It’s been exciting times at MediaWorks in recent months, with big restructures in the business and man-slaughterers, fraudsters, bullies and drink drivers featuring on TV. Across at TVNZ, there hasn’t been quite as much drama and its new reality format Our First Home has been plodding along rather than taking the nation by storm, but one moment has made it to US clip show The Soup. Plus: searches for the word ‘fart’ spike after a case of flatulence on The Bachelor NZ.
Browsing: X Factor
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.
Apparently New Zealand hasn’t run out of talent just yet, because not long after MediaWorks’ big talent show wound up, TVNZ’s big talent show gets set to start.
As the broadcast sponsor of X Factor New Zealand, Ford and its agency JWT wanted to do something that would bring the various strands of music, aspiration and gratuitous car shots together. And, after filming wannabe stars and their various hangers on singing Che Fu’s ‘Fade Away’ in the back of a pimped out 2013 Kuga on the 27-stop audition tour, it’s released the final product.
Sponsorship isn’t just about logos on hoardings any more. It’s all about ‘activation’ and ‘integration’. And, with the X Factor hitting TV3’s screens this year, broadcast sponsor Ford and its agency JWT have already got in on the act with The Passengers, a campaign that aims to find “traffic light tunesters and side-street singers” to feature on a remix of Che Fu’s ‘Fade Away’. Plus: Last two X Factor judges named.
Saatchi & Saatchi snaffles a digi-boffin, a word from our X Factor sponsors, the Media Design School kids are alright, Adshel brings in a chief organiser, DB stalwart steps down, Gopher adds one to the burrow and Murray Lindsay swaps stations.
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.
Wendy Rayner’s new reign, Michael Laws drops the mic, DDB makes a deposit, changes at Woman’s Weekly, no comment from Fairfax, Top Gear New Zealand heads across the ditch, Charlie’s finds a new chief, Ideas Shop adds a new general manager, Alt Group pleases ze Germans, Mi9 moves them up the chain, Simon Barnett heads back to TV, Dominic Bowden takes on X Factor, Datamine adds an ‘Owl’ and Bright Sparks beefs up in the south.