Browsing: The Block
Haier, with Sherson Willis, is testing the truth behind the saying ‘men are from Mars and women are from Venus’ by watching Urzila Carlson and Pete and Andy tackle household tasks in the ‘#HaierHomeHack series’.
At Auckland Airport on Friday night, something slightly interesting—albeit not altogether unexpected—happened. The Kiwis enjoying a last-minute meal at the Bach Alehouse asked the waiting staff to turn up the volume of the television, not for a sporting or international news event, but for a reality TV show. Despite now being three seasons deep, Kiwis had clearly not tired of The Block NZ and they still wanted to see the action unfold during the finale, which saw Alex and Corban Walls walk away with $307,000. And the popularity of the show wasn’t limited to a holiday house-themed pub at the airport on Friday night.
On Wednesday night, Belinda MacDonald and Neena Truscott, dubbed the Modern Day Hippies, were crowned the first winners of My Kitchen Rules New Zealand. This moment concluded the battle for New Zealand’s latest food porn crown, while simultaneously bringing an end to a ratings battle that has waged since TVNZ first decided to schedule its programme against MediaWorks’ The Block NZ. StopPress takes a look at how the two formats fared against each other.
In this week’s edition, kudos goes to MediaWorks, VW, Honda and Instant Kiwi.
On Sunday night, MediaWorks unveiled the four couples that will gain palm calluses, lose sleep and drink copious cups of Wild Bean Coffee during the third season of The Block NZ. And given the solid ratings the show attracted in previous seasons, MediaWorks has given the latest edition a strong promotional push across its entire offering. Here’s a breakdown of how the broadcaster aims to hold onto its stong fan base. PLUS: find out which brands are partnering with MediaWorks for this season.
According to the latest Paymark figures, DIY action as a result of the buoyant Auckland housing market and the Christchurch rebuild have helped boost overall year on year retail spending in New Zealand by 4.3 percent. And there’s also been a boost in the number of TV shows aiming to tap into this domestic fever, with Mitre 10 Dream Home returning to TV2’s screens last week after a four year hiatus and Aussie powerhouse House Rules starting on TV3 last night. But it’s the homegrown effort that’s so far luring the most Kiwi DIY lovers.
For years, pessimistic pundits have been talking about the death of TV. But TV viewership is still as strong as ever, and ad revenue is standing fairly firm. One thing that has definitely changed, however, is the integration of brands into programming and the ability of social media to light fires underneath content, as evidenced most recently by the launch of the X Factor NZ—and the way broadcasters are now working more closely with marketers and creative agencies to come up with original branded content ideas.
While MediaWorks’ ownership and debt issues continued to bubble away this year, there were plenty of positives for those working at the coalface, including Four’s media brand of the year award and a very successful first run of The Block. Liz Fraser, who moved from MSN and chair of the IAB to take up the role of director of sales and marketing at Mediaworks TV, has her say.
What do you get when you cross glitter canons, cheerleaders showing their bums, overly dramatic sound tracks, media types eating all the nibbles and Paul Henry? A new season TV launch, of course. And first cab off the rank for 2013 was MediaWorks, which announced some of the goodies it will be showing on TV3 and Four at Sky City, interviewed some of 2012’s stars on the couch and introduced the first X Factor NZ judge, Stan Walker.
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.
The Promax BDA awards aim to celebrate the world’s best brand, creative and marketing initiatives within the television industry—and the agencies and network creative departments responsible for them. And TVNZ and Spicer & Martin, Sky and Brandspank, and MediaWorks all returned home from the Australia/New Zealand ceremony last week in Sydney with a few gongs between them.
Straight from the starter’s pistol, The Block NZ became TV3’s biggest show of the year. So has it maintained that momentum? How are those cheeky Pluk-ers doing with their mobile app? And what’s TVNZ got in store?
There was plenty of pomp, ceremony and promotional activity to celebrate the airing of the first episode of MediaWorks’ big reality show The Block last night. And the Nielsen TAM numbers have given the network something to crow about.
The Block is going off in Australia at the moment as it reaches the final stages of the current season, and MediaWorks is doing its best to ensure the same thing happens for the first season of the New Zealand version, launching a full-scale marketing assault created by the inhouse team that’s been pretty difficult to miss.
The Block is one of the biggest reality TV shows in the world. In Australia, where the show began, it remains the highest-rated television series of all time, and over 350 episodes have been produced in the UK, USA, Israel, Russia, Romania, Belgium, the Netherlands and Scandinavia. Given New Zealand’s penchant for property, it’s perhaps surprising it’s taken this long to arrive here, but it’s landing soon and MediaWorks is claiming a first for a major New Zealand television series by allowing foundation partners whose brands are integrated into the show the ability to use the stars in commercial campaigns outside the broadcast of the programme.
MediaWorks TV launched its new season line-up in Auckland this morning. And there’s sure to be some gasps, both of horror and delight, following the much anticipated announcement of the return to screen of controversial broadcaster Paul Henry.