Three times in the past year, New Zealand’s largest free-to-air broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ) has hit the highest ratings it has seen in decades. Through two national disasters and a royal wedding, New Zealand’s oldest channel TV One assumed television’s original purpose: to help spread the word. Government-owned TVNZ and its two main free-to-air channels; TV One and TV2 still take about 50 per cent of the viewing market. But the company’s success does not lie … [Read more...] about Kiwi can do
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A World Cup scrum
After launching in 2004 to an audience of just over 700,000, Maori Television has proven itself as more than a niche broadcaster. It’s quality international series and documentaries have helped grow its viewership by an average of 14 per cent each year, and it now reaches an estimated 1.9 million viewers. With the International Rugby Board’s (IRB) backing, Maori Television went head-to-head with television heavyweights TVNZ and Mediaworks in the bid for the free-to-air coverage. … [Read more...] about A World Cup scrum
Offscreen antics
Most of the drama on Australian television this year has been going on in the boardrooms rather than on the screen, but should they ever decide to turn it into a TV show it would likely make a riveting plot. In the past 12 months there have been takeovers, poaching, court dramas, proposed mergers, unwanted attention from the Australian regulator – the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – and yet another blow for a beleaguered Rupert Murdoch. Network outage Ten has … [Read more...] about Offscreen antics
Blasts from the past
Traditionally if Aussie audiences went for a period drama it was a bodice-ripping BBC yarn like the recent Downton Abbey, but 2011 has been the year that has seen a pair of local historical dramas head from television’s outback to the mainstream. After three years mining the recent criminal past, Nine Network’s Underbelly series took a gamble and went right back to the 1920s for Underbelly: Razor the story of the razor gangs that terrorized Sydney during a bloody battle against two … [Read more...] about Blasts from the past
Fire sale
With all the news regarding the amount of content being unveiled at this year’s MIPCOM circulating these past two (plus) months, you’d be forgiven for thinking that business all round is just as jovially buoyant. But with the OECD warning that a double-dip recession is a serious concern and Morgan Stanley stating that there is now a one in three chance of the economy taking a tumble, what’s expected to go on at MIP is the exception, rather than the rule in current world … [Read more...] about Fire sale
Eyes on Asia
There’s no doubt 2011 has been a signifi cant one for TV business globally and in Asia. Localization is almost commonplace across various genres; content creation and co-productions are on the up; new PayTV channels are adding to the mix and various technologies are being launched to tackle the insatiable need for varied and different content on multiple platforms. The highs I began by asking our panel of executives, “What trends in viewership are they seeing for their respective … [Read more...] about Eyes on Asia
