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RNZ News
3 hours ago
- General
- RNZ News
Morning Report Essentials for Wednesday 4 June 2025
media life and society 20 minutes ago In today's episode, according to results out on Wednesday morning, the left bloc would have enough support to govern, the Privacy Commissioner says facial recognition technology in North Island supermarkets has potential safety benefits, despite raising significant privacy concerns, after a shareholders meeting on Tuesday media company NZME - which owns the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB - has a revamped board and an historic ship at the Paihia waterfront in Northland has been 90 percent destroyed by fire.
Newsroom
2 days ago
- Business
- Newsroom
MediaWorks' back to basics approach working
MediaRoom column: After a dismal few years MediaWorks looks like it is getting some of its mojo back. The company's audience share in the 25 to 54 age group, known in the industry as the money zone, is at its highest since 2020 and, at 58 percent, is well ahead of its rival NZME on 31percent. Strong performances from brands like Mai FM, The Breeze, More FM and The Rock have driven increased revenues as well as ratings. In its just-announced result for the year ending December 31, 2024, radio and digital revenue improved by $4m or nearly 3 percent to $150m. It was a good effort in a tight advertising market, but the rising star of the business is the 'out-of-home' (billboard) arm. Revenue was up nearly $6m (12 percent) to $51m. An increasing amount of that revenue came from programmatic digital out-of-home (pDOOH) sales which jumped 83 percent compared with the market average of 23 percent. pDOOH is an automated system where buyers can set the conditions (ie. time of day, location, weather conditions etc.) under which they would buy slots and when providers agree the ads are automatically sent to digital billboards. Given that the radio market is mature and close to being maxed-out in revenue terms the out-of-home business is increasingly important to MediaWorks. Unlike other forms of media, out-of-home can't be blocked, muted or skipped. If you are in the vicinity of a billboard you are going to see it. MediaWorks' chairman, Barclay Nettlefold, who represents the owners, Australian private equity firm Quadrant, will be patting himself on the back for appointing Wendy Palmer to the CEO role in August 2023. Nettlefold took himself off the board after Cam Wallace, a former Air New Zealand executive, was appointed CEO in 2021. Wallace's two-year reign was marked by the expensive failure of Today FM. The talkback station was MediaWorks' challenge to Newstalk ZB but failed to fire despite millions being poured into it. After Wallace resigned to take up a role at Qantas, Nettlefold rejoined the board and hired Palmer. Palmer, who had previously been head of radio at MediaWorks when it also owned TV3, is known for her focus on revenue and deep knowledge of commercial radio. So far, Palmer has resisted the temptation to tackle Newstalk ZB head-on like Wallace did. It means a tantalisingly large pot of money is out of reach, but Palmer has stayed focused on the music brands and cut costs. The wages bill is down $2 million year-on-year. The company is still losing money, $16m in the latest financial year, but this is due to the high debt level if carries, a legacy of the company's past. The interest bill for the latest financial year was $20 million. Changing of the PR guard If further proof was needed that the world of public relations consultancies has evolved significantly in New Zealand it came at last week's PRINZ awards. Pead PR won the supreme award for its role in the promoting the world's biggest haka at Eden Park last year and other categories were dominated by newer firms like One Plus One Communications and Special PR. One Plus One won Large Consultancy of the Year. Last year it shared the accolade with Special PR which was runner-up this time. Some of the big-name firms of the past either didn't enter or didn't feature. In the past year, former heavyweight Senate has closed. And major players like Sweeney Vesty, Baldwin Boyle and Network PR don't operate at the scale they once did. Industry leaders Deborah Pead and Claudia Macdonald (Mango Communications) have recently eased back or retired. One Plus One's Kelly Bennett, Max Burt and Special's Kelly Grindle are at the forefront of the generational change flowing through the local PR industry. Anna Cottrell honoured Wellington journalist and documentary maker Anna Cottrell is made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King's Birthday honours list. Cottrell started her career as a TV reporter on 'The South Tonight' a regional news programme in Christchurch in 1978. Her passion for current affairs saw her quickly move to directing longer items on TV One's Close Up. In 1988 Cottrell became a freelance documentary maker and her work focused on the experience of immigrants in New Zealand. Her interest in military history led to a television series on The Great War and the impact it had on people's lives. The five-part series (33 episodes) screened on TV3. Most recently, Cottrell produced Shine On Katherine Mansfield a series about the legacy of New Zealand's famous short story writer. Cottrell, who is known for her dedication to the craft and humility told Newsroom 'I only accepted it [the honour] on the last possible day on behalf of the film crews, editors, graphic designers, and musicians – my colleagues over many years.'
NZ Herald
7 days ago
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Tory Whanau tells Christopher Luxon to focus on his ‘own failings'
Wellington mayor Tory Whanau has hit out at Prime Minister Christopher Luxon, saying he's 'punching down' on Wellington to distract voters from his own failings. Luxon appeared on Newstalk ZB's Wellington Mornings today, where host Nick Mills asked him about the state of the capital. Luxon spoke about
The Spinoff
27-05-2025
- Business
- The Spinoff
Radical millennial idea: don't raise the age of superannuation eligibility
On the one hand, superannuation is putting huge and increasing pressure on the government's books. On the other hand, if you raise the age of entitlement I will emit a supersonic howl of despair. Prime minister Christopher Luxon was unequivocal when asked on Newstalk ZB last week if National is still committed to raising the age of entitlement for superannuation. 'We have a National Party position, which is that we want to move it to 67,' he said, before surprising listeners with the news that he once ran an airline. 'When I was at Air NZ it was very common for people 67, early 70s, still able to work and keep working, and still doing a good job.' His deputy Nicola Willis gave the same commitment in an interview on Monday with Herald NOW host Ryan Bridge, while adding a caveat. 'If you were to make any change in that area I've always been of the view that you'd have to phase it in over a long period of time,' she said. That period of time, specifically, is 'from one millisecond after the last Boomer dies until the first millennial retires'. National's policy is to gradually lift the age of entitlement for superannuation to 67 starting in 2044, hitting the sweet spot between the former generation shuffling off this mortal coil and the oldest of the latter starting to claim age-restricted universal basic income. On the one hand, it's easy to see why governments feel the urge to rein in superannuation spending. It's forecast to cost $24.7bn in the coming year, dwarfing the amount we pay for more controversial welfare payments such as the Jobseeker benefit or rental supplements for politicians to live in their own houses. That number is projected to rise to $45.3bn, or 21.3% of total tax revenue, by 2037. Superannuation costs more than police, corrections, transport, conservation, the courts, the environment, Māori development and 'women' combined. On the other hand, get absolutely fucked come on man how much shit can people under the age of 40 have shovelled onto them from a great height god damn it christ on a bike argh argh argh no. If you were born after 1980, you're currently on your third or fourth once-in-a-lifetime global financial crisis since entering the workforce. Meanwhile, through your entire working life, New Zealand has been subject to a housing crisis which has driven property ownership rates down to their lowest point in 80 years. As these factual, measurable, events have taken place, younger people have been subjected to a blitzkrieg of media takes from people who bought a house in 1953 for two tuppence and a medium-sized donkey on how they too could be rich if they'd just give up 42-inch flat screen TVs and trips to Bali. Worse, property-owning under-40s routinely advise their less fortunate peers they too can buy a house if they simply employ some hard work, gumption, and $750,000 from their parents. In the circumstances, raising the super age for me and my sadsack peers could feel like a slap in the cheek to someone whose cheek has already been turned into pulp by all the slapping. But those are just emotional reasons. The best argument for raising the super age – that life expectancies are increasing – is looking increasingly tenuous. Average life spans only crept up marginally in the 2020 Census, and in some countries are actually decreasing. Meanwhile, any increase to the age of eligibility for super will hit poorer and disenfranchised people the hardest. Not every millennial is lucky enough to have a job working at Air NZ or sitting in front of the computer watching Toby Manhire research Juggernaut season two. Setting the super age at 67 would mean people in manual labour roles have to spend two more years adding minor injuries to their increasingly malfunctioning bodies before finally collapsing into the arms of a $500 per week government payout. Māori and Pacific people would feel the literal pain. They're more likely to be in labouring jobs, and have life expectancies six to eight years lower than Pākehā. There has to be a better way. The most obvious solution is means testing. But that comes with downsides. The means tested Best Start payment is currently being accessed by just half of estimated eligible people, and nearly a quarter of its cost is being swallowed up in admin. Some premier economists propose liberalising immigration laws instead, allowing an influx of younger workers to support our rich retirees and deliver much-needed economic growth. To take that course, New Zealand would simply have to dispose of xenophobia and zone for rapid housing growth; moves which I'm sure would be taken in good spirits and not result in any roving bands of residents association members firebombing apartment buildings in Mt Eden. Perhaps we could even impose higher taxes to make up the revenue we need to provide for our elderly people. Though a large percentage of wage earnings are currently diverted to the IRD, my research has uncovered another source of wealth called 'capital' which appears to be lightly taxed. Perhaps some of the income generated from this mysterious asset class could be diverted to the greater good. Millennials have spent their formative years selling kidneys to pay rent on a draughty villa and getting bullied by gen Z for admittedly being huge losers. They'll spend the next 20 helping fund their parents' generation's Mediterranean cruises. Surely after that they can have a break? I guess not. Come back to The Spinoff in the year 2045 for my blistering takes on bingo etiquette and how the superannuation age should be lifted in 2070, starting with gen Z and gen alpha.
The Spinoff
26-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Spinoff
Review: Ryan Bridge's hectic new live morning show
Tara Ward watches the first episode of new digital news show Herald Now. 'The journalists are already sick of me,' Ryan Bridge announced in the opening moments of Herald Now, NZ Herald's new digital news show that premiered this morning. The broadcaster explained that he'd been standing in the middle of the NZME newsroom all week, rehearsing to launch the weekday show that promises ' the news you need to know now '. But this time, not only was Bridge standing in the newsroom, he was also streaming live on both YouTube and and at 7am he was ready to kickstart the morning's first news bulletin. 'You've probably heard Niva's voice before, but she's a looker too,' Bridge said of Niva Retimanu, who read the news from the Newstalk ZB studio. Back in the newsroom, Bridge began with 'Bridge does the business', while behind him, journalists darted around as they hustled the morning headlines. While Bridge rattled off the latest OCR figures, my frazzled early-morning brain did business of its own by wondering what was really hiding inside the NZME newsroom fridge. An interview about benefit sanctions was quickly followed by an appearance from soon-to-be-deputy-prime-minister David Seymour, who seemed to have all day to lean on the desk and tell us how stink the country is right now. In contrast, Bridge, having already hosted Newstalk ZB's Early Edition at 5am this morning, was fast and full of hand-waving energy. He pressed Seymour about spending $20 million a year on the Regulatory Standards Bill, to which Seymour rambled about Nick Smith 'getting away scot free' about earthquake regulations, or something. Bridge had lots of paper on his desk and lots of things to discuss, including Seymour's upcoming debate at the Oxford Union. Seymour explained he would speak against the argument that 'no one can be illegal on stolen land'. Bridge brought up David Lange's iconic 'I can smell the uranium' Oxford Union one-liner back in 1985 – would Seymour think of some jokes ahead of time? 'Sometimes the best jokes just happen,' Seymour said. Speaking of jokes: on to the bleak state of our public health system. Journalist Michael Morrah stopped in to discuss his exclusive story about the pressures on Middlemore Hospital last winter, when more than 1,500 patients were treated in corridors during a 36-day period. Hospitals are overloaded and understaffed, Morrah confirmed, sharing heartbreaking comments from stressed medical professionals in the first of his three-part series about the desperate condition of the system. It was an important issue, but Bridge didn't take it up with Nicola Willis, whose interview followed Morrah's. Willis stood in for prime minister Christopher Luxon, who was suffering from a winter virus, and Bridge questioned her about changes to KiwiSaver. 'We're worse off overall,' he argued, to which Willis suggested people should just look at the retirement website. Bridge concluded the interview by asking if Willis was wearing the same blue dress she wore on Budget Day. 'If you are, go for it girl,' he said. 'The 1950s called, and they want their line of questioning back,' Willis replied, while I wanted to put my head deep inside that NZME staff fridge. After the 7.30am news, Bridge was also searching for answers. 'I enjoy a nice dress as much as your next gay man,' he began. 'Should I have asked about it? Probably not.' No matter, here's Heather with the weather, and a budget review with business entrepreneur Carmen Vicelich, who was forced to Zoom in from the Koru Lounge shower rooms due to the lack of privacy. 'We need some private rooms so we can do business,' she complained. It was Middlemore Hospital all over again, except with a 20% government tax break for new machinery purchases. At 7.56am, after a frenetic hour of interviews, Bridge took what seemed to be his first breath of the morning during the sports round-up. Later, after more ads selling me the wet weather gear that All Black Scott Barrett wears when he milks the cows, Dame Julie Christie and Matt Heath popped by for a Monday morning panel and Christie dropped a Costco bombshell: you have to buy 48 rolls of toilet paper at once. While I reeled from this astonishing revelation, Bridge discussed the supermarket duopoly with a supermarket duopoly expert and read out the morning's viewer feedback. Rob was glad there was now something 'substantial' to watch in the morning, while Philip asked 'how do I pause and rewind please?' Viewer Alan's attention was elsewhere: 'What is annoying for me is the background activity.' 'Perhaps you guys could just all go away?' Bridge turned and joked to his colleagues, who grinned and waved. They're busy, Bridge assured Alan, but maybe David Seymour was right. Between the Herald Now's toilet paper chitchat, shower room revelations and that mysterious newsroom fridge, sometimes the best jokes do just happen.
