The StopPress editorial team recently took a tour of the new NZME offices and chatted to the NZ Herald’s managing editor Shayne Currie, editor Murray Kirkness and NZME digital audience engagement general manager Lauren Hopwood about why the move made sense.
As we’ve seen with the Campbell Live debate, fans believe the importance of the show can’t be reduced to ratings because it also serves an important social function. And broadcasters seem to be saying something similar when quantifying the success of reality shows that include a high level of sponsorship integration because they are leading to commercial results for advertisers. So is that also the case for the inaugural season of Our First Home, which wrapped up earlier this week after three live auctions?
Brands are increasingly looking to put their messages inside the content, rather than inbetween it. Formats like The Block NZ and Masterchef allow for what the broadcasters like to call ‘seamless integration’, even though it can sometimes be slightly gratuitous. And a rare few other shows, chief among them Jono and Ben at 10, are using their skills to weave brands into the content without annoying the audience or even creating content outside of the show. Chris Lloyd, sales manager at MediaWorks’ integration team, discusses its process.
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.
The first season of The Block NZ was a huge success for MediaWorks. For the sponsors, however, it surpassed even their high expectations of what television can do.