KEY POINTS:
Sports fans too poor or cost-conscious to buy Sky - or those who only want pay TV for the sport - should not hold their breath waiting for anti-siphoning rules to keep major sporting events for free-to-air channels.
"I'll eat my remote if it ever happens here," noted one Wellington observer.
The free-to-air networks are promoting the idea so that Sky TV - with its deep pockets - does not become so powerful that the networks are permanently outbid in top sports events.
The 2010 winter and 2012 summer Olympics will be the first owned by Sky and its free-to-air channel Prime TV and the first time they have not played on TVNZ.
TV3 is expected to lobby heavily for anti-siphoning in an upcoming review of broadcasting regulations.
One or two politicians - the Maori Party is mentioned in dispatches - are considering championing anti-siphoning as a populist vote-winner - keeping the All Blacks for free TV.
There is no question that Sky relies on its sports channels to attract new customers and would suffer terribly if it lost rights.
But Sky has some formidable back-up in the form of sports organisations who rely on Sky's fulsome bids for sports rights.
The All Blacks could be expected to join the fray.
They would be talking to Broadcasting Minister Trevor Mallard.
A former sports minister, Mallard would no doubt have heard Sky's view as a active member of the Sky-backed parliamentary rugby team.
Expect Sky TV to be knocking on politicans' doors in the run up to the elections. It will be a very active year for lobbying.
Music to the ears
Sixties New Zealand group Quincy Conserve and EMI are enjoying a dream run with the new TV2 channel promotion.
The new-look promo features zooming confetti - a bit like the effects in the movie Green Mile - turning crowds into dancing fools.
I can take or leave the visual effects. But TVNZ and its ad agency Saatchi & Saatchi and TVNZ have hit a winner with Aire of Good Feeling by the group, with the voices of Malcolm Hayman and Bruno Lawrence.
The infectious theme tune has been getting a strong reaction with dozens of viewers writing in to ask about the music, who wrote it and how they can get it.
So much so that the New Zealand Music Industry Commission says EMI is re-releasing the single
TV2 marketing executive Jodi O'Donnell said TVNZ had looked at several options and not just New Zealand bands.
Great choice. It's funny though that TV2 - which has always been the youngsters channel - has a theme tune from a sixties band.
TV One's promo shows folk pointing torches hopefully to the sky to the tune of young band Evermore.
Another Ellis spat
I know defenders of freedom of speech and no-holds-barred advertising will be cheering those hard-case chaps at Charlie's.
Schoolboy-mates-turned-Charlie's- company-directors Marc Ellis and Stefan Lepionka have rubbished the decision by the Advertising Standards Complaints Board that banned its "naked neighbour" ads.
They might like to promote the ads for Charlie's Soda as gentle harmless humour.
But did they really think they could run an ad so laden with sexual innuendo - and initially in general viewing hours?
Ellis and Stefan Lepionka are still deciding whether to appeal the ban. The campaign is still running in a viral form.
Lepionka acknowledged it might make sense to make some amendments so it did not breach rules.
Political correctness is in the eye of the beholder but this ad doesn't quite fit.
Advertising Standards Authority executive director Hillary Souter questioned the argument of Charlie's ad agency that there are much worse scenes in shows like Californication.
She points out scenes are not repeated over and over in one night. Souter notes that a lot of the issues for ad bans centre around where they are shown. If the nude neighbour ad had only been shown in Californication it would not have been banned, she said.
Eichmann for Oz?
Popular advertising industry veteran Greg Eichmann is expected to be given a senior role - possibly Australian CEO - for the FCB ad agency in Melbourne. In 2003 he stepped down from a role as head of FCB in New Zealand due to ill health, but he has recovered and re-entered the fray.
New Zealand has been a happy hunting ground for Aussie adland. In 2006 TBWA New Zealand general manager Philip O'Neill was named managing director of TBWA/Whybin in Melbourne.
DDB New Zealand CEO Marty O'Halloran was moved to run DDB Australasia - though he is rumoured to be considering a move back. And the CEO of Clemenger BBDO in Wellington, Peter Biggs, now runs Clemenger BBDO's Melbourne agency.
In other advertising news, Oliver Maisey has left creative director at M & C Saatchi for an unknown role. And top Saatchi & Saatchi international executives meet in Auckland next week.
Horses for courses
The National Bank may hold on to the licence to use the Black Horse motif for a few years yet. The bank is not ruling out an agreement with Britain's Lloyd's Bank - which owned National Bank prior to its sale to ANZ Group - to extend its licence past the current term to 2010. The horse is such an integral part of National Bank branding, losing it would create a big marketing problem.
The latest National Bank ad campaign puts it centre stage - wandering untethered through weddings and other family events. The equine ads created two lines of speculation in the ad world. One was that National Bank was flogging the nearly dead horse before the licence runs out in 2010. The second was that they had secured an extension.
It's neither, says National Bank managing director of retail banking Craig Sims. The licence has not been renewed past 2010. He says there is potential to negotiate over its use in the future.
By the way, in contrast to one or two previous horses who have been revealed as Australian, the latest, named Cody, is a New Zealander. And by all accounts he was remarkably easy to handle through the ads.
