TVNZ’s board comes under fire from the man who appointed them - the board responds; RNZ may move in with TVNZ; The Chase star lets Mike King in on some show secrets; Ad agencies brace for hefty reduction in Government contract fees; One of NZ’s most lucrative ad accounts is
Media Insider: Willie Jackson takes aim at TVNZ board he appointed; The Chase star opens up to Mike King; RNZ may move in with TVNZ; ad agencies face shake-up
Former Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson; the cast of The Chase.
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With just a few months until the general election, the appointments were late in the electoral term, though perfectly legitimate. They were seen by some observers as Labour Government appointees who would have an enduring influence on TVNZ’s public broadcasting strategies and principles.
A year on – almost to the day – and Jackson’s tone has changed.
He is clearly disappointed in TVNZ and the board in particular.
“I’m a bit disappointed. I’m disappointed that they went after shows like Sunday instead of making some allowances, particularly when we push a New Zealand identity.
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“We talk about public media, and we talk about a public voice, a national voice - that’s probably one of the landmark shows in terms of giving a New Zealand perspective every Sunday.
“So I’m disappointed. I’m disappointed with the way they treated the workers - they were too quick to try and get workers out the door. I’m not happy with the cuts and I’m a bit disappointed in the board. I appointed that board.”
He said the man who now holds his old portfolio, National’s Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith, had told him a couple of weeks ago that the TVNZ board was a good one.
“So I was worried straight away.”
Jackson said he thought the board might have shown some respect by at least talking to him about recent developments. “Not a word, not a message.”
“The ones that we put up, we thought, were very much public media people. They would give a perspective ... they either had experience, they had insight, they had history in terms of New Zealand identity.
“And we didn’t think their commercial skills were too shabby either.”
He said he had considered the board members well-rounded and well-balanced, with strong governance skills. Some had broadcasting history, and he thought they’d all focus on the “New Zealand story” as an “absolute priority”.
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“So I’ve got to confess, obviously as the former minister, there’s a bit of disappointment from myself and others that we haven’t really seen much evidence of that at all. We’ve had no reports, no messages... there might have been some sort of contact out of respect.”
He acknowledged the board might be acting strictly as agents for the Government of the day.
“They were our board. Looks like they’re going to be National’s board now. They have got a pretty secure future, so it must be doing okay.”
Through TVNZ’s communications team, chair Alastair Carruthers issued a statement.
“It became clear last year that the brutal commercial challenges facing all media needed immediate attention at TVNZ,” he said.
“The board is very mindful of TVNZ’s obligations to Aotearoa, and is focused on maintaining New Zealand content and a strong news and current affairs offering.
“The way audiences access and use content is changing, and TVNZ needs to continue to adapt the way it delivers public broadcasting. The board supports management in making tough choices as we respond to a prolonged advertising downturn and accelerate our transformation programme for a digital future.
“TVNZ has a clear commercial mandate, and it needs to deliver on this to ensure it can be a sustainable public broadcaster.”
A TVNZ spokeswoman said: “We’re proud of the local content we continue to bring to NZ audiences in an environment where the economics are increasingly challenging.
“We have approximately 100 local shows in production or development, we air 28 hours per week of news and current affairs content alongside our rolling 1News.co.nz coverage and youth news platform Re:, and we are adding to our free-to-air sport offering – most recently with grassroots rugby and NZ netball.”
The commercial landscape for TVNZ has changed dramatically in 12 months.
It has been a baptism by fire for the new-look board, which has had to sharply focus on urgent commercial matters - TVNZ’s balance sheet and future strategic direction – but there have also been some missteps with the restructuring.
Aside from all of that, TVNZ, under legislation, must operate as a commercial enterprise.
It has been particularly hammered by a rapid decline in advertising revenue in the past 12 months - it had been predicting a $15.6 million loss this financial year (TVNZ’s financial year ends on June 30), but it warned earlier this month that the operating losses would be double that, in the region of $28m to $33m.
Goldsmith told Media Insider earlier this month that he retained confidence in the TVNZ board.
“We are concerned about the financial performance of the company, and we expect it to work towards a plan to rectify that,” Goldsmith said.
“The Government is actively considering a range of options to deal with some of the issues facing the media in New Zealand.”
It is understood these considerations span a number of operational and strategic areas, including allowing Sunday morning TV advertising and reducing or cutting transmission fees.
The Government also needs to make a long-awaited decision on the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, which – if passed – would force global tech giants to help fund the journalism that drives their business models.
Jackson in the spotlight himself
Willie Jackson himself faced heat from Paul Goldsmith this week, when he turned up late to a parliamentary select committee hearing.
As part of Parliament’s new “scrutiny week”, Goldsmith was in front of the social services and community select committee to talk about the media industry’s challenges and possible future Government policies.
The hearing started at 9.05am; Jackson turned up for the one-hour session with just over five minutes left.
Goldsmith used the incident to describe Labour as “shambolic”.
“Willie Jackson talks big, but when he has the opportunity to do the work, he’s missing in action,” Goldsmith told Media Insider.
Earlier he said: “It’s a little bit surprising that the opposition spokesperson didn’t seem to make it to what I think is one of the most important opportunities in the year to hold the minister to account.”
Jackson hit back yesterday, saying an administrative error had caused the problem, and a staffer in his office had apologised profusely.
“You really think I would be avoiding Goldie? I’ll spend the whole day... I’ll spend a week with Goldie if he likes.”
Jackson said his staff thought there were two sessions on media but it turned out the economic development, science and innovation select committee hearing in the afternoon was focused on Goldsmith’s communications portfolio, rather than media.
“Goldie still could have answered questions in the afternoon, but decided to play politics. It was a shame because we had prepared well for his session.”
RNZ could move in with TVNZ
Their proposed merger fell by the wayside but there is a chance RNZ and TVNZ staff could be still working together, literally, in future.
Media Insider can reveal TVNZ and RNZ have been in talks about the radio broadcaster’s 150 Auckland staff moving into the television broadcaster’s expansive Victoria St headquarters.
“We are talking to multiple parties, including RNZ, about the opportunity to take up some space in our Auckland building. These are commercially sensitive conversations,” said a TVNZ spokeswoman.
TVNZ has the space, especially with its flexible working arrangements and people working from home.
It plans to lease up to three floors of the building, although the spokeswoman said, “this would depend on the organisation or organisations that took up the space”.
“We already have an existing tenant in our building, Pacific Co-Operation Broadcasting Limited [PCBL], so this is not entirely new for TVNZ.”
RNZ staff, meanwhile, are in a building in Cook St that is well past its use-by date for RNZ’s purposes.
RNZ’s lease on the building expires on April 30 next year.
“The office does not meet the modern standards we expect for our staff, guests or for a multi-platform media business, therefore renewing the lease at that location for a long period of time is not an option,” said an RNZ spokeswoman.
“If we do not find a suitable location before 30 April 2025, we will consider renewing the lease at the current site but only for a temporary period.”
She confirmed the broadcaster would need offices to accommodate more than 150 staff and a range of studios.
“We already collaborate with TVNZ in a range of areas, including sharing content and co-locating offices, for example we share a building in Christchurch,” she said.
“It makes sense for us to consider any available space in their Auckland building, however, no decision has been made and we are considering a range of options.”
Media Insider understands RNZ has been seeking some sort of lease deal, but that TVNZ plans to charge a normal commercial rate - this might be a sticky point, although neither party was commenting yesterday.
Chase star opens up to Mike King
While there is a lot of focus on TVNZ’s financial issues, the state broadcaster also has a lot of strong content initiatives – including a plethora of live sport (including, right now, the Euro football championships) and a pending ratings battle with a new-look 6pm news, produced by Stuff, on TV3.
And it has The Chase.
The Chase is a ratings phenomenon and - from a linear television perspective – plays an important role in helping TVNZ win the 6pm news ratings each evening.
Next month, Chaser Shaun Wallace aka “The Dark Destroyer” returns to New Zealand for a series of Believe It Or Not quiz events to help raise money for charity.
Wallace spoke to I Am Hope’s Mike King in a video interview this week, revealing some of the secrets of the show - and his own approach.
Wallace, 64, still practises law as a criminal barrister.
“It was always important to actually keep my career going because although the show is extremely popular and phenomenal, the one thing I never take for granted, Mike, is the fact that I’m going to get another contract or ITV will commission the show,” Wallace said.
“So I’m only as good as my last closing speech as a lawyer and I’m only as good as the last question I answer correctly as a Chaser. I never, ever take things for granted.”
The former Mastermind champion and Chelsea football supporter has been a Chaser for 15 years, ever since the show started in 2009.
He says being a lawyer has helped him in the white heat moments under the TV studio lights.
“I’m a trained barrister, I’m trained to think on my feet, I’m trained to research.
“I’m trained to sort of be fearless. I’m trained to answer questions under pressure because I do that in court.
“So I’ve used those skills in a transferable way to the shark-infested world of quizzing and entertainment.”
He revealed the Chasers don’t gather together before each episode, as they used to do.
“When we first started out... we had to hang around in the studio, behind a backstage, and I started to complain because a) it was a waste of my time, and b) I could be doing something productive professionally in terms of going to court in the morning.
“They recognised that. So we now come in, when [it’s] our designated time.”
Wallace learned firsthand last year how popular the show is in New Zealand. Globally, he says a turning point for the show was the moment host Bradley Walsh lost the plot when he posed the question, ‘In what sport does Fanny Chmelar compete for Germany?’.
The phonetics had him in stitches.
Wallace says every Chaser has a weak spot. His is TV soaps. Whenever there’s a question about those, it’s invariably a guess.
WHERE TO CATCH SHAUN WALLACE
Friday, July 5: Memorial Hall, Queenstown SOLD OUT
Sunday, July 7: Town Hall, Dunedin SOLD OUT
Monday, July 8: Plymouth International, New Plymouth
Wednesday, July 10: Sky City, Hamilton
Friday, July 12: Turner Centre, Kerikeri SOLD OUT
Sunday, July 14: Sky City, Auckland
Tickets for the I Am Hope Shaun Wallace charity shows can be purchased here: https://store.iamhope.org.nz/events/
Ad agencies face big shake-up
Some of New Zealand’s biggest advertising agencies are embroiled in a public sector shakedown, with the Government looking to make big cuts in taxpayer-funded marketing contracts and pricing.
MBIE has confirmed it expects savings of between 20 and 22 per cent on hourly rates, as a result of introducing a new panel of providers for advertising and design services.
The pricing cuts are expected to impact some advertising agencies hard – firstly, they need to try to stay on the panel and then accommodate any cutbacks into their operating budgets. That could have implications on staffing and other areas of their budgets.
A number of agencies are understood to have missed selection to be on the creative services roster following an evaluation process in April and May but a source says they have been fighting a rearguard action, and may still end up as official providers.
But, said the source, they appeared to have been caught flatfooted initially, offering rates that MBIE was not willing to bear.
Under the current contracts, stretching back over the past decade, there are 136 providers of advertising services and 84 providers of design services - 220 in total.
MBIE expects that total number of providers to increase “significantly, especially with smaller, and niche providers offering services to meet government agency’s needs”, said New Zealand Government procurement head of collaborative procurement Tim Sherborne.
It is clearly a sensitive topic, with various ad agencies reluctant to comment this week.
In a statement, Comms Council chief executive Simon Lendrum said: “I can’t comment on any specifics, but we have been, and continue to be, committed to constructively engaging with MBIE on behalf of our members in relation to the All-of-Government panel RFP.
“Our primary concern is that the process has focused on driving agency rates down well below commercial levels, in a blind bidding process, without any associated quality criteria to ensure that the Government continues to have access to the fullest range of the very best capability in the market.
“We remain engaged on these concerns and hope to work with MBIE further to ensure best outcomes for both government and my members.”
Government contracts are some of the most lucrative deals in the advertising industry.
Take, for example, the likes of NZ Transport Agency Waka Kotahi and police with their road safety advertising and, during Covid, the likes of the “stay home” messaging from the Ministry of Health.
Special events such as general elections and the Census are also lucrative contracts.
The new panel and contracts had been expected to go live from Monday, but this has been delayed.
“The evaluation phase is taking longer than expected due to the high number of responses from providers to the RFP,” said Sherborne.
“As the due diligence process is still under way, we are unable to confirm which providers have been selected at this point in time.”
The evaluation process in April-May was based on a number of objectives and criteria including delivering increased public value “through an improved commercial and pricing model enabling savings through a one-stop solution for government agencies”; “Improved competition” through changes to the panel structure; and “improved access to provider performance and relative pricing comparison to better inform government agency buying decisions”.
Nevertheless, the Government expects significant savings – the new contracts would “support agencies’ efforts to deliver value for money and exercise fiscal responsibility”.
“The new contract will enable agencies to make better comparisons between provider offerings, which is expected to result in savings between 20 per cent and 22 per cent on hourly rates across the service offering,” said Sherborne.
“These figures are based on an average of the hourly market rates received from all respondents and the average AoG rates of the proposed panel.”
It will now take a few more weeks to confirm and “onboard” successful providers.
“Any services orders under the current advertising services and design services contracts that are still in play after the contracts expire on 23 June 2024, will continue until their end date,” he said.
One Good Text
We catch up with Newstalk ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper.
Lion hunts for new agency
One of New Zealand’s biggest advertising and media accounts is up for pitch.
Lion has gone to market, and incumbent EssenceMediacom has elected to step away - its business decision has left the field open for a new agency.
Lion NZ marketing director Annemarie Browne said the company was disappointed EMC would not be part of a new pitch.
“EMC have looked after our media for four years, through some pretty challenging times, and done a great job,” said Browne.
“Like many companies, we feel it is prudent to regularly review our key partnerships and contracts, and as media is such a key business investment for Lion NZ, it is timely that we review the options to ensure we are best placed for the future.”
One source estimated the account involved media spend of around $15 million a year.
It involves marketing for all of Lion’s key brands including Steinlager, Speights, all Lion-owned brands such as Kirin Hyoketsu and Four Pillars, partner spirits and beer brands, and the company’s wine brands such as Wither Hills, Mt Difficulty and Lindauer.
Browne would not comment on the financials but said media industry consultants TrinityP3 were managing the pitch and would be making recommendations on the new agency.
“We are still working on a final timeline, but plan to have our confirmed agency in place for FY25,” she said.
Browne is one of New Zealand’s most respected marketers, who joined Lion earlier this year after more than five years at Lotto.
PHD, which looks after Lotteries, might be a leading contender for the Lion account, but Browne was giving nothing away.
“We haven’t even been presented with the long list yet, but of course we will be looking to find an outstanding strategic partner who is the right cultural fit for Lion NZ.”
A spokeswoman for GroupM, owner of EMC, said they couldn’t comment on their decision not to pitch again.
E tū takes aim at NZME; Stuff to close Taupō paper
The E tū union has taken aim at NZME over a proposal to cut up to 12 roles in regional North Island newsrooms, and replace them with new roles in Christchurch, Wellington and other editorial teams.
In a press release this week, E tū negotiation specialist Michael Wood said NZME - publisher of the NZ Herald and owner of Newstalk ZB – should not underestimate the importance of regional news.
“The media are the vital connections between groups and individuals, from local sports groups to community culture, to emergency services organisations.
“Recent history with emergencies and disasters has shown exactly how important it is to have good reporting on the ground in all our communities. Reducing the capacity for local storytelling would harm how communities respond to these events.”
NZME editor in chief Murray Kirkness earlier said: “The proposed changes would ensure we continue to serve regional online audiences while ensuring newsrooms have the resources and freedom to deliver excellent local content for print subscribers.
“We are proposing to remove 10-12 current roles, some of which are currently vacant, and we will then reinvest into new editorial roles across the country. This is not about saving money but reinvesting in other editorial areas.”
NZME, Stuff and Allied Press – all privately owned – remain the three biggest investors in regional media in New Zealand, with more journalists than any other business.
All three have invested in new mastheads this year.
NZME and Stuff are clearly realigning resources, to reflect audience demand.
Stuff announced this week it was closing four Waikato community titles - Piako Post, Matamata Chronicle, South Waikato News and the Hamilton Press - and replacing them with one all-encompassing masthead for the Waikato region.
Stuff Masthead Publishing managing director Joanna Norris said Stuff had been reviewing its community newspaper footprint since January. “The portfolio was often overlapping and in some cases needed updating.”
Asked if any roles/jobs were being cut, Norris said no editorial roles were impacted – she said the company had recruited two new community roles and was looking for one more. Her statement did not specify any other departments, for example, commercial.
As part of its review, Stuff is also closing its Taupō Times community newspaper next week. Taupō content will now be included under The Post digital masthead.
“We want to deliver local news in the formats that suit our audiences and customers.”
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.
