THE PROJECT

Over the last decade, New Zealanders exposed to Close Up, Story, Seven Sharp and Campbell Live have come to expect the same-old setup when it comes to 7pm shows. The format usually involves a middle-aged authority figure talking to a camera, interviewing

Fusing comedy, banter and journalistic flair to tackle the day’s most topical issues, the show has yet to reach its Australian counterpart’s level of relevance, but it’s certainly making an impressive attempt at breaking Seven Sharp’s nightly hegemony. Hosts Jesse Mulligan, Josh Thomson and Kanoa Lloyd (who takes the title of Hottest News Anchor over her Mediaworks counterparts) have so far proved a dynamic trio and lived up to its tagline of “News Delivered Differently”. While not quite graced with The

Project’s colour, flair or primetime slot, Lisa Owen and Patrick Gower’s The

Nation provides a rare in-depth look into the week’s most newsworthy events, delivering a regular slate of insights from politicians academics and commentators from New Zealand and abroad. In a similar vein, Sunday has been informing audiences about politics and topical issues for years now, with the programme ranked as TVNZ’S fifth most popular show last year.