TV firm in spotlight over bills
Stripe Studios still promoting its Kiwi-based travel series starring David Hasselhoff and Rhys Darby
David Hasselhoff ’s visit to New Zealand in September caused a stir in some off-the-beaten-track locations: He took part in a special pub quiz on Stewart Island, chomped on cheese rolls in Southland and hurled gumboots in Taihape.
He and his travelling companion, comedian and actor Rhys Darby, trekked south to north, happily posing for selfies along the way, before they inched around the Sky Tower’s outdoor walk platform, 192m above central Auckland streets.
It was all in the name of a unique Kiwi-based travel series, Hoff the Beaten Track.
The pair’s adventures certainly generated plenty of headlines and interest.
Six months on, the show is still being promoted on the website of Stripe Studios, the independent production company behind the project, but a screening date has yet to be announced.
On its website, Stripe Studios calls itself “New Zealand’s leading independent television production company”.
“Specialists in creating and producing original format, unscripted reality content, Stripe’s extensive slate includes NZ Gold Diggers, Izzy & Beaver’s French Connection and Discovery’s Great Southern Truckers, NBCU’s The Circus, Rich Listers and Snow Crew ,as well as upcoming series fronted by Iliza Shlesinger, Rhys Darby and Hollywood icon David Hasselhoff.”
However, off-camera, there also appears to be some drama unfolding.
Media Insider has learned through well-placed sources that two postproduction houses — Department of Post, and Images and Sound — are allegedly owed six-figure sums of money by Stripe for work on various series.
Department of Post was involved in post-production work on Hoff the Beaten Track.
It is understood both companies have sought legal advice, independently of each other.
Images and Sound director Grant Baker said his firm was owed money — a “relatively historical” debt.
He variously described the situation as unfortunate and frustrating, especially with the backdrop of a tough economic climate for the production industry. “We are hearing nothing apart from trying to chase Stripe. We are trying to think what next steps are.”
He says he has tried to stay in regular contact with Stripe Studios managing director Alex Breingan.
Media Insider’s attempts to speak to Breingan directly yesterday were unsuccessful. He did not answer three calls through the day.
In response to an initial text message just before 10am, asking about money owed, he replied just after midday, saying he would call in the afternoon.
Later in the afternoon, he texted: “I am waiting to hear back from my lawyer currently.”
In a message at 6.35pm, Breingan said he could not provide “a substantive response in the unreasonable time provided”.
“However there are a number of factual errors in your txt and any such allegations would be both false and defamatory.”
He urged Media Insider to check its facts with its sources “as you appear to have been provided with false information”.
The Film Commission would not be interviewed, instead sending Media Insider a list of five projects associated with Stripe Studios in 2022 that had received the New Zealand Screen Production Rebate.
It said: “The NZFC is not able to comment on any other matters in regards to Stripe due to confidentiality.”
Revealed: 7pm show’s name
While Ryan Bridge’s new 7pm show has been delayed, that hasn’t prevented Warner Bros. Discovery from apparently landing on a name.
In a throwback to current affairs shows from yesteryear — think Holmes, Campbell Live and The Paul Henry Show — the new name certainly places its star front and centre, and plays to his importance for Three.
The new show, according to wellplaced sources, will be called, simply, Bridge.
Three has yet to announce a name, or a start date.
Media Insider revealed two weeks ago that the show might not appear until at least March — or even April — but even that is not confirmed.
A source told Media Insider that Warner Bros. Discovery’s sinking lid policy — non-replacement of staff who have left — was having an impact. Another source told Media Insider that the hiring freeze was in place until April and that various roles were still to be advertised.
“As you alluded to, there is a recruitment slowdown in [Warner Bros. Discovery] affecting some of the roles on the show,” a spokeswoman said earlier.
“But we’re not worried because with any new programme the actual start date is not as important as getting it right from the start.
“Ryan is a superstar, it’s why he’s fronting the new show and we know that Kiwis will come check him and the new show out when it does air, and find that they love it, giving them a new 7pm home.”
Is this one of politics’ toughest jobs?
Talking of building a bridge, a former top journalist and press secretary is returning to Parliament to take on one of the industry’s toughest jobs — senior press secretary for Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters.
John Tulloch, a former radio journalist and press secretary to Phil Goff, starts in Peters’ office next week.
Not that you’ll find this anywhere too easily, but Tulloch currently works in a PR role for the Security Intelligence Service (SIS) and Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB).
One of his first priorities will be to undoubtedly build rapport with the parliamentary press gallery. Peters was especially scornful of the media in the early days of the coalition.
Tulloch will also be delighted to be back dealing with the foreign affairs portfolio — one that plays to his experience and skills.
Straight outta Ashburton . . .
New Zealand’s top media executives fronted up to Parliament yesterday, united in their support for a proposed bill that would finally (and firmly) place responsibility on social media giants to, you know, actually play a role in democracy and social cohesion — and to pay for local media content that they use.
The local media industry is in a battle with global social media giants who care little about the importance of the Fourth Estate and its role in serving the public interest in a functioning democracy.
Their online platforms, powered by news content, take about 90 cents in every $1 of digital advertising revenue in New Zealand, yet they pay little tax and employ precisely zero journalists.
They may yet be held to account by a brave government, in that the proposed new Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill will force the social media giants to the table to actually help fund the journalism that serves their business models.
A two-and-a-half-hour select committee was punctuated by some forceful submissions from the likes of the News Publishers Association public affairs director Andrew Holden, NZME chief executive Michael Boggs, Stuff owner Sinead Boucher, Allied chief executive Grant McKenzie, TVNZ executives Brent McAnulty and Phil O’Sullivan, and RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson.
Radio Broadcasters Association chair Jana Rangooni came up with one of the quotes of the day, likening local media’s position to the All Blacks having to play a Rugby World Cup in bare feet.
Dunedin-based McKenzie spoke of his long day — waking before 4.30am — and the importance of being in Wellington to have 10 minutes in front of the select committee.
Facebook and Google, meanwhile — while writing submissions opposing the bill — didn’t feel the need to even show up.
One of the most powerful presentations of the day was the first.
Ashburton Guardian co-owner and managing editor Daryl Holden didn’t mince words, accusing the social platforms of stealing content, with a devastating effect on local media. The social media platforms were “creaming it” — he said Google gained almost $1 billion in revenue from New Zealand in 2022 — while local media were “slowly but surely bleeding to death”.
While the Guardian had done a deal with Google, this was a “pittance” and wouldn’t fund a cadet journalist’s annual salary.
“This could be the collapse of New Zealand media,” he said in response to a question from select committee member and former Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson.
Holden outlined a range of digital, print and content strategies that the Guardian had employed to keep its business viable, including reducing print publication days and driving local campaigns.
Yet, just 6 per cent of the company’s revenue came from digital advertising.
“Remember, we try things,” Holden told the committee. “We don’t sit back and wait.
“These are all highly sensitive numbers and I’ve been very commercially transparent but I think you need to hear it and I think you need to understand — it all stems from the rise and rise of big digital organisations and the advertising revenue they earn, all of which is being driven by news content stolen from us.
“Clearly that is wrong.”
He said the chance to bring tech titans to the negotiation table “is surely the next step”.
“As for the Guardian’s future, we have some plans.
“The key one is the likely move to going fully digital and not having a newspaper for the first time in 145 years because of rising printing and distribution costs and, importantly, that transition to digital for many of our readers and advertisers.
“But in a way, we’re being forced into the digital-only newspaper move, which would be a New Zealand first ...”
There were many risks with the move, he said, “but if we don’t do anything, I am concerned that we could very well die an institutional death, especially if the digital tech lords are allowed to do as they please and earn as much as they want by using copy for free”.
RNZ’s restricted ratings
RNZ senior investigative reporter Phil Pennington revealed this week our 111 emergency call system “is so old, slow and fragmented that it is causing deaths and injuries, police documents show”. It was a very strong story, the foundation of which was built on documents Pennington obtained under the Official Information Act.
RNZ’s newsroom — like others — uses the OIA to important effect in its journalistic endeavour. As a news organisation, RNZ quite rightly demands accountability and freedom of information from public agencies.
But the public broadcaster is declining to release specific details of its own shows’ performances to Media Insider — firstly rejecting a standard request and then an Official Information Act request.
RNZ says it is bound by an “industry-wide agreement for the privately collected radio data” that prevents it from releasing audience data for specific shows.
While RNZ releases an overall audience number for RNZ National, it does not give any breakdown for specific shows, such as
Report, Nine to Noon and Checkpoint.
Media Insider understands that while the industry has rules about comparing commercial and noncommercial share, there is nothing to prevent RNZ from releasing cumulative audience numbers for its own shows.
In my opinion, RNZ’s decision is troubling. It is a fully taxpayer-funded broadcaster that, last year, received a huge annual boost — $25 million — in public funding. It spends some of its budget on the regular GFK audience surveys.
Surely the public has a right to know specific details of how each show is rating? We are, after all, paying for the shows and the ratings data.
Last September, Media Insider was leaked detailed RNZ ratings for the second of the year’s three GFK surveys.
As I reported at the time, those ratings did not make for particularly happy reading for the state broadcaster.
RNZ National’s total radio audience was at its lowest number in more than three and a half years:
532,400. While the ratings are reported separately from commercial stations, the public entity had gone from essentially number one in the overall New Zealand market in 2020 to number five, based on total cumulative audience.
We do know that in survey three, RNZ’s overall audience fell (by a small fraction) again, to 532,200.
It’s for this third survey that Media Insider has requested a breakdown of specific shows.
RNZ, in response to email inquiries, says it takes its position “as New Zealand’s only public media organisation extremely seriously” and it’s “deeply conscious of the responsibility that comes with that role”.
It’s monitored, it says, by three Crown agencies on how it delivers to its charter. Audience research is published as part of its annual report.
While it maintains it can’t release specific ratings “we can say audience numbers remain steady and we are happy with how all of RNZ’s flagship shows are performing”.
“It should be remembered that the GFK data is just one of a range of research and data sources that RNZ uses to assess its performance. In the
2022/23 financial year we conducted public surveys, used audience panels and collected a range of digital platform metrics. These give us our full audience picture.”
Media Insider will appeal to the Ombudsman
RNZ’s decision to withhold the specific ratings.
Hadyn Jones: ‘I ended up exhausted’
As Media Insider revealed last week, Hadyn Jones has resigned from Fair Go. He’s now revealed his reasons.
The circumstances of Jones’ departure from Fair Go were slightly bizarre. At the end of a show last year, he told viewers he was off to travel overseas with his family and was leaving them in the hands of co-host Pippa Wetzell.
It sounded like a well-deserved holiday, and that viewers would see him back, fresh-faced, in due course.
But then marketing quietly started appearing for this year’s show without Jones’ name and image.
TVNZ confirmed to Media Insider last week that Jones had, in fact, resigned.
On Instagram this week, Jones told his followers: “I indicated to TVNZ way back in May that I wanted a change and resigned in early October before heading off to see the world with the family. Work wanted to delay the announcement till the New Year. The Herald beat us all to it on Friday. You can never plan these things . . .
“Anyway, I loved working on the show, with the Fair Go crew and I hoped that I helped the odd person along the way.
“I’m sad to be saying goodbye to my co-host Pippa Wetzell. I’m not big for staying on script and she had this lovely way of tidying up my random musings and bringing everything back on track.
“Her children are a couple of years older than mine so we spent a lot of time discussing parenting strategies. She’s also a very good travel consultant.”
Filming their final episode of Fair Go together was “very sad”, he said.
Jones lives in Taranaki and commuted to Auckland to film Fair Go each week.
He will continue to front the weekly Good Sports slot on the 6pm news on Sundays.
Jones explained on Instagram he “did not love taking around 150 flights a year, months in motels and working essentially two jobs”.
“Weekends cutting stories and long nights hitting deadlines. It was my fault. I chose to live in the provinces and shoot-edit my own stuff and keep a career going in Auckland. This was my penance.
“I ended up exhausted and stretched too thin.
“Perhaps running ultra marathons and starting a charity T-shirt enterprise in the same year wasn’t a great idea either!”
He told his followers his decision to resign was a “no-brainer” especially as his eldest daughter was now 14 and “only has a couple of years left with us before she leaves to make her own mark on the world”.
Air NZ agency flies again . . . with Qantas
Matt Dickinson has a special connection with Air New Zealand and its flight safety videos.
The chief executive of True, a small independent agency in Auckland, worked on the first Air New Zealand flight safety video, Bare Essentials, while he was at .99 agency in 2009.
At True, “we pretty much built our business on our reputation as being Air NZ’s brand partner which included delivering all the original safety videos back in the day”, he tells Media Insider.
On its website, True says: “Traditionally, onboard safety videos were viewed as a mandatory chore. But we realised they were in fact an untapped brand opportunity.
“By harnessing the power of strategy and creativity, we created the most viewed, shared and talked about airline ads in the world.
“Each safety video became a new opportunity to celebrate, unpack, and make fun of the cultural zeitgeist. From the biggest blockbuster movies, to sport, to Betty White (RIP) to the pure beauty of New Zealand.”
A recent Media Insider poll revealed Men in Black — the flight safety video featuring All Black Israel Dagg and musician Stan Walker — as the most popular flight safety video.
“A great moment for True,” Dickinson says.
“We ran the Air NZ account for many years and were brand lead agency (NZ and global) when they won most trusted brand in NZ and Australia two years in a row.”
Air NZ and True went their separate ways in 2020, during those hectic early Covid days, and as Air NZ was essentially grounded.
But now True has taken flight again — with one of Air NZ’s biggest rivals, Qantas.
Following a competitive pitch process late last year, True has been appointed by the Australian national carrier as its lead creative and strategic agency for the New Zealand market.
Dickinson says: “We are absolutely thrilled to be back working in the aviation category again.
“We built the foundation of our business on this and it’ll be great to share our experience and passion with Qantas as they create more travel opportunities for Kiwis across the Tasman and beyond. They have great ambitions and are genuinely lovely people and we can’t wait to get into it.”
He says True will work alongside the Qantas New Zealand marketing team to deliver creative work.