20/20 Television
WHY FREE-TO-AIR TV IS STILL ‘A MIRROR INTO NEW ZEALAND’S SOUL’
Erin Mckenzie finds the value of local TV for advertisers.
With an endless library of overseas programming on offer online, where can New Zealanders go to get a fix of content that’s relevant and familiar to them? Erin Mckenzie finds Freeview's free-to-air TV offering might be the answer advertisers are looking for.
THERE ARE 196 countries in the world, making up a population of 7.5 billion people. And while 4.6 million of them live in New Zealand, the world is at their fingertips through their smartphones, tablets, computers, laptops and the TV remote. But while they’re busy exploring there are two things New Zealanders all know – Dr Ropata is not in Guatemala anymore, and you must always blow on the pie.
TV is a cultural driver – and educator – in New Zealand and an important part of that role is the broadcasting of local programming.
So much so that according to NZ On Air’s 2016 Local Content Report, local content makes up 31 percent of the free-to-air schedule with a total of 13,126 hours of its broadcast time in 2016. TVNZ saw 1 News, Fair Go and Hyundai Country Calendar take the top three spots in its highest rated
20 programmes of 2016. Sunday, Dog Squad, Coast New Zealand, Mastermind New Zealand, Our Big Blue
Backyard, Seven Sharp and Border Patrol were also local programmes that made the list. Meanwhile, at Mediaworks, 7 Days, The Block NZ, All
Star Family Feud and Westside were its most successful local programmes in the 25-54-year-old age range.
Mediaworks chief content officer Andrew Szusterman says as far as New Zealand network TV goes, it needs to be representative of New Zealanders with less reliance on overseas stories and more reliance on our own.
“We’ve got to have a mirror on our souls and represent ourselves. New Zealanders expect that, right?” he says.
“The most important part of what we do as a broadcaster is make sure that we tell our local stories, and we tell our local news and we entertain our audiences.”
In fact, Mediaworks has put such an emphasis on that mission that in 2016, Three increased its broadcasting of first run local content by 239 hours to reach 2,128 hours.
It was followed by TVNZ 1’s 2,061 hours and Maori Television’s 1,162 hours of first run local content.
Szusterman says one of the ways Mediaworks is increasing that number is through unscripted programming, including comedy, reality and live genres.
Szusterman compares them to soap operas, saying unscripted programmes make for “water cooler television” as they drive New Zealanders’ conversation topics and often lead to quite visceral responses.
And, given the way they’re constructed, advertisers can also get involved in that conversation. As well as getting ads in front of big audiences, there’s often room for them to be integrated into the storyline and sit alongside the talent, as has been seen regularly with its shows like The Block NZ, The Bachelor NZ and The Real Housewives of Auckland. “That is one of the joys of local production, we have the ability to work with our commercial partners to
highlight their brands and make their brands pop within our programmes in a way that they can’t do in a 30-second spot,” Szusterman says
As the audience becomes more engaged with the programme, the advertisers within it have a greater impact on them and can earn credibility and relevance off the back of the programme’s credibility and relevance.
But it’s not just unscripted programmes that work for advertisers, as TVNZ’S Shortland Street has demonstrated.
One of the reasons Shortland Street continues to be one of the biggest programmes on air after 25 years is the way its fictitious storyline is able to mirror reality in New Zealand.
In 2015, it tackled medical marijuana just days after associate health minister Peter Dunne approved the medical use of cannabis for a Kiwi teenager in a coma.
The episode showed a teenage cancer sufferer being given brownies laced with cannabis, and while series producer Simon Bennett told the
Herald on Sunday it was coincidental the episode went to air as the debate was making headlines, he hoped it would spark further debate around the use of medical marijuana in New Zealand.
He said the programme wasn’t intended to say whether use of the drug is right or wrong, but the storyline would divide people and that is when
Shortland Street is at its best. It’s also introduced a mix of ethnicities as well as queer and transgender characters, and tackled topical issues such as suicide, HIV and euthanasia.
“Everyone has a different perspective on what they actually want to watch, but certainly that local view and being able to see ourselves on screen is something we know our viewers really love,” says TVNZ general manager of content solutions Lyndsey Francis.
One of the joys of local production is that we have the ability to work with our partners, our commercial partners, on highlighting their brands, and making their brands pop within the editorial within our programmes in a way that they can’t do in a 30-second spot.Andrew Szusterman