Media Matters: Scoop! John Campbell’s RNZ show delayed until 2016

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In this instalment of Media Matters, NBR Radio’s Jason Walls chats with Campbell Gibson and Nick Grant about the inner workings of New Zealand’s media industrial complex.

First up for discussion is some breaking news from Mr Gibson: the launch of John Campbell’s RNZ drive time show, which was originally planned to launch later this month, has been pushed out until January 18.

RNZ head of content Carol Hirschfeld says the programme is in good shape “but we want to make sure it’s as good to go as possible.”

The unnamed show will replace Checkpoint from 5-7pm weekdays and will also be streamed on video through RNZ’s website (see video below for Mr Campbell's walkthrough).

Ms Hirschfeld says it’s a significant change for the public broadcaster because it’s the first time a key news programme is being produced in Auckland rather than Wellington.

About five staff members have been affected by the change, Ms Hirschfeld says.

RNZ is making a large push into video content but says it will not come at the expense of its mainstay radio operation.

However, Mr Grant says he has heard grumblings from some staff at the broadcaster about having to upskill in video production in a short timeframe to meet the original launch date of Mr Campbell’s show.

RNZ will spend $10 million on capital expenditure over the next 10 years, mainly on upgrading its equipment.

Mr Grant rounds out proceedings by tallying up the MediaWorks’ TV programmes the network has confirmed won’t be screening on TV3 next year: MasterChef NZ, X Factor and Come Dine with Me. A question mark continues to hang over Dancing with the Stars, despite it having being one of the better rating of the shows that were part of MediaWorks’ central reality TV strategy – something Mr Grant puts down to the difficulty in finding a lead sponsorship that would offset the high production costs.

The fate of TV3 current affairs show 3D has yet to be announced, though it’s widely assumed it won’t be returning in 2016 either.

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