COMMENT: Bill English gave Maori TV n a $10.6 million boost in the Budget, although it has a $12.9 million nest egg built up over years of taxpayer funding.

New Zealand researchers are calling for TV shows that feature smoking scenes to be rated R.

The newspaper industry is upping its tactics in the fight against ad blockers.

NZME yesterday applied to the Commerce Commission for approval of a merger with its main rival in the business.

A merger between Fairfax's New Zealand operations and APN's NZME unit would have 11.7 per cent of New Zealand's digital advertising market.

Application to Commerce Commission to create New Zealand's biggest stand alone media company kicks off merger process.

NZME and Fairfax Media have filed an application to the Commerce Commission to create New Zealand's biggest standalone media company.

NZME and Fairfax NZ believe their planned merger will free up investment for high-quality journalism.

Media company exploring options, including a sale, as it fights a $140 million damages award in a defamation lawsuit.

COMMENT: When the all-but-inevitable merger of media companies NZME and Fairfax was announced, journalistic reaction fell into two camps.

Some will see the proposed merger of Fairfax New Zealand and NZME as the beginning of the end of an era for New Zealand media.

COMMENT: The proposed merger between NZME and Fairfax NZ is a further sign that media companies continue to look for viable business models.

COMMENT: NZME has "first mover" advantage when it comes to the shakeup of the New Zealand media industry.

Shares rallied at the start of trading on the ASX after APN successfully raised A$160 million through a rights issue.

COMMENT: Two media giants into one? Changed market makes NZME-Fairfax tie-up a real prospect.

Fairfax Media's New Zealand business is worth just 5 Australian cents to the cmpany's stock price, a brockerage says.

COMMENT: This week, it seems, we are through the looking glass, writes Raybon Kan.

Australia's APN and rival publisher Fairfax say they are in talks to merge their NZ businesses which would create the biggest stand-alone media company.

APN News and Media and Fairfax Media are in "exclusive talks" to fold their local operations - NZME and Fairfax NZ - into a listed NZ media company.

The proposed merger is tipped as building a business with the scale needed to compete with global media platforms.

As APN prepares to announce a potential A$200 million capital raising, speculation around a New Zealand merger with Fairfax continues.

A merger between the New Zealand operations of NZME and Fairfax Media would require Commerce Commission approval, say analysts.

Shares in the Australian parent of Herald publishers NZME are in a trading halt pending the release of an announcement to the market.

COMMENT: Mark Weldon may have been the smartest guy in the room but that's seldom enough.

COMMENT: The life of a CEO can be tough and Weldon's demeanour at the GeoOp meeting clearly showed that the MediaWorks job had got the better of him.

COMMENT: Radio New Zealand may sell some of its property portfolio to replenish its coffers.

The Reserve Bank has banned MediaWorks from its media conferences as punishment for journalists leaking sensitive market information.

COMMENT: Here are some sizzling thoughts on how to present the news of the week.