Campbell Live taken off life support, host exits MediaWorks

See also: Campbell a natural fit for nat radio – media pundits

John Campbell is leaving MediaWorks and the show that bears his name will be replaced with a new current affairs show that will screen 7pm Mondays-Thursdays and feature two presenters.

Meanwhile, a new entertainment show is being developed for the 7pm Friday slot, as part of TV3’s successful Friday night comedy and entertainment block.

Mr Campbell was reportedly offered one of the co-host roles on the retooled current affairs show – expected to launch in six-to-eight weeks – but, according to group head of news Mark Jennings, “John has decided he wants to take a break from the job and we respect his decision.”

Mediaworks’ decision about Campbell Live, made public just minutes after today’s Budget lock-up finished at 2pm, comes after the TV3 current affairs programme was put into a highly publicised review process six weeks ago.

In April the media company, which owns television channels TV3 and Four, and radio stations such as The Edge and Radio Live, announced it was exploring ways to “improve the commercial performance” of the 7pm weekday prime time slot.

At the time Campbell Live’s average audience per episode was hovering around 150,000 viewers.

As soon as the review was announced, several social media-based campaigns to save the show were started. Petitions were signed, protests staged and commentaries on the future of television written.

More importantly, ratings for the show skyrocketed after the advent of the review, with Campbell Live drawing a nightly audience approximately twice the size of its pre-review viewership.

That means Campbell Live has consistently been one of TV3’s most popular programmes for the past six weeks – and the channel’s most watched show for 16 of the past 30 nights.

The off-screen efforts of the show’s staff were arguably as important to the show’s ratings revival as their onscreen work, as they ran a guerrilla marketing push via Twitter and Facebook that implored viewers to tune into the show and trumpeted the increase in audience numbers when they did.

As well as encouraging people to regard watching Campbell Live as an act of political activism, the corporate disobedience of its staff has served as an illustration of the reported dissatisfaction felt by many at MediaWorks over the company’s change of direction since Mark Weldon took on the role of group chief executive in August last year.

There has been abiding speculation, however, that Campbell Live’s fate was predetermined, regardless of the ratings rebound.

Shortly after the review’s announcement, for example, the New Zealand Herald revealed MediaWorks had trimmed the deal with the show’s main sponsor, Mazda, back from one year to just three months – a move interpreted by many as effectively preparing it for the chopping block.

Today’s announcement appears to confirm such suspicions, although Mr Jennings insists “We went in without any preconceived idea of the outcome but with a clear goal to turnaround the ratings decline.

“As much as anything, this was a review of the viability of current affairs at 7pm.”

According to a MediaWorks statement, “the review was a thorough process that assessed a wide range of options, and an evolution of current affairs at 7pm emerged as the best option for improving commercial performance of the prime time 7pm slot on TV3.”

Says Mr Jennings, “The review has clearly shown us what’s most relevant to our audience at 7pm is current affairs but not Campbell Live as we know it.

“We will be bringing the best of Campbell Live over to the new show but will be looking at a wider mix of stories.”

According to Mr Weldon the senior management team was unanimous in its decision about the future of Campbell Live, and believed the new show was the most relevant option for audiences and advertisers.

“I want to pay tribute to John Campbell,” Mr Weldon says. “He has made a huge contribution to TV3 and MediaWorks over the years, and I was hoping this would continue – which is why last November I offered John a three-year contract, which he did not sign. I respect John’s decision not to continue at MediaWorks and wish him well.”

Campbell Live celebrated its 10^th anniversary on air in April this year.