The British Tribe Next Door attracted over 60 complaints of racist themes from viewers when it first aired in the UK. Now TVNZ is airing it on Wednesday nights, attracting concerns from members of Aotearoa’s African community and a letter from race relations commissioner Meng Foon. When The British Tribe Next Door was released in … Read more
If you’re a movie-lover but don’t feel like funnelling more money to a giant global corporation right now, good news: there are plenty of free – and legal – streaming options out there. You just have to know where to look. The number of people with access to linear television is growing smaller and smaller … Read more
A week into level four lockdown, people are probably starting to feel a little cooped up. To help with this, some subscription services and brands have begun to make their products temporarily free. Here are just a few things currently on offer. For those with the privilege of free time during this isolation period, there’s … Read more
The Netflix reality show has been a smash hit in New Zealand, but what the hell is Love Is Blind and why is it so good (or bad)? Alex Casey and Tara Ward discuss an instant classic. Alex: Knock, knock, Tara. Are you there? It’s me, just a simple ex-tank mechanic with a baby voice, … Read more
Sky’s new CEO hasn’t yet been in his job for a year, but has already achieved more than his predecessor did in a decade. Duncan Greive sits down with Martin Stewart to find out whether it has changed Sky’s fate. When Martin Stewart arrived at Sky a year ago this month, he found the corporate … Read more
A unique deal saw Sky buy the rugby rights and sell some of itself to NZ Rugby. Trevor McKewen breaks down what it all means. The news came thick and fast over a remarkable five-day corporate slugfest, starting last Thursday. First, Spark Sport struck, gobbling up New Zealand Cricket’s domestic broadcasting rights for the next … Read more
Vodafone TV is yet another damn thing to plug into your television – but one you really should take a look at, says Duncan Greive. What is it? A small box – about the size of a sandwich – which you plug into an HDMI port on your television, along with a simple remote to … Read more
What are you going to be watching in August? The Spinoff rounds up everything that’s coming to streaming services this month, including Netflix, Lightbox, Neon, Amazon Prime and TVNZ on Demand. Click here to read our listings for July. The Biggies https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pt0QuaQ0huk Veronica Mars (Neon, Seasons 1-4 + Movie, August 2) Praise be, because our … Read more
Sam Brooks embarks on a search to watch the much-hyped season four of Veronica Mars. For an update, scroll to the end of the piece to find out where you can watch. The short answer to that question in the headline: You can’t. At least not legally. The new season of Veronica Mars is not on Netflix, … Read more
Gareth Shute crunches the numbers on who is the most streamed here and abroad – and asks why the two don’t always match. Until recently, it was difficult to track the progress of New Zealand bands once they left our shores. But now Spotify’s publicly available streaming data gives us a window into how well … Read more
Eager to outrun the tide of media irrelevance creeping at its doorstep, TVNZ has finally come round to the new world order by going ‘big on local, big on audiences, and bigger OnDemand’. Jihee Junn sits down with some of the company’s biggest execs to hear about their plan for the future. Ever the quick-witted … Read more
The Spinoff and Spark proudly present Pod On The Couch, a weekly podcast exploring music and the people that make it. This episode: Henry Oliver talks to Baynk about how to get your song streamed 8 million times. Spinoff Music editor Henry Oliver asks to Baynk about how, as an unsigned artist with just a handful of … Read more
A TVNZ exec made headlines last week for calling Netflix a fad. But after another big budget failure, Duncan Greive asks if it’s time the state broadcaster tried to learn from the streaming giant, rather than embarrassing itself by dismissing it. Last week Andrew Shaw, TVNZ’s veteran deputy director of content, made headlines for describing … Read more
Pandora – not the charm bracelets – has officially announced it’s the end of the line for their service in Australia and New Zealand, reports Don Rowe. After five years hard graft in the Australia/New Zealand market, Pandora is calling it quits. “While our experience in these markets reinforces the broader global opportunity long-term, in … Read more