Many MasterChef contestants quickly fade from view. But, with a big social following, the launch of a popular cookbook and a gig as Woman’s Day’s food columnist, Chelsea Winter has created her own thriving culinary empire. Here’s what she eats for media lunch.
Last night, the launch of the third season of The Block NZ kicked off a ratings war that will see the DIY-themed show take on TVNZ’s My Kitchen Rules over the next few months. And the overnight figures seem to indicate the first battle has gone to the side of DIY porn, with The Block NZ winning the lion’s share of the audience in the key demographic categories.
Dominic Corry sits down with Jeremy O’Brien, the TVNZ head of sales, to discuss the scale of branded content and how it goes beyond programme integration. They place emphasis on the different forms of branded content and give tips on how to effectively incorporate a brand into a programme.
Two of the country’s biggest TV shows came to their seasons’ end over the long weekend, with the fourth seasons of MasterChef NZ and My Kitchen Rules (MKR) continuing to bring in the viewers for TVNZ despite competition from MediaWorks’ big show X Factor NZ.
TVNZ is currently taking a bit of flak over the direction—and the fairly significant decline in ratings—of its new primetime show Seven Sharp. But one of its faithful servants has continued to perform, with the first episode of the fourth season of MasterChef increasing its total audience by almost 100,000 viewers compared to last year.
As consumers continue to find ways to avoid commercial messages, TV networks, brands and agencies are increasingly trying to make them unmissable by putting them inside some of their most popular programmes rather than inbetween, with the likes of MasterChef, The Block or the raft of talent shows all aiming to take things much further than a traditional sponsorship. And, as TVNZ’s head of sales Jeremy O’Brien announced at the network’s new season launch last week, TVNZ is trying to become more pro-active about cementing these relationships with brands with the creation of a new branded content initiative set to launch in 2014.