The pandemic put unbearable pressure on New Zealand’s media this year, but also saw it gain larger and more engaged audiences than ever before. Duncan Greive wraps his head around what it all means. Subscribe and listen via Apple Podcasts, Spotify or via your favourite podcast provider. For the final 2020 episode of my media podcast … Read more
The 72nd Primetime Emmy Awards are today – screening live from midday on Vibe and SkyGo – but who are you putting your bets on? We took a look at the Neon and Sky catalogues to gain a little insight on how a show can maximise its chances. If you’re an entertainment awards fanatic, the Emmys … Read more
Avenue 5, the new show from The Thick of It and Veep genius Armando Iannucci, veers off-course after an ambitious launch, writes Sam Brooks Armando Iannucci has proven himself as one of the great satirists of our age. First making his name with Alan Partridge and then The Thick Of It (a takedown of British … Read more
In the wake of the shocking revelations about Three, Duncan Greive assesses the health of New Zealand’s six big media companies. This story was first published on 20 October, 2019. Winston Peters has studied the cold, pitiless heart of a certain strand of New Zealander for four decades now, and has become our foremost expert … Read more
People are calling Watchmen the next Game of Thrones, but what is it? Here’s the essential background before you start streaming it on NEON. Okay, so tell me what Watchmen is. Watchmen is a new HBO show based on a comic book series (or graphic novel if you’re fancy). It takes place in an alternative, … Read more
In the wake of the shocking revelations about Three, Duncan Greive assesses the health of New Zealand’s six big media companies. Winston Peters has studied the cold, pitiless heart of a certain strand of New Zealander for four decades now, and has become our foremost expert on both expressing its feelings and trolling it into … Read more
With the acquisition of global rugby streaming leader RugbyPass, Sky might have just secured its future, writes Trevor McKewen. For several months now, the war between Sky and Spark Sport for the peerless prize of All Blacks and New Zealand rugby rights from 2021 onwards has been escalating. Every week, one of the two corporate … Read more
Our writers celebrate the very best episode of their favourite TV shows on NEON. Don’t @ us, our decisions are final. For all the great new television out there, nothing feels quite as comforting as returning to your favourite series and reliving the episodes that made your brain explode. It might be the one episode … Read more
New Sky CEO Martin Stewart has had a huge first month in the job, burning down the house of his famed predecessor John Fellet, writes Trevor McKewen. Less than a month into his new job as the CEO of one of New Zealand’s most disliked brands (and that really is a feat when you’re in … Read more
It’s the biggest and by far the most profitable media company in New Zealand. In today’s instalment of his series on NZ media in 2018, Duncan Greive asks media executives why no one believes in Sky any more. When the history of New Zealand media is written in the next few years, one CEO will … Read more
Convicted domestic abuser Tony Veitch is returning to television, he has announced. Madeleine Holden wonders why abusers like Veitch continue to be given prominent public platforms. Yesterday, Tony Veitch took to social media to announce that he will be appearing on Sky TV’s new show, New Zealand Press Box. He promised it will be “a … Read more
Pay TV giant Sky has just pulled the handbrake on its online sports service Fan Pass, as it nearly doubles fees and removes daily and weekly options. A little over two years after the launch of Fan Pass, its unbundled sports package, Sky TV looks like it’s actively trying to destroy the service with a … Read more
This week the Commerce Commission is set to rule on the wedding of two companies, brought together in the name of rugby, reckons Paul Brislen. The people behind the planned merger of Vodafone and Sky TV are heralding a brave new blended world of content and delivery mechanism, an alliance that will position both companies … Read more
Sky TV is attempting to massively restrict online coverage of the Rio Olympics – and both the Herald and Stuff are considering staying home in protest, reports Tim Murphy. Don’t criticise the Sky commentators. Don’t make Gifs. And hold off for, say, three hours. These are some of the controversial conditions Sky TV is believed to have … Read more
The only universally understood business in Auckland today is housing. So what better metaphor for Tim Murphy to use to describe the motivations and implications of today’s Sky-Vodafone deal. The Parable Vodafone New Zealand and Sky TV are happy next door neighbours. Two houses. One with a view, the other with a sprawling yard. Both valuable. Both relied on by … Read more
A Vodafone-Sky merger works for companies waking up to new realites about content, distinctiveness and immediacy. Whether it’s good for consumers is another matter altogether, argues Paul Brislen. There are two major trends in the telecommunications market that directly relate to the Vodafone-Sky-TV merger. The first is the commoditisation of everything. If you can reduce … Read more
Last night, Sky customers suffered a lengthy television blackout across free-to-air channels TV1, TV2 and TV3. This occurred during the premiere episode of The Block NZ, the biggest MediaWorks television event since the Story premiere. Not only that, but the blackout hit right when the teams were weirdly double bluffing their way to choosing their decrepit … Read more
Duncan Greive looks back over a momentous year for the local television industry and catalogues its highs and lows via the timeless medium of a Births, Deaths and Marriages column. 2013 ended with New Zealand’s television in some kind of catatonic state. MediaWorks was limping out of receivership (again), TVNZ had just drowned another of its … Read more