Local 'harbourside drama' hits the spot on One

Rick Ellis

TVNZ is launching a new local serial drama in a bid to win the coveted 5.30pm timeslot.

The Point - which is due to begin in the middle of next year - will be set in a harbourside suburb "where brand-new mansions mix with ordinary weatherboard homes". It will be screened on weekday nights on TV One in the important 30-minute slot before One News.

The show will replace chatshow Ellen and go up against Home and Away on TV3, and Prime News, which now has an audience of about 84,000 or nearly 10 per cent of the total viewership aged 5 and over, according to figures issued in April.

The $11.8 million-a-year serial will be funded by New Zealand On Air ($8.3 million) and TVNZ ($3.5 million).

"In a world increasingly dominated by foreign-content channels, this project will be a very visible expression of our national identity," said TVNZ chief executive Rick Ellis.

Screen Production and Development Association chief executive Penelope Borland criticised the amount being put into one programme and one timeslot.

"Long-running soaps like this one are notoriously hard to get an audience for," she said.

The initial production deal for The Point is for three years. NZ On Air's acting chief executive, Bernard Duncan, said Shortland Street had proved that "creative capital derived from a long-form serial is fundamental to the growth of the film and television industry".