The winners and losers in TV’s current affairs shows
Anna Murray weighs up how each of the networks’ daily current affairs shows fared in a tumultuous year for the television industry.
Outwardly, it looks like a tale of two networks as our daily current affairs shows close out another year on our screens. While TVNZ is celebrating significant ratings boosts for Breakfast and Seven Sharp, its competitors at Three are limping towards the finish line as its Flower St studios are sold from underneath them.
But it hasn’t been all sunshine and roses for the state broadcaster. TVNZ’s business came under attack from several quarters, most notably The Project co-host Jesse Mulligan and MediaWorks’ departing director of news Hal Crawford, for what Crawford says is an ‘‘anti-competitive setup’’ within the local TV industry. Reports that an advisory group had recommended the Government disestablish TVNZ (and RNZ) to create a new public media entity followed soon after.
It’s therefore safe to say that while TVNZ might not have a ‘‘For Sale’’ sign outside its door like its competitor, an air of uncertainty still remains.
So how have each of the network’s daily current affairs shows fared while all this discord smouldered away in the background this year?
Breakfast
Of all the shows in this group, TVNZ’s Breakfast is the one that looks the most different since January, given the significant personnel changes it’s had over the year.
Popular newsreader Daniel Faitaua said farewell to the show in August, giving his role of delivering the news with a side of savagery to longtime TVNZ presenter, Jenny-May Clarkson.
But the show’s biggest change came earlier in the year, when Jack Tame left to host Q&A and John Campbell took his place at the Breakfast desk alongside Hayley Holt.
Campbell’s appointment took many by surprise. Given his previous hard news experience it seemed an odd fit with Breakfast’s generally fluffier take on events. But it’s proven something of a masterstroke, with Campbell able to deliver the joviality expected of a breakfast TV show, plus show his inner news attack dog when required.
His new role also seems to have had an impact on the show’s ratings. After registering an average daily reach of 165,000 viewers in February, the show peaked at an average daily reach of 195,600 during Campbell’s first month in the job. Ratings stayed well above those February numbers for the rest of the year.
That jump was also significant in the prized commercial 25-54 demographic when May delivered an average daily reach peak of 71,100 in that bracket. Those ratings were back around 62,700 for much of November, but were still up on the figures of 52,100 that were seen in February.
Breakfast’s executive producer Jonathan Williams says his team ‘‘couldn’t be happier’’ with how the year has panned out for their show.
‘‘Our loyal viewers have stayed with us – and it looks like they’ve brought all their friends on board, too,’’ he says.
‘‘It’s testament to the depth of our team and the strength of our content, and we’re excited to show everyone what we’ve got planned for 2020.’’
The AM Show
Now in its third year, The AM Show began 2019 behind its competitors in the wider 5+ audience, but ahead in the 25-54 demographic, when it came to average daily reach.
But while Crawford says The AM Show ‘‘has continued to set the news agenda most mornings of the week’’, the show’s average daily reach in that commercial demographic has fallen behind Breakfast every month since March.
As far as performance on screen goes, the chat among the show’s core presenters – Duncan Garner, Amanda Gillies and Mark Richardson – seems to come easier than it does for the newer team over on Breakfast, but that’s to be expected from a trio who have been working side by side for three years. Often that kind of banter can only really come after being in each other’s company for so long.
However, much of their interaction still involves Gillies acting as a handbrake when one of her colleagues veers into shock-jock territory.
Her eyeballs are no doubt getting tired from all
the rolling they do when Richardson comes out with statements like, ‘‘This is why I own property and you don’t,’’ as he did when discussing brawling students in Auckland’s Mission Bay.
Seven Sharp
At the other end of the news day, TVNZ’s Seven Sharp and Three’s The Project have evolved into half-hour episodes crammed with as many different topics as they can find. This can often mean upwards of five or six stories being squeezed into approximately 22 minutes.
But even when it feels like it’s going at breakneck speed, Seven Sharp’s presenting duo of Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells bring a cohesiveness that still eludes The Project at times, with its rolling roster of guest presenters and a panel of four personalities competing for air time.
As they prepare to enter their third year, Barry and Wells have eased into a wise-cracking double act that’s clearly resonated with viewers.
Beginning the year with an average audience of around 400,000, the series reached nearly half a million viewers as the year progressed, registering 497,800 viewers in September and 473,900 viewers in October.
That increase also translated to the 25-54 demographic, with February’s average audience of 75,000 climbing to 105,900 by October.
Much of that can probably be put down to the easy repartee between Wells and Barry, who aren’t afraid to have a bit of fun with the story segments on the show.
Seven Sharp’s executive producer Alistair Wilkinson is in no doubt his presenting team has made up a large part of the show’s success this year. ‘‘Hilary and Jeremy are a magical combination,’’ he says. ‘‘Viewers enjoy their cheeky sense of humour – it’s live, and you never know what they might come up with.
‘‘They deliver stories that matter, but they also inject a lot of fun and positivity into the evening. We think it’s a winning formula and we’re really glad our audience agrees.’’
The Project
Over at Three, Crawford says he’s also been ‘‘delighted’’ with his own network’s 7pm infotainment offering, helmed by Jesse Mulligan, Kanoa Lloyd and Jeremy Corbett.
‘‘The Project has been doing exactly what we had hoped when we started the show: building audience steadily over the years [and] making a bridge between news and entertainment,’’ he says.
While the show’s average audience hasn’t seen an upwards shift as significant as that of its competitors, The Project’s ratings have mostly sat higher than the 149,100 it registered in February. It enjoyed ratings spikes in April and June, and closed out October with an average audience of 152,700.
It has, however, lagged a fair distance behind
Seven Sharp. Even during its biggest month in April, with an average audience of 179,200, Seven Sharp swamped those numbers with an average audience of 495,700 for the same time period.
It’s a similar picture in the 25-54 demographic.
Seven Sharp’s average audience figures have been ahead of The Project all year, with the gap only widening as the months rolled by.
It’s not for lack of trying on The Project’s part with its fondness for quirky themed weeks, such as the recent ‘‘Death Week’’ (which they must all be hoping isn’t a metaphor for the network). But, as 2019 draws to a close, it’s clear viewers are attracted to Seven Sharp’s efforts over The Project’s.
How New Zealand’s daily current affairs shows will fare next year obviously remains to be seen. Even those riding the wave of increased ratings at TVNZ must be feeling a little unsure about what the new year will bring, given the ructions that are coming to a head in the industry.
If MediaWorks does manage to sell Three, chances are high its offering could look quite different, especially given The AM Show and the network’s news resources currently sit across TV and radio.
And if the sale doesn’t go ahead? Well, New Zealand’s daily current affairs landscape could be looking very bare indeed come this time next year.