John Drinnan: Macho TV men are reducing female co-hosts to mere sidekicks

Bad mix? Duncan Garner and Heather du Plessis-Allen front Story on TV3.

To me, the men take charge, leaving women mere sidekicks.

I don't agree with Rachel Smalley's much debated view that TV networks must get more women presenting prime-time current affairs.

But in my opinion there is a problem with the male-female mix on the 7pm magazine shows - Story on TV3 and Seven Sharp on TV One. Seemingly macho and sometimes a little grumpy, Duncan Garner and Mike Hosking are dominant. Meanwhile, their co-hosts Heather du Plessis-Allan and Toni Street grin or tut-tut at jokes from the boys.

To be fair, Garner has a tough task. He has to hightail it from his drivetime show on RadioLive in Ponsonby, to TV3's Eden Terrace studios in less than an hour. He shares the screen with his "mate" Heather - a high-profile journalist in her own right, who he has noted is like a female version of himself. The answer, it seems producers have decided, is for Garner to take control.

Meanwhile, on Seven Sharp, Hosking is presented as offering intellectual heft, alongside Street's benign common sense (and yes, I know some will see "intellectual heft" and "Seven Sharp" as an oxymoron).

Seven Sharp is rating through the roof, so viewers don't appear to be bothered, but having the boys in charge is old-fashioned, and in my opinion Garner's dominance detracts from Story's appeal.

It must be hard for anyone to dominate du Plessis-Allan. Neither she nor Street is servile - it's just that they are pigeon-holed as the sensible ones. Notably, when Pippa Wetzell filled in for Street, she and Hosking came across as equals, rather than as star and sidekick.

So it's not an insurmountable problem. But in my opinion, to make Story a unique proposition, Garner needs to be reined in and the testosterone levels brought down.

The sharp end

Despite my reservations, I prefer Story over Seven Sharp. It's short, sharp and newsy, and the commentary does not have a political bent. Clearly, I am in the minority. Nielsen TAM ratings show Story made an impact when it started on August 10, then slipped back.

Over the past four weeks, Seven Sharp attracted an average of more than half a million viewers aged 5-plus. Story attracted less than half that audience, averaging just over 220,000 a night.

In the 25-54-year-old group, last month was Seven Sharp's strongest month since it launched in February 2013. But TV3's performance in the 7-7.30pm slot for that demographic has worsened since Story launched. That time-slot attracted an average of 97,000 people in that age group in the four weeks before the launch of Story. Since then, that figure has declined to 84,000 viewers.

Books still matter

Booksellers should be thanking Family First, which is seeking a changed designation for the prize-winning book Into The River. The family values lobby group believes the book by Ted Dawe is too sexual, and has obtained the first interim ban on a book in 22 years.

There is something quaint about focusing on a book, given all the sex and violence on TV, and the fact that the most illiterate teen can see any number of sexual practices online.

Family First director Bob McCoskrie accepted the disparity, but said Into The River had a high profile because it won top prize in the 2013 Children's Book Awards. In my opinion that suggests the call for an age restriction is about carving a legal notch in Family First's headboard, rather than protecting impressionable young readers.

But McCoskrie does have a point in insisting on a reliable certification process, so people can make an informed choice.

Meanwhile, Family First is delving into the media business - albeit in a very limited way. Family First TV - available on the internet - is a commercial relationship with a video-on-demand firm Good TV, which provide family-friendly entertainment. Good has similar arrangements with other groups and also trades in its own right.

Black all over

I'm something of a fair-weather friend of the All Blacks, but am happy enough to celebrate their victories - especially over Australia. In the olden days before I dropped Sky, I'd buy the sports package during the Rugby World Cup.

I accept that the All Blacks are gold in a sporting and commercial sense, but already I'm starting to weary of the commercial promotion of the Boys in Black, which has seen them feature in a clever (but over-long) Air New Zealand safety video.

This week there was the Anchor milk promotion that featured a limited number of black coloured milk containers. I do wonder if turning packaging black is good promotion - that milk container looked as though it was full of oil. As witty branding goes, it all looked a bit crude.

Anchor Milk Ad agency Colenso BBDO did not return calls.