TV companies running out of fresh shows as Government finalises media support package

Wednesday, 15 April 2020

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has signalled that there will be more than one tranche for the plan to help media.

Television companies face having to put more repeats on television as coronavirus lockdowns in New Zealand and overseas prevent the filming of new local and international shows, TVNZ chief executive Kevin Kenrick has warned.

'Most of the productions both locally and internationally have been halted because of lockdown provisions and people are having to resort to whatever content is available historically that they have got – or things that are in a post-production phase that can be completed,' he said.

The longer productions were halted, the more serious the emerging production gap would become, Kenrick told Parliament's Epidemic Response select committee, which devoted all of its public hearings on Wednesday to the state of media businesses.

Television channel Three owner MediaWorks stopped work on many of its local entertainment productions, including Dancing with the Stars NZ and The Block NZ, the day that the level-4 lockdown began.

The prosect of a dearth of fresh television programming risks adding to other gaps in the media and entertainment industries that have opened up as a result of the pandemic.

**READ MORE:

TVNZ chief executive Kevin Kenrick says lockdowns are causing a production gap that could mean more 'historical content' playing on TV.

* Media company NZME cuts workforce by 15%**

*** MediaWorks asks staff to take 15% pay cut

* Media moves to cut jobs and pay, but minister indicates help will only come in 'medium term'**

These include the axing of Bauer Publishing's magazines including The Listener and North and South, the closure of Radio Sport and the non-availability of live sports generally.

NZME managing editor Shayne Currie indicated to MPs that some of its 22 community newspapers might not return, even once the lockdown was relaxed and they were allowed to resume publishing, because of a reduction in advertising.

Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher says government advertising dollars are helping fund the distribution of fake news on social media.

'We do rely heavily on the advertising model for our community newspapers, so once the restrictions are fully lifted we still have to review whether or not we can actually continue to publish all of those,' he said.

'That is how serious the situation is right now.'

On Tuesday, NZME announced it had made 200 of its 1400 employees redundant and had asked those who remained on salaries of more than $50,000 a year to take a 15 per cent pay cut for 12 weeks.

Stuff chief executive Sinead Boucher said its advertising revenue had 'more than halved' in the weeks since March, and April was looking 'particularly dire'.

It has not yet cut jobs.

Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi indicates short-term help will be intended to tide media over for six to 12 months

'We really are trying to preserve our ability to deliver journalism 'at scale' through this crisis,' Boucher said.

'But I would say we have still got a long way to go before we are through this and I would not rule out us taking those steps.'

Currie said NZME had also seen a 50 per cent drop in advertising revenues in April and MediaWorks' chief executive Michael Anderson said it had been similarly affected.

Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi, appearing in front of the same select committee, said the media – like the country – was in 'unchartered territory'.

But the Government was developing a 'short and long term package of support for the media industry', some parts of which he hoped to announce 'within the week'.

The short term support would 'hopefully provide cash flow and certainty' that media businesses might need for six to 12 months, providing breathing space for some longer conversations to take place about the future of the media, he said.

Faafoi indicated the immediate support would not be in the form of straight 'bail-outs' of individual media companies.

Instead, the Government was considering bringing forward purchases of government advertising from the media, and some form of assistance with broadcasters' transmission costs.

'We haven't made final decisions [but] I think we will have some positive news for them soon,' he said.

Kenrick made an impassioned plea for the Government to spend more of its advertising dollars on local media businesses, rather than on social media platforms.

'Every dollar that the Government spends on advertising with Google and Facebook is a dollar that is not spent supporting local media – 'buy New Zealand',' he told the committee.

Boucher agreed that redirecting government advertising spending in that way would make an 'enormous difference' to local journalism.

'There are several examples of social platforms fuelling the spread of quite dangerous fake news,' she said, citing rubbished theories that the coronavirus was linked to the roll-out of 5G as an example.

'The spread of that kind of fake news is being enabled and funded by the institutions and businesses that are advertising on those platforms – the Government included,' she said.

Currie said he believed NZME and Stuff should be 'allowed to merge' as part of a longer term solution to put those businesses on a more sustainable footing.

'I believe NZME would be the right owner of Stuff,' he said.

MediaWorks' Anderson told the committee he did not believe those sorts of decision should be made 'in the middle of a crisis'.

The priority was 'triage' to make sure media businesses survived the current situation, to give time to consider what the best vision was for media overall, he said.