Soper after surgery: ‘I’m very lucky to be here’
Broadcaster grateful for thousands of messages of support from Kiwis after open-heart operation
Broadcaster Barry Soper is finally home with a “new lease on life” and thankful for the thousands of messages of love and support he has received from across the country — both directly and through Newstalk ZB — following his open-heart surgery.
The political commentator also revealed he’s lucky to be with us, saying he collapsed in hospital after his heart stopped in the days following his triple bypass two weeks ago.
Medical staff had to administer CPR.
“All I can remember are the nurses over me saying ‘Mr Soper, Barry, Barry, Barry!’, and me thinking ‘let me sleep, I am having a nice time’.”
The medical staff saved his life as they administered CPR. He knows he has angels looking over him and he paid a heartfelt tribute to the surgeons, nurses and hospital workers: “I’m very lucky to be here.”
In the end, Soper had three operations — the original triple bypass, a second to insert a pacemaker and a third to repair a fractured sternum following the lifesaving CPR.
Soper returned home to wife Heather du Plessis-Allan yesterday. He can’t wait to get back to work, but also knows he can’t rush a return.
He’s on a mix of rest orders, with a careful exercise regime, including walking. He walked 500 metres yesterday and is already climbing stairs.
“I have a new lease on life, and I realise what a great bunch of people New Zealanders are, from across the spectrum. What a great country we live in.”
RNZ’s new ‘digital experience’
RNZ’s news platforms are in for a digital overhaul, according to a document obtained by Media Insider. The document — an “advance notice of a contract opportunity” — tells of seeking a partner to “provide development services toward a digital experience intended to reach new audiences and to extend existing audiences’ experiences of RNZ’s news, information and stories of the day”.
“We are looking for a partner to realise this experience based on content models, information architecture and visual designs that will be progressing in-house, and further refined during the course of the development.”
I sought out RNZ to put that to me in plainer English — is it a new website or digital platform entirely?
“Just like many media entities, RNZ is looking to improve our digital products to serve our audiences,” said a spokesman.
“As part of this, we are seeking a development partner to work with on enhancing our apps, webpages, and digital services.
“It’s too early to have any more detail except to say we are looking
forward to the project and any collaboration opportunity it offers with other media companies.”
How to name an agency without being sued
Happy 10th birthday to the team at the One Plus One agency.
I received a fascinating insight into how the agency was named recently.
Founder Kelly Bennett had previously established and led consumer PR agency, Eleven PR — part of the global TBWA creative agency group, owned by global holding company Omnicom.
After about seven years of successfully building that transTasman business, Kelly made the call to break away from his global overlords and go it alone.
According to my One Plus One insider, “he had a foundation client in his sights, with whom he had a great relationship at the chief marketing officer [CMO] level”.
That CMO had even cleared the way with the CEO, but there was a hitch — he had mentioned Kelly Bennett “from Eleven PR”.
“At this point Kelly had quit his job, drawn up his business plan and was ready to make a go of it.
“The CMO of his prospective foundation client said, ‘Great news, the business is yours to lose. But . . . I told the boss you’re the guy from
Eleven, so you need to name your firm something similar’.
“And so One Plus One was born.” Kelly apparently never heard from Omnicom’s lawyers “for which he is eternally grateful”.
AT advertising contract set to advance
Auckland Transport (AT) has whittled down participants for one of the biggest advertising and marketing contracts in New Zealand history.
Following a registration of interest (ROI) stage, AT says it has notified successful and unsuccessful applicants and is working on a full request for proposal (RFP) process.
As Media Insider reported in June, it is a “transformational contract” that has sent the outdoor media companies into “a frenzy”, according to those in the industry.
One insider called it “the biggest pitch” in media right now. Another source said everyone had something to gain, and possibly something to lose, depending on how AT ultimately lands on the future contracts.
Six key AT pillars are at stake: Bus shelter advertising
● Bus exteriors and interiors
● Train exteriors and interiors
● Ferry advertising — not currently in place, but an option for the future
● Digital and static advertising screens/billboards and spaces across public transport stations including Britomart/Waitemata¯ Station, the new City Rail Link stations and stations along the Eastern Busway
● Promotional activations
AT confirms they are expecting a big revenue boost from the new contracts.
“The agreements (and commercial arrangements within) that are currently in place are up to 23 years old,” says AT head of partnerships and experience Simon Soulsby.
“So, to help inform our commercial ‘North Star’, 12 or so months ago we carried out a significant piece of work to identify global practice in terms of commercial structures,” Soulsby says.
“We have drawn down on commercial modelling from cities such as LA and London, and whilst we’re expecting a significant lift in revenue as we move across into our new agreements, we are also looking to improve on a number of other positive outcomes, ranging from sustainability through to customer experience.”
Soulsby said it was a highly competitive pitch, and the number of companies who had put their names forward was “commercially sensitive”.
All the big players will be in the mix, though, including oOhmedia,
which has the current contract for bus shelters, and MediaWorks, which has the contract for bus exteriors and some billboards; as well as the likes of Go Media and Lumo. Perhaps one or two other surprises will be in there too.
“I can say that we have received over the expected registrations, and we are pleased with the interest,” says Soulsby.
“What I can say is that we received ROIs from a wide range of media businesses.”
He said there had been no joint proposals at this stage, “but that is certainly something we are open to”.
Soulsby said the tender was “unprecedented in scale and commercial terms”.
“At this stage, we’re looking at launching our RFP to the shortlisted participants in November, however, this could slip further, and we are keeping participants up to date.”
A new media battleground
There’s an intriguing regional and community media battle unfolding in Waikato.
This week, former Stuff/INL and NZME senior leader David Mackenzie announced his independent media business, Good Local Media, had purchased Waikato Business News, the online and monthly print publication that has
been operating for more than two decades.
“Waikato Business News has been publishing for over 25 years serving the Waikato business community well — we look forward to building on this,” Mackenzie said. “With the significant depth and experience of our staff, we can add a lot of value to the publication.”
Good Local Media launched Te Awamutu News in 2019, as a sister paper to Cambridge News.
Te Awamutu is also serviced by NZME’s Te Awamutu Courier, edited by local legend Dean Taylor. I know for a fact, and have seen first-hand, that Taylor does not shy away from competition.
NZME also has the Waikato Herald (formerly Waikato News), published weekly inside the Herald papers distributed throughout the region.
Waikato digital content is also housed on nzherald.co.nz, under the
Waikato Herald brand — NZME no doubt has seen an opportunity to drive audience following Stuff ’s launch of the Waikato Times paywall earlier this year.
According to latest Nielsen statistics, it’s a tight battle, digitally. Stuff has a Waikato audience of 186,000 and the Herald 171,000.
Mackenzie’s purchase of WBN means the two main companies do not have a duopoly.
Pacific Media’s new digital experience
While RNZ looks to be on the hunt for a new digital development partner, the Pacific Media Network unveiled its own new-look website this week.
PMN chief executive Don Mann says the project was completed within a year, led by web agency Daylight Group, the team behind The Spinoff.
“We liken our online space to a digital version of a kupega or upega: a net that seeks to contain Pacific knowledge that sustains us and to share this koloa across the Moanaverse,” says Mann.
“The main colour tapa black is an intention-neutral backdrop that holds the vibrancy of our islands.”
PMN partners (among others) with NZME and the Herald for the Te Rito journalism cadetship scheme.