Following MediaWorks’ media event yesterday, the company has announced a few changes for 2018; a new lifestyle channel ThreeLife, a new corporate brand identity, a shuffling of radio presenters and the return of familiar shows. StopPress talks with chief content officer Andrew Szusterman and head of programming and acquisitions Ben Quinn about the new channel, why we’re seeing another season of Married at First Sight New Zealand, and the consistency in what they do.
Browsing: Mediaworks
Industry happenings at MediaCom, The Warehouse Group, Mediaworks and Proof.
In light of the chopping and changing of personnel in the media arena, what do the ratings say about the year that has been and the year ahead for TVNZ and Mediaworks?
As YouTube’s brand safety concerns continue to come to light, Holden, Vodafone and Tourism New Zealand have suspended advertising on the video-sharing website, with MediaWorks and FCB weighing in on the debate.
Cantabrians Brooke and Mitch took out the latest edition of the Block NZ Villa Wars selling their renovated property for $1,350,000 netting them a windfall of $290,000 but the big winners for The Block NZ Villa Wars were MediaWorks, which returned very high rating numbers for the Sunday evening finale.
In his 1889 essay The Decay of Lying, Oscar Wilde observed that, “Life imitates art far more than art imitates life.” And in the more modern context, where reality TV has become one of the more popular forms of entertainment, this expression could be evolved to say something like: ‘real life imitates reality TV far more than reality TV imitates real life’. And nowhere is this clearer than in the example of a Reno Rumble poster that has been pasted onto the wall of the TVNZ building, which is currently under construction.
In a television age dominated by reality cooking shows like Masterchef and My Kitchen Rules, no doubt many of us feel we need to step up our game in the kitchen, and make sure each dish has at least one food source which is impossible to pronounce or perhaps includes kale from a remote region of New Zealand which has grown to the sound of children’s laughter and been watered only with water collected from a luscious mountain stream, or some chia seeds, or maybe some salted caramel topped with cream churned by the feet of baby ducks. But considering most of us don’t have the time or money to regularly produce artisan cuisines, sometimes we just want to whip up something quick, something we know improves the taste of our meal and something that won’t make us recoil from the state of our bank balances, like some ready-made gravy paste by Maggi.
Industry happenings at Mediaworks, Y&R, NZME and Blockhead.
Despite all the hype, reality food show Masterchef NZ’s first episode of the season has failed to deliver in the ratings department, no doubt another blow to Mediaworks as it struggles to compete with TVNZ which is still dominating with the most-watched shows on television.
Mediaworks has released its promo for its highly-anticipated new current affairs show Story, set to debut next month. PLUS ratings for Seven Sharp and Come Dine with Me.
Kiwi players are trying different models to grab on demand eyeballs as the use of the platforms grows exponentially. TVNZ expects shows offered ‘first and fast’ will come to join its top on demand content, Sky
has its eye on more live streamed channels and MediaWorks is gaining traction with 3Now.
Last night, the inaugural episodes of The Great Food Race and the fifth season of Masterchef New Zealand aired on TV3 and TV One, respectively. And with this started what could potentially turn into a ratings battle for food format supremacy in 2014.
In a new series, we talk to Kiwi keyboard tappers that have managed to shift from the personal realm of blogging to create online media brands that are widely read (and in some cases profitable). In the second segment, we chat to Dan Lake, the founder of Dan News.
Any year that includes a receivership is going to be difficult for a broadcaster. Add to this a breakup with a principal programming provider, gaffe-prone radio hosts and a steep decline in viewership, and things start to look increasingly bleak. Yet, despite these uneasy times, MediaWorks still managed to produce a few hit shows, increase its revenue and hold onto key audiences. So, here’s what Liz Fraser, the director of sales and marketing, thought of a topsy-turvy 2013.
Mike Hosking and Toni Street will be joining Jesse Mulligan as the presenters of Seven Sharp in 2014. To make way for the new pair of faces, current presenter Ali Mau and stand-in presenter Tamati Coffey will accompany Seven Sharp producer Mauricio Olmedo-Perez as they exit the TVNZ offices for the last time on 20 December. PLUS: Willie Jackson to return to RadioLive.
With little awareness, a tight budget and a whole range of complexities, MediaWorks TV tapped into the country’s passion for DIY and created a nation of ‘Block-a-holics’.
Willie Jackson and John Tamihere announced during their show that they will not return to RadioLive for the remainder of 2013. This comes shortly after all advertisers refused to run their ads during the pair’s show.
MediaWorks has announced that all primetime series from Fox “will be immediately replaced in the schedules,” meaning that shows like The Simpsons and Modern Family have already been removed from scheduling.
TV3 has confirmed that Nightline will take a break at the end of this year. In 2014, TV3 will be taking a new approach to late night news with The Paul Henry Show, which will see the controversial broadcaster wrapping up the day’s events every weeknight at 10.30pm. PLUS: Sacha McNeil’s new role still unclear.
According to Yahoo Finance, Americans spend about US$8 billion on Halloween every year, with the biggest chunk spent on costumes. And while Kiwis are yet to fully embrace the trick or treating culture, there’s definitely a buck to be made. PLUS: MOTAT’s Halloween event lures the ghoul lovers.
Brandspank, the Rialto Channel, TVNZ Blacksand, Sky Television and MediaWorks were among those flying the Kiwi flag at the PromaxBDA ANZ Awards last weekend. The awards honour top performers in on-air promotion, branding and advertising.
Spark’s casting of comedic pranksters Jono and Ben for the local versions of Heineken Dropped have paid off in YouTube views and effective Kiwi-fying of the international franchise.
When TVNZ nabbed the rights to Home and Away from MediaWorks early last month, it had to find a way to let people know that Alf Stewart’s stalwart old mug would be switching channels.
Now that same-sex marriage is legal in New Zealand, and the licenses have been signed, we round up the companies chasing that sweet pink money.
Last week we posted a story about TVNZ’s On Demand service hitting the three million streams per month milestone in March. And, in the interests of fairness—and comparison—we asked for MediaWorks’ figures as well. That’s when the fun started.
The Radio Industry Research Committee (which includes representatives from TRB, Mediaworks, and the Radio Network) has released its half yearly commercial radio listenership survey, which shows a year on year drop of 52,400 weekly listeners in the aged 10+ bracket.
The trouble with DRMLast week we saw a vulnerability in TV3’s On Demand service exposed, forcing the broadcaster to shut down its video streaming service for…
It may be semantics to some, but the difference between ‘easy listening’ and ‘take it easy’ means a world of difference for media brands like The Breeze.
Clearly not done with just taking our doctors, engineers, aunties and nephs, Australia is now looking to poach New Zealand’s reality TV talent for Beauty and the Geek Australia. FOUR has announced that next season of the gameshow will feature a Kiwi beauty and geek, but applicants must play into some heavy and insulting stereotypes in order to be eligible.
Campbell Live won its first battle in the 7pm timeslot last night, by attracting more viewers than its current affairs rival Seven Sharp. This is the first time the Mediaworks show has overtaken any TV One 7pm programme, a massive blow for TVNZ which has probably got John Campbell yelling “bloody marvellous” from TV3’s Mt Eden office.