A gossip column item targeting a rural women’s magazine has been muzzled; Shortland Street executives eye a public rebate scheme to keep the popular show alive; Former top TV3 boss in bid to win 6pm news contract; A new movie about Dame Jacinda Ardern’s leadership has a new working title
Media Insider: Shortland Street eyes rebate rescue; Gossip column pulled after magazine swipe; Top boss’ bid for Newshub
Shepherdess publisher Kristy McGregor; Shortland Street actress Courtenay Louise; former Prime Minister Dame Jacinda Ardern.
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The Hound felt more like a rabid dog as it took aim at Shepherdess and one of the magazine’s commercial supporters, Beef+Lamb NZ.
The anonymous column writer couldn’t understand why Beef+Lamb would dare spend some of its marketing budget “subsidising a basically glorified Woman’s Day glossy magazine”.
“One would have to seriously question the value to the country’s struggling meat producers subsidising such a niche publication with limited readership and distribution,” The Hound wrote.
“This looks very much like one of those woke diversity spends in an area where some savings could and should be instantly made.”
In a Facebook post last week, Shepherdess owner and publisher Kristy McGregor said waking up to the column was a “bit of a blow”.
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“We don’t think the person who shared their opinion in Rural News, under the guise of The Hound, understands our purpose: uplifting and empowering women - offering a place to tell the stories of brilliant women from across rural Aotearoa New Zealand,” McGregor wrote.
“It’s really tough out there at the moment, which is reflected in the media landscape, too - and it’s at times like these we need to be supporting each other.”
The post has received more than 1000 reactions and 140 comments in support. According to McGregor, Shepherdess - a high-quality magazine produced every quarter since April 2020 - has an estimated readership of 18,000 and a social media audience of more than 27,000, “which has a quarterly reach of 480,000″.
“Anonymous conservative columnists are so 1980s,” wrote one follower. “They are negative, energy sapping and irrelevant. The Shepherdess is a glorious and wonderful celebration of rural women’s mahi. I know which I would rather read.”
Another said it was a “cowardly” attack: “I have had the wrath of The Hound personally and it sucked.”
The Hound’s column has now been removed from the Rural News website, although the company is refusing to comment.
Editor Sudesh Kissun and publisher Brian Hight referred Media Insider to general manager Adam Fricker, who did not return several messages.
McGregor told Media Insider that she had been heartened by “overwhelmingly positive” messages of support after the column.
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“We knew that we had a wonderful community, but to see the breadth of support, from emails from 80-year-old great-grandmothers, young women in the rural sector, and many who aren’t rural but who still really see Shepherdess speaking and resonating with them - it’s incredible.
“A week on, Rural News haven’t been in touch with us, however we are aware that Beef + Lamb New Zealand have written a letter to their editor, and readers have shared with us letters they too have written to Rural News expressing their disappointment at The Hound’s misinformed commentary.
“We think calling it out and speaking to our community directly was the right thing to do. We showed that we’ll stand up for ourselves, and for the women that back us, and call out bullying.”
In the letter to Rural News, Beef+Lamb chair Kate Acland described The Hound column as “disappointing”.
She said her organisation advertised with Shepherdess “to highlight positive stories and initiatives in the sheep and beef sector”.
“Farmers have told us they want positive stories out there to celebrate the people and achievements that make our sector world-leading, and this cost-effective partnership helps us to achieve this.
“Shepherdess has a wide readership of (mainly) women across New Zealand who are involved in, or simply interested in, the agricultural sector. Kristy and her team have done an amazing job of shining a light on inspirational rural women and communities and telling their stories, in both the magazine and the related TV show.”
She also noted Beef+Lamb advertised in a range of other publications, including Rural News, “to ensure we can reach a wide and diverse audience”.
Besides all that, The Hound’s swipe was also off the mark in respect of its crack at Woman’s Day.
Magazines such as Woman’s Day, the New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and the Australian Women’s Weekly continue to enjoy substantial readership and engagement. I witness first-hand and every day the passion that goes into these titles - my wife is the editor of the Woman’s Weekly.
Their respective latest readerships - Woman’s Weekly at 458,000, Australian Women’s Weekly at 427,000 and Woman’s Day at 380,000 - outstrip the Rural News, which according to 2022 Nielsen figures, the most recent numbers published on Rural News’ website, had a readership of 170,000.
Shortland St’s lifeline - is it you?
Is it you, or is it me?
Lately, I’ve been lost it seems
I think a change is what I need
The opening lyrics of the Shortland Street theme song - penned three decades ago and lauded as one of our most enduring pieces of television music - perhaps hold more relevance about the show itself these days.
Our longest-running TV drama, which celebrates its 32nd anniversary next month, is in need of life support with TVNZ - as Media Insider revealed in March - reviewing whether it can sustain its multi-million-dollar investment in light of tough economic conditions and rapidly changing audience habits.
State-owned enterprise TVNZ, which relies on commercial revenue and has no direct taxpayer support, fully funds the show to the tune of eight figures a year, with no support from NZ on Air.
Ratings data show it is one of TVNZ’s most popular on-demand shows. But it’s a different story on linear television: from highs of almost 350,000 viewers in the critical 25-54 age group in 1999-2010, Shortland Street would be lucky to get a third of those numbers at 7pm now.
Several options are likely under consideration - production costs most definitely, but also the frequency of the shows and whether the 7pm linear timeslot might be freed up for a more commercially attractive offering.
Shortland Street’s production company, South Pacific Pictures, also believes the show can be given a huge boost, by allowing it to be eligible for the existing, 40 per cent domestic Screen Production Rebate (SPR), administered by the New Zealand Film Commission.
“Currently to be eligible for the domestic SPR, the budget for a drama series has to be in excess of $500k per hour,” says South Pacific Pictures managing director Andrew Szusterman.
“The international SPR which the likes of Netflix series [and] New Zealand-shot Sweet Tooth has accessed doesn’t have that requirement. It’s an anomaly that we’d like to see changed.”
The international version of the SPR considered total investment and the domestic SPR looked at per-hour spend, he said.
“It just doesn’t sit right,” said Szusterman.
“Shortland Street, by nature of being a serialised drama, and the efficiencies that are brought about by being a fast turnaround television production, doesn’t get close to that minimum $500k per hour threshold.
“We are advocating eligibility level changes for the domestic SPR. Television productions having a significant investment of over $15 million should become eligible.”
Szusterman cited a report from 2022 that highlighted the critical role the drama had played in the fabric of New Zealand - contributing more than $227 million to the economy, while also being a training and breeding ground for some of our biggest and brightest talent behind and in front of the camera.
“We believe this eligibility change will ensure its future and a key point is that change requires no Government bailout. It’s just a change in policy.”
A similar change had occurred in Australia, he said, with Home and Away now eligible for a rebate scheme and the Australian Government recognising the economic and cultural importance of the series. “We believe the New Zealand Government should follow suit.”
Arts, Culture and Heritage Minister Paul Goldsmith told Media Insider in a statement last night that he and Media and Communications Minister Melissa Lee were “working to understand the challenges and opportunities facing the screen sector”.
“While we are not planning any immediate changes to domestic rebate settings, it is something we may consider in due course.”
Meanwhile, for those who can’t get that Shortland Street theme song out of your head, here’s the full version:
‘Jacindamania’ movie loses ‘Jacinda’
A feature-length documentary film focusing on Dame Jacinda Ardern’s leadership has trimmed its working title and lost its original distributor.
The $3.2m film - set to receive at least $800,000 of public funding and a likely further $1.2m in taxpayer support through the New Zealand Film Commission-administered screen production rebate - was originally promoted with the working title of Jacindamania.
It then became The Untitled PBK and JP Project for a time but its new working title is Mania, Film Commission (NZFC) chief executive Annie Murray and the film’s producer, Emma Slade, confirmed yesterday.
The Herald revealed last month that the former Prime Minister was understood to be unhappy with the project and had distanced herself from it.
The film was presented to potential international partners as part of the NZFC’s slate at the Cannes Film Festival in May 2023. At the time, the working title was Jacindamania.
In a synopsis, the documentary is described as “a social excavation of the rise and fall of the young female leader, Jacinda Ardern, exploring how the mania that propelled her rise later collided with a backlash of hate, told through a bold mash-up of media and peer archive”.
That document also reveals that Auckland-based Ahi Films was the film’s distributor and its producers were Pietra Brettkelly, Chelsea Winstanley and Polly Fryer.
But Firefly Films - Emma Slade, Victoria Dabbs, Roxi Bull - are now the producers, alongside Brettkelly.
Winstanley and Fryer are no longer producers.
Ahi was also no longer the distributor, the NZFC’s Murray confirmed this week. She would not say why, referring Media Insider to Ahi for comment.
Ahi Collective chief executive Neil Lambert did not return messages.
Neither Murray nor Slade would name the new distributor.
“We are currently focused on making the film. There is no need for them to be named at this stage,” said Slade.
The NZFC, in order for it to agree to public money for a project, demands that a distributor be attached.
“To be clear, the documentary has a distributor attached as is required of all films NZFC invests in,” said Murray.
But she said the distributor would not be named “at this time” for reasons of “commercial sensitivity”.
Later, a spokeswoman said an application to the NZFC for production funding required a “deal memo” from a distributor.
“A deal memo was provided with the Mania application. As mentioned, we don’t include market partners in any of our funding announcements. When a project is confirmed for production funding, the agreement with the distributor moves from an ‘offer’ to a full agreement signed by all parties.
“In regards to Mania, this process is nearly complete, but the producer Emma Slade advises that we can’t confirm the name of the distributor until the process closes. Please be assured we will be very happy to share with you the name of the distributor as soon as possible.”
Murray said the applicant for Mania “satisfied all the funding guidelines for domestic distribution when applying for funding”.
“This included a deal memo from the distributor which met the NZFC requirements,” said Murray.
“In regard to publishing details of the distributor, the NZFC only includes filmmakers in our funding announcements.
“We don’t name market partners at this time. For reasons of commercial sensitivity, we aren’t able to confirm the distributor for this project at this stage, noting the contracting of all parties is yet to be finalised.”
Ex-TV3 boss in Newshub bid
Newsroom co-founder Mark Jennings is understood to have been involved in a bid to win the contract to produce the 6pm news on Three (TV3).
Several sources confirmed Jennings’ interest - as one of New Zealand’s most respected news executives and as a former director of news and current affairs at TV3, he has intimate knowledge of the Newshub operation.
Jennings founded the Newsroom website with former NZ Herald editor-in-chief Tim Murphy in 2017.
Sources say Newsroom’s Jennings led a bid for the Warner Bros Discovery contract, although its details - and how close the bid came to winning the contract - are unclear.
Jennings did not wish to comment yesterday.
Stuff was this week named the successful bidder - its first bulletin will screen on July 6, the day after Newshub’s final show.
In a statement yesterday, Warner Bros Discovery said: “WBD won’t be commenting on any specific bid, or even confirming who did bid. All parties involved in the process are bound by NDAs (non-disclosure agreements). All we will confirm is that we had more than 10 expressions of interest.”
NZME also made a bid.
In an astute column in late February, Jennings wrote of how Newshub staff might save their newsroom.
“Suggest that a slimmed down operation move to a smaller, cheaper suburban premises,” he wrote.
“Cut the news down to half an hour with one presenter.”
Millions more could be saved, Jennings wrote, with staff taking some form of pay cut, and asking the Government to forgo broadcasting transmission fees charged by Kordia.
“Then go to every big advertising agency and every big company in New Zealand and ask them to give Newshub a bigger share of advertising - at least until the economic climate improves.”
Following the news this week that Stuff had won the bid, Jennings was used by several outlets as a commentator and he also wrote in a follow-up column - titled “Stuff takes a big risk with Newshub” - that “Stuff will need to have got its cost projections spot on as it appears to have undercut rival bids”.
“[Sinead] Boucher and her team will also have to accommodate the views of WBD executives. [Glen] Kyne made it clear at the media conference that he considers the deal to be a ‘partnership’ and expects to be consulted on presenters and the ‘tone’ of the news,” wrote Jennings.
“It is understood the higher ranks at WBD feel Newshub has been too left-leaning in its approach to news and want to see it ‘straightened up’.
“This might prove to be the biggest of the many challenges facing Stuff as it enters the difficult world of TV news.”
Stuff’s big day and a CEO faux pas
It was all a little surreal walking into the Stuff building and newsroom on Tuesday to hear details of the company’s successful bid to run the 6pm TV news on Three from July 6.
It’s a positive move for the industry - congratulations to Stuff on the winning pitch - but, as Mark Jennings wrote, the company has a massive job as it works on the details of the new bulletin, including staffing, resources, a name, tone and production and technical details.
In the immortal words of Paddy Gower, there are just 78 days to go.
NZME - publisher of the NZ Herald and owner of Newstalk ZB - has reiterated this week that it was happy with the pricing of its own pitch, with the project likely needing substantial resources.
There are many at NZME who feel it has dodged a bullet. As a personal view, I believe that focusing on a terrestrial TV bulletin for 365 days a year has the potential to be a distraction, when there is a big audience to gain, and grow, through digital channels in the evenings.
Meanwhile, Newshub’s 6pm news on Tuesday made a small faux-pas in calling Stuff owner Sinead Boucher the company’s chief executive.
Stuff’s chief executive is Laura Maxwell - while she wasn’t front and centre on Tuesday, she was present, emerging for a quick hello with Media Insider after the press conference.
Boucher led the press conference, alongside Warner Bros Discovery’s New Zealand boss, Glen Kyne.
Boucher told the assembled journalists that it had been “full on” since confirmation last week that Newshub was closing, and Stuff had learned it had won the pitch to produce the news bulletin.
A team of people had been leading the charge at Stuff, Boucher said, including managing directors Nadia Tolich, Jo Norris and Matt Headland, chief product officer Ben Haywood, chief legal officer Allison Whitney, executive strategic advisor Fei Bian Goh and video content leader Chris Reeder.
Maxwell told Media Insider yesterday that she was now “flat out getting the teams driving our latest initiative forward after working to negotiate good terms and secure the deal”.
“I can advise however that as far as my involvement goes, I’m not going to be fronting the 6pm bulletin! Sorry to disappoint,” she joked.
It also means she’s had to pull out of the INMA World Congress of News Media in London next week.
Boucher was flying to Europe on Wednesday evening, with Media Insider spies spotting her on a flight to Dubai. Boucher is listed as an attendee alongside Haywood, as Stuff’s two representatives.
Traitors set to return
In a piece of very good news for the screen industry, filming is understood to be under way for the second season of The Traitors NZ, hosted by Paul Henry.
“I can’t confirm any shoot dates,” said South Pacific Pictures managing director Andrew Szusterman. “I can confirm it will screen this year though.”
The first season of the New Zealand version of the global format has screened in Australia and Canada. It is currently airing on the NBC-owned platform Peacock in the US and is about to launch on the BBC in the UK.
One Good Text
This week, we converse with one of the marketing and advertising industry’s best-known commentators, Damien Venuto, who left the news industry earlier this year.
Venuto, who hosted the NZ Herald’s Front Page podcast, is now senior account director at One Plus One Communications.
In case you missed it...
It’s been another huge week in the media world.
Earlier this week, Midweek Media Insider reported on a storm over the annual NZ Marketing Awards, with TVNZ ditched as a main sponsor after three decades in favour of Google’s YouTube.
In the same column, we also uncovered some major shareholding changes at MediaWorks.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, we delved into Stuff’s big move to start producing the 6pm news on Three (TV3) from early July. We also considered six key points for 6pm - and revealed the likely leading contender to be newsreader.
- Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
