers for 50 Years, a celebrity quiz show fronted by Jason Gunn that was widely watched but viciously panned by reviewers as "juvenile", "low-rent" and "appalling". Henry appeared to side with the reviewers. "I found it unwatchable – but I'm in the minority."

In a rare instance of self-deprecation, Henry added that he was as likely as any viewer to be drawn to trivia and "salacious gossip", especially since he started reading headlines from the women's magazines on Breakfast.

"I spend time flicking through them and I am genuinely intrigued that Jennifer Aniston can look that good at 41. It is extraordinary!"

When asked if this suggested TV journalism was getting dumber, Henry said this was "too simplistic" a question, as a balance between worthy and trivial stories was necessary to keep viewers interested, and "We shouldn't condemn people for the things that interest them."

Instead, the important question to ask of broadcast journalists in New Zealand was "are we missing really important stories? And the answer is no".

Henry added that there was no danger of tonight's show being as "unwatchable" as the Jason Gunn special. "I wouldn't have said yes to doing it... I'm pretty fussy with the things that I'll do."

PAUL HENRY ON...

Doing push-ups: "Obese people wouldn't have to go up at all."

Getting salmonella from fresh tomatoes: "It could be just those Hispanic people who pick them."

Whether women can do anything: "No, they can't ... they have no grasp of technology."

Men watching women breastfeeding in public: "Go on, have a look; have a good look."

Old people in rest homes: "They've moved into another dimension."

Rats: "They're very clean ... they clean themselves with urine."

On broadcaster Merv Smith: "He looks a bit like a Buzzy Bee now."

To a cellphone user at a Simon and Garfunkel concert: "God, I hate people ... I hate you."

- 50 Years of TV News, TV One, 8.30pm tonight.