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Current affairs buffs seeking the naked truth will soon be able to tune into New Zealand's first nude news broadcast.
Scheduled to air on independent channel Alt TV in mid-May, Naked News Flash will consist of nightly wrap-ups of the day's events. It will screen at 10pm and be sponsored by a condom company.
The concept is the brainchild of actor and director Oliver Driver, who joined Alt as a shareholder and creative director last year.
He wants male and female presenters who care about the news and says application forms can be downloaded from the Alt website.
"It will be real news," he says, "just with presenters who are naked."
The premise is not new. Canadian website nakednews.com debuted in 2000, spurred a number of imitations and at the height of its popularity was receiving 6 million hits a month.
Then there's British cable channel L!VE TV, run by Kelvin MacKenzie, former editor of tabloid The Sun.
Driver says his show won't be pornographic. In the age of the internet and pay-per-view TV, men in search of porn are likely to look elsewhere.
Alt, chiefly a music channel, is no stranger to controversy. Last year it was fined $5000 and ordered off air for five hours by the Broadcasting Standards Authority after a drunk moderator let offensive text messages go to air during a live broadcast.
Bob McCoskrie of Family First NZ felt naked news was another case of "pushing the envelope" in regards to good taste and decency on television. "Most people would be horrified [by this show]," he said.
