Stories about TVNZ published on StopPress – Aotearoa/New Zealand’s daily news site for the advertising and marketing industry.
Less than one year into the role and just before the launch of the new primetime news show Seven Sharp, TVNZ’s head of news and current affairs Ross Dagan has followed in the footsteps of his Australian predecessor Anthony Flannery and resigned to return to his homeland. He will depart the network in March.
There still seem to be a few holiday tumbleweeds out there in marcomms land, but we managed to find a few contenders, with TVNZ’s colourful Seven Sharp promo, Animates’ accurate Doomsday prediction and nzgirl’s raunchy ‘regretgasm’ spot featuring in the year’s first round.
Shortland Street fans rejoice. Now you can do your on-demand catching up with the gang from the big screen. Mobile screen fans to get some love in February.
Latest current affairs show on New Zealand TV landscape promises to tell the news with a bit of a laugh. Don’t we already have 7 Days for that?
With a new chief executive, a new joint venture with Sky, the highest rating show of the past ten years for New Zealand’s Got Talent, plenty of interest in branded content, and the march of mobile seeing new Ondemand apps on the horizon, it’s been a big year for TVNZ—and, after knocking newspapers off the top ASA spot and charting ten year highs for viewership, TV in general. Head of sales Jeremy O’Brien talks.
New Zealand’s Got Talent launched with plenty of fanfare and massive ratings back in September, and, with Marlborough teenager Clara van Wel announced as the winner last night, it finished on a high note as well, cementing its place as the most watched show of 2012 and the biggest show of the past ten years.
Almost one year after it was officially announced (and a bit longer after it was unofficially announced), Sky and TVNZ’s joint venture Igloo has finally got its googly-eyed mascots to deliver its set-top boxes into the wild. And it’s also launched its brand campaign, via Sugar&Partners.
There are a few major trends in TV consumption at the moment and they seem almost diametrically opposed, with second screening leading to an increase in the popularity of programmed ‘event TV’ that can be discussed with the community, and technology that allows viewers to watch content on their own terms. TVNZ is tapping into the former with its range of existing shows and its new branded content initiative, and, as TVNZ’s general manager of digital media Tom Cotter says, the latter is being taken care of with some big changes to its Ondemand platform, including a Samsung Smart TV solution and the region’s first ever iOS and Samsung apps.
No one likes to be shouted at, not least by the likes of the Big Save Furniture lady and Harvey Norman, who for the past goodness knows how many years have had sales on every other day apparently worthy of an aural assault. But that’s all set to change this coming Sunday, when Television New Zealand decreases the decibel limit of its television advertising as part of a sound compression agreement signed by all the major networks.
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.
TVNZ brought out the big guns last night as it announced the launch of some snazzy new Ondemand toys and the new and returning shows for 2013 to trade and media. And here are a few glamour shots.
It aims to put on good shows all year, and, with a selection of its stars wheeled in (including a performance from the biggest of them all, Billy’s Big Brass Brand), a few branded ice sculptures (rumour has it new chief executive Kevin Kenrick fashioned them with his bare hands), lots of bass, some slick production and plenty of delicious things in spoons, TVNZ certainly put on a good one last night to launch its 2013 season.
The hairy battle has commenced and Nigel Hooker from Apollo Marketing has been awarded the prestigious mo of the week title.
Kim Hill gets a big international plaudit, Colenso gets greedy, Geoff Devereux goes indie, New Zealand Blood goes digital with Young & Shand, MediaWorks swipes another TVNZer, TVNZ’s new 7pm show gets going, Hayley Holt heads to More FM and Jason Willis lights his Fuse.
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 TV industry, here and around the world, is currently dealing with some major challenges, but all that serious business was mostly forgotten on Saturday night as the stars—from in front of and from behind the camera—of the local industry turned up to accentuate the positive at the 2012 New Zealand Television Awards. And in the annual (mostly) two horse race, it was MediaWorks that wrested the big news prizes off TVNZ, and TVNZ that took home most of the prizes in the drama and reality sections.
Two days in to November and the lip hair of males around the country is already sprouting. The Movember industry challenge also kicked off yesterday, and while there are a few publishers stepping up to the mark, it could do with a few more contenders from agency land. But there’s still time. And all those who enter will be up for some tasty beverages, with Mo of the Week sponsored by TVNZ, which is putting four $150 bar tabs up for grabs, and Most valuable Mo sponsored by iSite, which is putting up a $300 Libertine voucher. Robert Dunne, the Movember country manager, will be picking the winners. So if you’re up to the task, register now, join your agency team and the Movember agency challenge (or become a team captain for your business) and show the industry just what kind of incremental growth you can deliver.
Bum wiping and high fashion are fairly strange bedfellows. But Kleenex’s Paper Dresses campaign has been mixing the two surprisingly well since it launched in 2009. And the final cog in this year’s nine-month campaign, which upped the ante thanks to a collaborative effort between Ogilvy, Kimberly-Clark and TVNZ, has come out on top of the September round of Colmar Brunton’s Ad Impact Award.
The axe is hovering over Close Up after a release was sent out yesterday saying it was looking at a ‘proposal’ to switch it off in favour of what TVNZ’s news and current affairs head Ross Dagan calls a “new daily current affairs show with a distinctively different format”. Most believe it’s already a done deal, and if it goes ahead, the show will finish up by the end of the year, bringing an end to a format that’s been running for 23 years.
He’s a world-class academic, a gifted leader and a massive attribute to the marketing community. And now The University of Auckland’s Rod Brodie takes his rightful place in the TVNZ Marketing Hall of Fame.
From the 100% Pure New Zealand campaign to the launch of the Honda City, George Hickton has proven time and time again that marketing is a philosophy that underpins a business, rather than just a function within it.
TVNZ and BrandWorld sent their new The Extra Mile masthead into the wild this week, and promptly apologised for hosting the advertorial segment on its news website. And MediaWorks is playing in the masthead sandpit as well after launching a new integrated advertising platform called Focus TV late last month. And, in what it sees as branded content—and what others might see as another example of commerce encroaching further on editorial integrity—the host and TV3’s ex weather presenter Toni Marsh is being called a ‘reporter’.
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.
As the old idiom goes, bad news travels fast. And, in a world where the ‘corporate fail’ is prime social media—and, increasingly, mainstream media—fodder, spreading the good news is becoming increasingly difficult. So, in an effort to balance the ledger somewhat, TVNZ and BrandWorld set up a new platform called The Extra Mile—almost like the commercial equivalent of One News’ Good Sorts segment—to bring more attention to some of those positive tales. And the inaugural episode was broadcast last night on TV One.
My Kitchen Rules is currently screening on TV2 and, after some nice promotional work by TVNZ and Contagion and with the first ever Kiwi pairing featuring on the show this season, it’s drawing a fair swag of eyeballs. We’ve got three copies of judge Pete Evans’ cookbook Pizza to give away. So tell us your most interesting pizza combination (StopPress suggestion: Muttonbird and edam), come up with a name for it and the best efforts will get the booty.
TVNZ is currently revelling in some massive numbers for New Zealand’s Got Talent, which went from an average 5+ audience of 935,000 in its first episode to 975,000 last night. It’s got another ratings tiger by the tail with My Kitchen Rules on TV2 and, in an effort to emphasise that it is less like a simple cooking programme and more like a character-driven, drama-filled reality show, it developed a campaign in conjunction with Contagion based around the idea that ‘Some things don’t mix’.
Changes afoot for ZenithOptimedia, Vivaki takes flight, local McDonald’s man receives top burger honour, Firebrand skims The Pond, The Press announces its new editor, George Mackenzie gets an international call-up, Waitemata smells the roses, the downlowconcept gets it Phil, The Sweet Shop nabs a New Yorker, Spikes Asia entries on the upward trajectory, We Can Create announces its line-up, and the end of an era for TVNZ.
Coming at a cost of $3.2 million, TVNZ and NZ on Air, along with major sponsor Toyota, have invested heavily in New Zealand’s Got Talent. And after the first episode of the international format show aired last night, that investment looks set to pay off, as it was the highest launch for a New Zealand entertainment/reality show in the past seven years.
TVNZ’s balance sheet took a hit last year after the ill-fated TiVo investment was written off. But, despite an almost $4 million decrease in underlying earnings, the bottom line is looking healthier, with after tax profit for the year ended 30 June 2012 increasing from $2.1 million in 2011 to $14.2 million this year. PLUS: new chief executive Kevin Kenrick’s speech at the TVNZ-NZ Marketing Awards.
For all you effectiveness sponges out there, Red Spider Network’s Charlie Robertson, a world leading strategic planner in brand strategy and communications and the international guest judge for this year’s Effie Awards, will be spreading the good word tomorrow night at at a function hosted by CAANZ, TVNZ and AUT Business School.