Campbell show 'to hit screens early'

TV3 is employing the element of surprise in the 7pm current-affairs battle by launching its new show Campbell Live a month earlier than expected.

After months of rhetoric and expectation, the third phase in the war waging between Prime's Paul Holmes and TVNZ's Close Up will finally start as TV3 is expected to announce Campbell Live's debut in a fortnight, on March 21, despite publicists claiming it would not be ready until late April.

The show will be fronted by former TV3 newsreader John Campbell. His former co-host, Carol Hirschfeld, will play a key role as senior producer and interviewer.

A strong team of reporters, including Phil Vine and ex-C4 music show host Jacqui Brown, have been gathered, and news boss Mark Jennings has promised the show will be very different, harder-edged and more irreverent than rival offerings.

Sources say the studio is looking "slick" and ready to go, and billboard and bus advertisements are expected to pop up all over the country soon.

TV3 communications manager Roger Beaumont refused to comment on whether we would be seeing Campbell Live on our screens in March, saying only that the company expected to make an announcement soon.

It is understood the announcement was made to staff under strict instructions to keep it mum. The launch of Campbell Live, which Mr Jennings said the network would be happy to rate better than The Simpsons - will up the ante when it comes to getting to stories first.

Sources say the fight to secure an exclusive interview is already fierce, fuelling speculation that paying for a story may become more commonplace - a practice Prime chief executive Chris Taylor has previously said he has no problem with. It is also causing headaches for advertisers who find they are pitching products aimed at the same market against each other.

Media commentators are reticent about the viability of a third 7pm news show.

Total Media chief executive Martin Gillman, whose company buys advertising space, said it would be extremely tough to pull the viewer numbers equal to The Simpsons or needed to make the show economically sensible, especially as it would be "astronomically" expensive to produce.

HERE'S THE NEWS

TV3 is to broadcast its nightly 6pm news on radio.

The channel is understood to have signed a deal with fellow CanWest broadcaster Radio Live.

Radio Live starts broadcasting next month, with a slew of personalities, including former Radio Sport host Martin Devlin and Wanganui mayor Michael Laws.

The move to simulcast the 6pm TV3 news is partly in response to the fact many New Zealanders, especially Aucklanders, are stuck in their cars on motorways and busy roads at that time of the evening.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY