TVNZ sport and events GM Melodie Robinson and Newstalk ZB host Kerre Woodham. Photos / Dean Purcell, Jason Oxenham
A massive loss of expertise at TVNZ - cuts provide one of the starkest examples yet of challenges facing commercial media; Kerre Woodham’s salient reminder of how clever hackers are becoming; Several well-known names leave top advertising and PR roles; All the winners from the Pressies Awards.
Some of TVNZ’s highest-profile and most senior leaders will depart the business next year, amid a raft of big changes as the state broadcaster executes a heavy round of cost-cutting.
Twenty-four general manager roles have been dis-established and 15 new roles have been created, for a total headcount reduction of nine at some of the highest levels of the state broadcaster. Most of those affected will leave in February, although some will stay on to finish projects.
The TVNZ job losses - all major commercial media businesses have been cutting staff costs and other expenses - are some of the starkest examples yet of the big economic and advertising revenue challenges facing the industry.
“It’s huge,” said one TVNZ source. “Essentially content and commercial were the two that have been totally ripped apart.”
A raft of well-known and respected names have been involved in consultation at TVNZ including GM sport and events (and former Black Fern) Melodie Robinson and GM direct and regional sales Glenn McGahan.
Both have featured in press releases for the state broadcaster this week, Robinson promoting the state broadcaster’s summer cricket coverage and McGahan announcing a new Australian advertising deal.
Approached yesterday, the pair and two other general managers who are understood to be among those leaving would not comment.
Sources confirmed earlier this week that Robinson would be finishing up once various sporting commitments were delivered later in 2024.
She is a highly respected leader with a range of leadership and strategic skills - one source speculated a return to Sky TV or a role at New Zealand Rugby might be options.
Another source said McGahan, also highly respected, had - like Robinson - chosen not to apply for any role in the new structure.
A TVNZ spokeswoman confirmed the broadcaster had been in consultation with senior leaders who reported to the executive team.
“The proposal sought to align roles with TVNZ’s five-year digital strategy, as well as address costs in a tough advertising market. This process has now concluded with 24 general manager roles disestablished and 15 new roles created. This is a total headcount reduction of nine roles at this level of our business.”
One source said one of the GMs had been presented with the proposal last month, left the TVNZ building, and had not been seen since. It is understood the GM has chosen to work from home.
A senior source said the changes were being driven by the relatively new board, with little regard to expertise, IP and diversity being lost. The source said roles were being meshed together that did not match, and referred to commercial roles now coming under the chief digital officer as an apparent “land grab”.
The TVNZ spokeswoman said restructuring was “incredibly challenging”.
The changes had been made across the leadership structure, she said. “They are not focused on specific departments such as content and commercial.”
“It will be difficult to lose a number of highly talented leaders from our business in the coming months,” she said.
“We do not want to be in a position where expertise is leaving the business, but to deliver for audiences and advertisers in a sustainable way long-term we’ve had to make these changes.”
Media Insider revealed in July that TVNZ is expecting a bottom-line $15.6 million loss for its 2023-2024 financial year after two years of profitability.
Every big media firm - including NZME, Warner Bros. Discovery, MediaWorks and Stuff - is undergoing careful cost management in the face of economic challenges.
The exception is taxpayer-funded RNZ, which is enjoying the benefits of a $25 million annual funding boost courtesy of the previous Labour Government. Whether that extra funding continues in future years under the new National-led coalition Government remains to be seen.
TVNZ’s moves come as it embarks on significant digital investment.
Traditional broadcast audiences are dropping and TVNZ is embarking on a major digital and cultural transformation, including upgrading the technology and user experience of its widely praised TVNZ+ on-demand platform.
“This will require significant investment, to be funded through cash reserves and earnings,” says the company’s four-year statement of intent, released earlier this year.
That document, along with the annual statement of performance, reveals a sober bottom-line financial picture for TVNZ, whose planned merger with RNZ was axed by the Labour Government earlier this year.
TVNZ made a $7.9m net profit after tax in the financial year to June 30, 2022, and forecast a $2m profit for the financial year to June 30, 2023.
It is expected to plunge to a $15.6m loss for the financial year it is now in, to June 30, 2024.
TVNZ’s statement of intent provides further context to its challenges and strategic direction.
It says it has identified three strategic themes for this new financial year to help deliver on 2028 profit ambitions: extending its digital audience reach; accelerating digital revenue; and creating a sustainable future business.
“This will include commencing work on the IP [on-demand] Platform … and developing a Culture and Capabilities workstream to ensure TVNZ’s people are focused on and prepared for the future.
“New ways of working and undergoing a business-wide cost transformation will help TVNZ to deliver on its FY2028 profit ambitions.”
In September, a leaked memo from acting CEO Brent McAnulty revealed a raft of cost-cutting measures at the state broadcaster.
“Content budgets have been reduced, both for local production and international content. Remuneration reviews have been cancelled for our exec team and our other highest-earning employees,” it said.
“There have been some really tough calls to make here, but we need to live within our means,” McAnulty wrote.
“All projects are being reviewed to decide whether they should continue, be paused, or be cancelled for this financial year.”
Meanwhile, the TVNZ spokeswoman said the appointment of a new CEO was on track.
“TVNZ’s CEO recruitment is well progressed, and the intention is still to announce this appointment before Christmas.”
Kerre Woodham’s first instinct was to help her friend’s young child, apparently severely burned in a house fire sparked by a blown electrical socket.
It was only a matter of luck that prevented the NewstalkZB radio host from being scammed of a small fortune - and serves as a timely warning for others who might get caught in a similar situation.
The Facebook messages out of Tanzania were frightening - a photo of an injured child in a hospital bed, a hospital invoice and an urgent plea from her friend, a safari guide, accompanied by his passport photo page to prove this wasn’t a scam.
Her Tanzanian friend - over the years, Woodham has been on guided tours with him and she has helped him proofread flyers - said he urgently needed money so the hospital could get an operation underway. The initial request was for more than $NZ1100 and the implication more would be needed later.
It might all sound suspicious now, but this guy knew A LOT, says Woodham, and over several hours she was preparing to do whatever she could to help. He cited his wife’s name, talked of his business, and of the previous trips with Woodham.
He asked for a sum of money over Remitly, an authentic, online money transfer service.
“I was panicking. I was thinking of that poor little boy lying there in agony with burns and nobody’s starting treatment on him until I’d got the money to him,” Woodham told her ZB listeners this week.
But when Woodham couldn’t find a second form of identification that Remitly required - her efforts hampered by the fact she has switched her surname from McIvor to her maiden name - she explained she’d have to find another way to transfer the money.
The ‘friend’ suggested Western Union, and as Woodham was making preparations to head there, she asked after the other children.
That’s when the scam started unravelling. Suddenly, the tone changed.
“He was like, ‘When can you get the money to me?’”
Woodham knew her friend, a “lovely, lovely man” and devout Christian, would never speak in that sort of tone.
“I thought, hang on a minute.
“That does not sound like the dignified, beautiful gentleman [that I know] ... he would not respond so tersely and rudely.”
She tested her ‘friend’ with more questions - the ruse was up.
Woodham said she talked about scams all the time on her show.
“I mean, you would have probably cottoned on quicker, but numpty from North Shore didn’t,” Woodham told her listeners. “It was the thought of that child being in pain that just made me lose all reason.”
She emailed her authentic friend.
“His family are alive and very well, no burns amongst them but the thing is, too, that this has been going on for a month.
“He said he’s had all sorts of clients from overseas, getting in touch with him saying, ‘Oh, my goodness, how can we help?’
“He reported it to Facebook a month ago and they haven’t done a thing about it.”
Her friend said on Facebook that the hacker had sent messages to many of his friends, asking for money. He was in control of his Facebook page and was using his photos and videos to deceive people.
One of the advertising industry’s most widely admired executives, MBM Auckland managing director Penelope (Pen) Brown is leaving her role, after more than seven years at the agency.
“I can confirm that indeed I am taking some time out to spend with my young family,” she told Media Insider. “Now feels like the right time to pause and enjoy a Kiwi summer while my boys are still little.”
With a career spanning 20 years in the industry across New Zealand and Australia, Brown says she remains “absolutely passionate” about media and communications and will be looking for a new challenge in early to mid-2024.
“It is a fast-paced environment, and an industry facing constant change. Agencies are under pressure, as are marketers and New Zealand organisations in general, but with that comes huge opportunity in how we engage with consumers, build brands and embrace technology, so I do hope to remain in the broader communications industry still - agency or otherwise.”
MBM, originally an independent agency now owned by Publicis Groupe, has won agency of the year for two of the past three years. Brown says with Publicis on board, MBM’s early success has been supercharged.
“It’s a hard thing to say goodbye and I have shed a good few tears this past week but happy tears for the great run that I’ve had at MBM. I feel lucky.”
MBM CEO Lee-Ann Morris said: “We’ve been fortunate to have had Penelope as part of the MBM team for over seven years, and in that time she has made a tremendous contribution to the agency. As she moves into a new phase of her life, we wish Pen and her family the very best.”
Another high-profile advertising agency leader is also leaving.
Dentsu chief product officer Richard Pook will finish up at the end of the year, as the agency takes “a more agile approach to product across Australia and New Zealand focusing on partnerships for product development and delivery”.
Pook has taken it as an opportunity to set up a new business, productify.media, based on his own expertise - dentsu will be his first client.
Here he explains, in a Media Insider Q&A, the background to his move.
1. Can you please tell us, in layperson’s terms, exactly what your new business, productify.media, is all about?
It won’t be long before all the content and media people consume is delivered digitally. It follows that the advertising will all be digital as well, and advertisers expect more efficient and effective ways in which this can be accessed and delivered.
However, the digital advertising eco-system is complex and ever-changing, and there is a need for businesses that buy and sell advertising to acquire lots of new skills and knowledge to succeed, something that has proven to be challenging in smaller markets like New Zealand.
I’m creating Productify.media with my cofounder Bram Stevens. We’re focused on helping our clients be more productive in this 100 per cent digital advertising future. We want to build repeatable, practical, and affordable data and technology products, so our clients can spend less time in the weeds and more time thinking creating competitive advantage through digital advertising.
2. Can you please give us a real-world latest example of how digitisation is transforming the media and advertising landscape - maybe an example from a consumer perspective, and one from a client/agency perspective?
In agencies, digitisation means that clients expect a lot of the work that was done in the past to go away or be automated. Advertisers want agencies to spend more time upfront with great strategic thinking and problem solving, and they don’t want to pay for all the admin time spent planning, buying and figuring out how their campaigns performed.
Ad creative optimisation platforms like the one we built for dentsu, are a good example of this, speeding up the process from dynamic creation of an ad, delivery in the channel of choice, right through to measurement and reporting.
It’s similar on the media publisher side; consumers and agencies expect to be able to access their advertising space much faster and more efficiently than they do today. There’s still way too much friction in the buying process, particularly for local media. Digital will be the enabler for self-service across all advertising channels, not just the way it is bought on global ad platforms like Google and Meta.
3. How will your new business look to take advantage of this digital transformation? What kind of solutions will you be offering?
It’s early days, but we are looking at building products to address a couple of key points of friction:
1. Providing clients with more affordable, agile ways to consolidate and activate their customer, media, and advertising data into advertising campaigns.
2. We want to help the local media industry automate the buying of their advertising space for more customers, particularly direct advertisers.
4. More generally, how well prepared is the NZ industry for the myriad industry shifts? You say many will need to adapt quickly if they don’t want to be left behind - are you concerned some are behind the eight ball?
I am a little, yes, there’s so much happening globally in digital advertising, and with everything being so connected change can blow through New Zealand almost overnight. Just look at what happened with Chat GPT or TikTok.
Data privacy is a big topic globally right now, and the biggest change to digital advertising for 20 years is coming next year when Google removes its third-party cookie.
In addition, sustainable media investment is really gathering pace in the US and Europe, influencing how and where clients spend their advertising money. We need to get ready for some big adaptations to how we buy media over the next few years.
As a local industry, we need to embrace these changes and adopt digital ad technology faster so we can stay relevant and competitive.
5. Your feelings about leaving dentsu - from what I can tell from your statement, it’s a change in direction for them? How is it that your role came to be impacted in that respect?
I’ve thoroughly enjoyed my time at dentsu. It’s been a wonderful ride, and in particular, Rob Harvey, the CEO, has been a brilliant support to me. I’m proud of what my team and I have achieved over the past seven years.
However, dentsu are now taking a more flexible approach to media product resourcing across Australia and New Zealand, that is partnering and working with the global dentsu business, rather than building the products locally.
6. This is no doubt balanced with the fact you’ll be consulting for them next year. Can you explain the work you’ll be doing with dentsu?
Dentsu will be one of the first clients for productify and we will continue working closely with their team. As consultants, we’re going to be operating their dynamic creative advertising product under licence for them across Australia and New Zealand. We’re excited we get to continue to work with dynamic creative technology, particularly in out of home as there’s so much potential for clients to use data, creativity and technology to supercharge their marketing campaigns.
7. Any other comments, observations, context about the state of the NZ market, and the overall media and advertising industry, would be appreciated.
We’ve seen some big structural shifts over the past few years into digital advertising, and this combined with the market cooling significantly over the last 6-8 months, it’s exposed the challenges with the current business models, both on the agency and local publisher side.
Digital advertising is now 70 per cent of the NZ ad market and will be close to 100 per cent in a few years’ time when TV moves to IPTV. We must get ready for a future where advertisers will buy and sell all their media through platforms. It then becomes less about media buying power from scale, and much more about the strategic thinking and problem solving, and the smart use of data and technology and marketing automation to find better returns. As a local media industry, we need to move much faster, so the global technology businesses don’t leave us all behind!
The good news is that there are lots of great people in the NZ media industry and it’s easy for the decision makers to get together to tackle the problems at hand. We’ve found that New Zealand is a brilliant testing ground for launching products, with a willingness to experiment and take risks and similarities to other larger, English-speaking markets. It means we can move fast when we see the opportunity and expand quickly into Australia and beyond once we’ve proved it works in NZ.
This week we hear from one of the advertising industry’s most influential leaders, Nigel Douglas of OMD.
It is, in my view, one of the most challenging PR jobs in New Zealand - dealing with a sports team that has had, in the past, little appreciation of how the media operates; an organisation entrenched in incredible history but with it, some old-school attitudes; and a raft of sometimes grumpy sports journalists increasingly frustrated by the cliches that flow freely from All Blacks’ mouths.
Charlotte McLauchlan is leaving New Zealand Rugby as chief communications and brand officer.
I’m surprised to see her leaving - she was in France for part of the recent Rugby World Cup campaign - but she says her resignation is all amicable.
“It’s been a ride, to say the least - highs, lows and everything in between,” she told Media Insider.
“The role rugby plays in society is special, which makes my role a privilege, and I want to acknowledge my amazing team - together we have put our hearts into telling rugby’s stories in every way possible through periods of significant change.
“I am immensely proud of what we have achieved - it’s been a big few years - however it’s fair to say I am really ready for a change and looking at a couple of options in the new year. But first - a long summer break!”
I personally wouldn’t be surprised if a media company tries to snap her up - she was previously head of group communications at MediaWorks when it was one big TV and radio business.
Meanwhile, former Post editor Caitlin Cherry returns to journalism on December 11, as Wellington bureau chief for Newshub. Cherry has been on a fixed-term contract as a communications leader at Pharmac since leaving The Post. Chalk that one up as a win for journalism.
The Herald’s editorial on Thursday outlined some home truths on the Winston Peters v media and the Public Interest Journalism Fund saga. You can read it here.
“The current rhetoric from Winston Peters on the media is alarming and frankly dangerous. At a time when misinformation has never been more rampant - and therefore the need for trusted, quality journalism never greater - it beggars belief that a Deputy Prime Minister in a democracy such as New Zealand is fostering mistrust in the MSM. Look how that went in America. I hope Christopher Luxon brings him to heel, and fast, on this.” Former NZ Herald Head of Premium Miriyana Alexander
Congratulations to NZ Herald and Newsroom writer Steve Braunias for his win at the Ngaio Marsh Awards last weekend.
The literary awards recognise excellence in crime, mystery, and thriller writing.
Best Non-Fiction winner: Missing Persons by Steve Braunias
Best First Novel winner: Better the Blood by Michael Bennett
Best Novel winner: Remember Me by Charity Norman
That’s an impressive framed award, too.
Who has scored the most international football goals? Who has scored the most Rugby World Cup tries? Which New Zealand golfer has won the most majors?
If you answered Ronaldo (128 goals), Bryan Habana (15 tries), and Sir Bob Charles/Michael Campbell (one each), it’s time to correct yourself.
The actual answers, respectively, are Christine Sinclair (190), Portia Woodman (20) and Lydia Ko (two).
The PR campaign to ‘Correct the Internet’ - driven by Team Heroine and PR agency Mango - last night took out the Grand Prix award at the annual Pressies.
The gongs celebrate the best of New Zealand’s PR, experiential and social media industries.
‘Correct the Internet’ is an interactive campaign, driving awareness and change for women’s sport - enabling internet users to alert Google and other search engine companies that facts do not apply to just 50 per cent of the population.
“Many of the world’s biggest sporting records are held by women. But when asked simple, non-gendered questions to find this information, like ‘who has scored the most goals in international football?’, search engines incorrectly favour popular male athletes, ignoring women’s achievements,” says Mango.
“Algorithms have learnt to tell us that Cristiano Ronaldo’s [128] international goals are superior to Christine Sinclair’s 190 international goals, because that’s what they think people want to see.
“So, Team Heroine created Correct The Internet: a UN-backed initiative to right the wrongs of the internet.”
Congratulations to Mango, Team Heroine and all the big winners of last night’s Pressies Awards.
The full list of awards:
Grand Prix
Mango, Team Heroine, Correct the Internet
Young practitioner of the year
Acumen, Reilly Hodson
Best use of media relations
Special PR, Better Packaging Company, Plastic piles of sh!t; GOLD
Adhesive PR, National Capital, Helping KIWIS build their SAVER; SILVER
Special PR, Wellington City Mission, The Silent Night; SILVER
Best media partner
Fuse/OMD, Kiwibank, Kiwibank Business for Better…Is Better; GOLD
Fuse/OMD, Silver Fern Farms, Cooks on Fire; SILVER
Hearts & Science, Bank of New Zealand, Uniting Kiwi to feel safer online; SILVER
Special PR, Jaguar Land Rover, Jaguar Design Drives; SILVER
Best corporate PR
The Monkeys, ASB, “Bagels” - Created by Benee. Backed by Science; GOLD
Silvereye, New Zealand Game Developers Association, Government Boost for Game Development sector in New Zealand; SILVER
Special PR, Kiwibank, The most inclusive workplace wardrobe; SILVER
Best use of social media
The Yarn Agency, Hell Pizza, AfterLife Pay; GOLD
dentsu, Restaurant Brands NZ, Pizza Hut’s TikTok Content Creator; SILVER
The Attention Seeker, One New Zealand, Mean Tweets; SILVER
Best social content creator or influencer marketing campaign
Eleven PR, ANZ, Who has your card hooked up with? SILVER
Special PR, Trade Me, Break-Up Starter Packs; SILVER
Best creative PR campaign
Special PR, Wellington City Mission, The Silent Night; GOLD
Special PR, Better Packaging Company, Plastic piles of sh!t; SILVER
The Yarn Agency, Hell Pizza, AfterLife Pay; SILVER
Best experiential or event campaign
Special PR, Tourism New Zealand, The Beautiful Game; SILVER
Special PR, Trade Me, Everyday Runway; SILVER
Best integrated campaign
Mango, Team Heroine, Correct the Internet; GOLD
Special PR, Trade Me, Everyday Runway; SILVER
The Yarn Agency, Hell Pizza, AfterLife Pay; SILVER
Best strategic thinking
Fuse/OMD, New Zealand Defence Force, Codewords; SILVER
Mango, McDonald’s, McCensus: Understanding the crew to attract new; SILVER
Special PR, Wellington City Mission, The Silent Night; SILVER
The Monkeys, ASB, “Bagels” - Created by Benee. Backed by Science; SILVER
Diversity, equity and inclusion
Mango Team, Heroine, Correct the Internet; GOLD
Bastion Shine, Air New Zealand, The Power of Many – helping New Zealand understand the real meaning behind Kapa Haka; SILVER
Special PR, Kiwibank, The most inclusive workplace wardrobe; SILVER
Non-profit
Pead, Cystic Fibrosis New Zealand, How humanising Cystic Fibrosis secured critical Pharmac funding; GOLD
Special PR, Wellington City Mission, The Silent Night; GOLD
Who's in line for influential TVNZ role?; $1 sales: Five NZME community newspapers saved.