MediaWorks followed up the announcement of the new season of The Block NZ with a campaign launch on Sunday night, drawing attention to the ‘battle of sexes’ premise underpinning this edition of the show.

As a rule, humans don’t like change. And outcry following the recent departure of Hilary Barry from MediaWorks once again reiterated this point. However, if there’s one thing we can learn from the Batman franchise, it’s that mourning periods eventually come to an end.

A MediaWorks employee who faces fraud charges amounting to $458,094 will retain name suppression until the case appears before the court on 22 June.

Today MediaWorks launched a new and improved version of its 3Now app for mobile and tablet including a new look and feel and upgraded functionality. We chat to MediaWorks chief information and product officer Tom Cotter about what users and advertisers alike can expect from the revamp.

Online ad viewability has long been an issue for publishers, with it being difficult to determine exactly how many people are actually viewing the ads served on a web page. And with interactive advertising spend hitting the $800 million mark this year, it seems more important than ever that advertisers know they’re getting the eyeballs they’re paying for. So, in response to the issue, MediaWorks has taken action, announcing today it’s guaranteeing all of its banner ads will be 100 percent viewable from 1 April, using Google’s DoubleClick product. We chat to MediaWorks head of digital sales and ad strategy John-Paul Randall about the change in functionality as well as the publisher’s other new function, which allows unblockable video ads to run across all platforms.

Hallenstein Brothers, NZ Rugby, ANZ and MediaWorks step up to the podium this week.

MediaWorks head of brand and marketing Katie Mills has ended her long tenure at the media company, taking up the position of general manager of marketing and communications at infrastructure consultancy Opus International Consultants.

In the build up to Jono and Ben’s return to television this Friday, MediaWorks has released a new campaign, which puts the dynamic duo in a bunch of different cinematic settings to reflect the show’s themes. The campaign is in conjunction with another for fellow Friday night favourite, 7 Days.

Sometimes I wonder why we download mobile news apps and allow oft depressing and sensationalist headlines to be zapped to our phones to give us bursts of misery and existentialist angst throughout the day. But we’re suckers for it, we want to know what’s going on when it’s going on, and the major news outlets know this (they also know our phones are practically glued to our hands or pocket insides). Which is why MediaWorks has wasted no time in launching a dedicated Newshub app with all the bells and whistles, which, 18 hours after it launched became the most popular app downloaded from the App Store.

The Edge has had a facelift, with a bright new logo and brand refresh to better suit its modern position as a multi-platform brand. The move comes only a week after its parent company MediaWorks had its own revamp.

Since last year, MediaWorks has been on a mission to pull together the disparate departments of the business to offer a fully integrated service across the various available channels. And this will be continued with the launch of Newshub on 1 February.

MediaWorks has announced via a release the appointment of Mark David as chief commercial officer (centre), a position that will see him oversee the commercial remit of the group. This appointment follows on from last year’s unexpected departure of head of revenue Liz Fraser to Air New Zealand, which left an empty seat around the executive table at the media company. In addition to announcing the appointment of David, Weldon also comfirmed that Paul Hancox (previously commercial director – pictured right) has shifted into the vacant group head of revenue role and that Alana O’Neill (with MediaWorks since 2013 – pictured left) has taken a new role as head of the newly merged integration and branded content areas.

Another current affairs personality has departed from MediaWorks, with David Farrier confirming via Twitter today that he will be leaving Newsworthy. In contrast to last year’s high profile departure of John Campbell and axing of 3D, the departure of Farrier was not an executive decision but rather a case of him deciding to leave the network of his own volition to focus on other projects.

It’s no secret that MediaWorks had a tough year in 2015, with major changes in its current affairs lineup provoking ire among both industry commentators and viewers and declining ratings for some of its big reality TV shows making things tough commercially. But it’s hoping a new year signals new beginnings, and the media company is kicking off 2016 with a new logo.