Media Insider: Crunch time for Seven Sharp; Race to be RNZ chief executive as Media Minister says trust target too low; the secrets behind Tina from Turners

ASB officially departs in late September.

“I know the team is working really hard,” O’Donnell said.

“We wouldn’t be in a position to announce that [a new sponsorship] yet, but I know we have been working with a couple of partners on possible opportunities.”

Asked if she was looking at any changes to the show, she said: “Not to my knowledge.”

Pressed further on whether Seven Sharp was viable - on its current format and cost base - without a sponsor, she said: “Our preference would be that it has a sponsor because it really helps tell those local regional stories.

“It’s become part of the content of the show. I think it’s really important that we find the right sponsor for it.”

Despite myriad challenges facing media firms, Seven Sharp is a commercially successful product, with a mix of editorial stories and sponsored content.

Whereas its predecessors, Close Up and Holmes, were heavier current-affairs hitters, Seven Sharp - which launched in February 2013 - is a more relaxed human-interest-style show.

Five years ago, it drew an average audience each evening of 478,500 viewers, according to TVNZ’s 2021 annual report. This dropped to 402,600 in 2025 but lifted to 421,300 in the first half of TVNZ’s 2025-26 financial year.

It is also one of the company’s best-performing streaming shows.

As Media Insider previously reported, Seven Sharp boasts two of New Zealand’s most popular and bankable broadcasters, Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells, as its hosts.

Much of its commercial and ratings success can be placed at the doorstep of two of New Zealand’s biggest broadcasting names. But the pair and their talents also command top dollar - they are understood to be among the highest earners at TVNZ.

Seven Sharp launched with three hosts in February 2013, Alison Mau, Greg Boyed and Jesse Mulligan, before moving to Mike Hosking, Toni Street and Mulligan the following year and soon after that, just Hosking and Street. Wells and Barry have been fronting the show since 2018.

I asked O’Donnell whether the two-host format was still the right model.

“We constantly look and review things all the time, so we’ll just continue to do that.

“It’s like any programme, to be honest, it’s not specifically around that [hosting format]. We’re always looking and reviewing shows.”

She was also quick to say that TVNZ was not “actively reviewing” Seven Sharp.

“I think that when a sponsorship opportunity comes up, then you do think about how do you want to integrate that within the show,” said O’Donnell.

“[Is there] anything that you do differently? That will come once we determine who the partner is.

“We’ve got to make the show commercially successful. It’s important for us to find ways ... [to] bring those integrations into the show in a way that connects with audiences as well.”

The biggest question is whether TVNZ can find a sponsor willing to pay anywhere near the level of sponsorship dollars ASB pays, especially in a tight economy and with pressure on marketing budgets.

Media Insider was told earlier that ASB’s annual sponsorship of the show has been as high as seven figures, but TVNZ wouldn’t comment on commercial arrangements.

One source earlier rejected a suggestion that the sponsorship figure might be as high as $1.5 million, or even $2m, back in time.

News tip? Feedback? Please email shayne.currie@nzme.co.nz

In a statement last week announcing its financial results, TVNZ pointed to the “fresh energy” of shows such as 1News at Six, Breakfast and the new Business Breakfast show.

Seven Sharp has been left relatively unscathed by the multiple changes and cutbacks at TVNZ in recent years – Breakfast and 1News at Six have new hosts, and various shows, segments and platforms have been scrapped, including Sunday, Fair Go, Midday, Good Sorts and Re: News.

In the PR statement yesterday, a TVNZ spokeswoman said: “We presented the Seven Sharp sponsorship opportunity to key partners last month, and the response has been incredible.

“The show’s a standout performer for TVNZ, and this is the first time the sponsorship has been taken to market in a decade. Discussions are progressing well, and we’re excited to share more soon.”

Ultimately, it appears Seven Sharp’s future shape and cost base are likely to hinge on the value of any new sponsorship.

And in that sense, all eyes are on TVNZ’s commercial department to seal the deal.

The race to be RNZ CEO

The hunt for a new RNZ chief executive is understood to be in its final stages, with a shortlist of candidates now whittled down to only two or three names.

Media Insider understands the public broadcaster is on track to announce a new leader in line with chairman Brent Impey’s earlier targeted timeline of “by September”.

That could mean any time this month, but all signs point to an announcement sooner rather than later.

Six names have consistently come to Media Insider’s attention: RNZ board member and South Pacific Pictures managing director Andrew Szusterman, Banking Association chief executive Roger Beaumont, former TVNZ executive Brent McAnulty, current TVNZ executive Nadia Tolich, former RNZ news boss Richard Sutherland and Stuff Publishing managing director Joanna Norris.

Former MediaWorks, TVNZ and Sky TV executive Ciara McGuigan, who has just been appointed as an associate director on the RNZ board, is another name that had been floated, as was NZME chief audio officer Jason Winstanley.

Impey earlier told Media Insider that RNZ was running an open process to find a new chief executive, with advertisements underway.

A subcommittee of the RNZ board of Impey, Gracie MacKinlay, Mads Moller and Paula Browning would filter candidates, he said at the time, with a shortlist of two or three to “come before the board for a final decision”.

Asked what new skill sets the board would be seeking in a chief executive, Impey said in July: “The view of myself and the new board is that we’re going through a really dynamic, transformational time in media. RNZ’s got to be part of that to provide the value for the shareholder [which] equals the New Zealand public.

“The skills we are requiring are media skills, the ability to transform – a lot of that transformation can be in technology and [someone who] knows how to work in an ever-changing, dynamic industry.

“To be honest, I would be very surprised if it wasn’t someone with media experience.”

An RNZ spokeswoman said yesterday: “The board is progressing the appointment of RNZ’s next chief executive and has been very pleased with the strength of the field. The appointment will be announced once the process is completed.”

Earlier, Impey said his relationship with outgoing chief executive Paul Thompson was “very good”.

He and the rest of the board were advised by Thompson last December that he planned to leave at the end of this year, after 13 years as boss.

“We talk regularly already,” said Impey, who moved into the RNZ chair role on July 1 after having been an RNZ director since September 2024.

“I’m one of those who ... by going by no surprises, I don’t need to have a set time per week to talk to him. But if I’ve got a point to raise or he’s got a point to raise, ‘phone me’.”

Talking of trust levels ...

The Government wanted RNZ to lift its public trust targets for 2026-27, saying its goals were neither ambitious enough nor sufficiently challenging, but the public broadcaster did not budge.

Documents released to the NZ Herald under the Official Information Act show Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith and officials wanted RNZ to aim higher than its stated trust goal.

RNZ wants to increase to 60% the number of people who agree it’s an organisation they can trust.

According to RNZ’s latest self-commissioned annual survey, the number of people who trust the broadcaster sits at 57% - down one percentage point on the 2025 survey.

In a letter to RNZ in May, Goldsmith reminded the broadcaster of his “expectation that targets need to be ambitious, particularly around trust and audience goals”.

He said: “I am not yet confident that the targets in RNZ’s draft SPE [state of performance expectations] are sufficiently challenging.

“In particular, I am not satisfied that setting a target of 60% for audience trust is ambitious enough, given RNZ has nearly already achieved this goal,” Goldsmith said in the letter.

He asked RNZ to “please review targets and revise them to focus and challenge RNZ to meet ministers’ expectations of increased performance”.

However, RNZ’s official statement of performance expectations has retained the 60% target for 2026-27.

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In a statement, RNZ told Media Insider that its board had earlier made clear to the Government that trust was “both a strategic objective and a core editorial value at RNZ”.

“In assessing the target on trust, the board considered previous survey results, the Value Indices data from May showing current market trends, and an international benchmark of trust in news consumed of 44%,” said an RNZ spokeswoman.

“The board also considered research into the drivers of trust, noting that not all are within RNZ’s control. International and local research consistently identify political attacks on media institutions as a factor that undermines public trust.”

An RNZ spokeswoman said the board’s conclusion was that a 60% target was “ambitious, achievable, and would provide a meaningful gauge of RNZ’s performance on trust”.

“RNZ takes trust extremely seriously and has put in place a series of initiatives to improve trust ... these initiatives have resulted in improvements in RNZ’s trust levels from 49% in 2023 to 57% in 2026. RNZ remains New Zealand’s most trusted news brand.”

Goldsmith told Media Insider in a statement: “I expect the board to aim higher.”

Audience goals

Treasury also believed RNZ’s audience targets were too conservative, although Goldsmith did not suggest any higher numbers in his letter.

Nonetheless, RNZ did lift its audience target - it wants 87% of New Zealanders aged 18+ to consume RNZ content each month, up from an earlier, achieved target of 85%.

That goal is greatly aided by RNZ’s content sharing partnerships with other media companies, such as Stuff and NZME.

RNZ’s annual trust survey

RNZ is New Zealand’s most trusted media organisation, according to the latest AUT trust in news survey - and RNZ’s own polling.

RNZ has regularly published the results of its own trust levels in its annual, self-commissioned Value Indices poll.

So it was somewhat of a surprise to learn last week that RNZ has been quietly measuring trust levels of five other media companies - TVNZ, NZ Herald, Stuff, Whakaata Maori and Sky TV (owner of Three) - for the past six years.

A non-bylined news story out of RNZ last week announced the results of other media firms in the most recent survey. That news story was published at the same time as an RNZ media release.

“These figures weren’t part of our press release,” said a spokeswoman.

“They were provided to an RNZ journalist on request for a story, and we’re providing them to you now on the same basis. RNZ doesn’t proactively publish other organisations’ trust results; they’re collected as context for our own performance reporting and released when requested.”

She added: “We track trust as part of our broader Value Indices survey, which looks at New Zealanders’ attitudes towards RNZ. Because trust in any one organisation can’t be meaningfully assessed in isolation, we also measure trust in other New Zealand media organisations, which lets us track our own progress against the wider trend rather than in a vacuum.”

The secret behind Tina from Turners’ success

A Q&A with newly minted marketer of the year, Turners’ Sean Wiggans - a title he won at the Marketing Awards on Wednesday night.

Sean, congratulations on the win - and title. Was it a big night?

Hell yes.

Did you thank Tina from Turners?

There are so many people to thank! I’ve been very fortunate in the people I’ve learnt from over my career. Tina is a wonderful collaboration between Darryl Parsons and Bubbah. They are both absolute legends and make magic for us every time they pull on the blue shirt. And yes – they are both due a beer or two.

What’s made that campaign so successful?

There are always a lot of things. The main thing for me is the hard yards everyone on the Blue Team put in to transform the company. Once we had our business model and our culture firing, it was time to tell people about it.

Enter Tina. Tina shines a light on what the great people at Turners deliver every day. Our leadership group has a very clear vision of where we want to get to and how we plan on getting there. Which makes it easier - when you line up marketing objectives and strategy so closely with really clear business objectives and strategy, that’s when you get the kind of results we’ve had.

And we’ve kept the campaign very simple. One simple message, one genius character designed to entertain and consistent execution all the way through for six years. That’s a good way to maximise your budget and punch way above your weight. There’s a lot of advertising and marketing science around, and most of it is free to access. Those who choose to ignore it … great. Makes our job easier :).

How do marketers like you succeed in an environment where there is so much content battling for people’s attention?

Do less. But make it f***ing great. Dull, run-of-the-mill, rational, safe ads disappear. If they even register in the first place. Roughly 85% of digital advertising is seen for less than 2.5 seconds. Which is important because that’s the amount of time humans need to see something to remember it.

So if you’re in digital, you better work hard to be in the 15%. Yes, some brands can get away with one second. Coke. McDonalds. Very few.

We’ve got one message and a small amount of ads that have had a lot of love. Our ads resonate, and we’ve been consistent in our look and feel for six years. Compounding is as real and effective in ads as it is in finance. Again, the science is clear and available. Invest in making great ads, not lots of shit ones that no one remembers.

How are the next five years shaping for the marketing industry in New Zealand - is it getting the attention it deserves in the C-suites?

I’m a huge believer in the power of marketing done properly to deliver growth to the bottom line. There are some incredible marketers in NZ. Smart, infinitely capable and focused on delivering business results. Usually on budgets that are very small relative to those in other countries.

We should be in good shape, but that is not what I consistently hear. And I think it’s because while the ‘how’ of using marketing to get growth is actually pretty clear, as a profession we have overcomplicated it. Which has lost everyone a lot of ground.

And the actual doing is challenging because we’re dealing with humans with all their fickle ways - which is why the only real answer you can give in marketing is “It Depends”.

No one wants to hear that as an answer. And I’m talking about marketing here – not advertising. Which unfortunately is what a lot of marketing has come to mean. The pity there is that advertising is often the least powerful tool in the toolbox.

Does it get the attention it deserves from C-suites? I know it does at Turners! And I’m assuming elsewhere as well. I don’t know for sure obviously, but there are plenty of marketers delivering – Georgia at One NZ, Shannon at Samsung, Annemarie at Lion, Nathalie at Animates to name just a few recent examples.

I reckon what Frankie is doing at The Warehouse is way more than just new ads – he looks to have everyone on board, and the company is making a shift in their culture.

Olly Lynch is going to do great things at Woolworths. I’m sure these guys have their challenges too, but their C-suites are definitely on board.

However, against that are a lot of stories where it sounds like marketing doesn’t have a seat at the table and is relegated to a support function instead of a core function tasked with growth.

I reckon the challenge to C-suites should be to really hone in on why their business is growing, or not growing. Be brutally honest about it. And if you’re not growing or not growing fast enough, maybe try something else. I’m not saying marketing is the answer to every problem. But it might be, and, done right, growth should come.

Easier said than done, of course - refer to the previous statement of “It Depends” - and because of the number one hard truth. Effective marketing costs money, usually more money than is comfortable. And many C-suites have not seen a great return since the rise of digital advertising.

Don’t get me wrong, digital advertising is valid and definitely has its place. But we were told it would replace everything else and that it would be cheaper and we could measure it all.

None of that has been borne out by the results. Instagram does not replace TV. Snapchat does not replace radio. They do a job, and for some categories a good one - and will actually work better if you are on TV and/or radio, but they are not replacements. That’s right now - things will change – that’s a given.

Media will continue to fragment, and how we deal with that is not going to be easy. I heard the other day that print readership is rising among 18-to 29-year-olds. I doubt anyone would have called that. How people are using AI is starting to change the journey as well – but brand still looks to have a huge role to play.

Great marketing should be an investment in the future of the company. Done right, it will deliver profit for years to come.

I’d recommend every C-suite executive who wants to grow should start by reading James Hurman’s book Future Demand. It won’t guarantee you success, but you’ll at least see what’s possible. And maybe ask your marketing team what they think – don’t tell them what to think.

Will we see a new Tina campaign at some stage?

Absolutely. There is no way Turners are leaving Tina behind. But not for a while. Weird pseudo-fact. I reckon I would’ve seen the Tina’s Roadtrip more times before we launched it than 95% of NZ have seen it now. Ads wear in; they rarely wear out. Roadtrip has plenty of life in the tank and so does Tina.

Leaked Stuff job descriptions

The importance of AI tools in assisting journalists in their newsgathering has been reinforced in new Stuff job descriptions leaked to Media Insider.

As the company cuts multiple roles from its newsroom, new job descriptions heavily emphasise the role of AI in future to help streamline tasks.

New job descriptions for the roles of a “senior journalist” and a “content production specialist” list the “key” responsibility of “content and story preparation” and have multiple “expected results/outcomes” including (and these are all verbatim):

Media Insider sent a list of questions to Stuff, but it did not engage its PR team or an AI robot to respond.

Nonetheless, job descriptions like this will become more commonplace in the media industry and other industries. The secret will be to ensure human oversight is clearly and transparently maintained.

Another Stuff internal document revealed last week that 19 existing journalist-type roles at Stuff were being reduced to 12, after Stuff agreed to add one further role back into the newsroom team.

Other confirmed changes include reducing six existing “editor”- type roles to three new “Today editor” roles.

Overall, the number of roles now appears to be nine, including two vacancies.

In an earlier email to Stuff staff, chief executive Sinead Boucher confirmed consultation had started on “a simplified structure”.

She said the proposal also included plans to invest in production, the company’s Indepth journalism team and in specialist content areas.

“Businesses must always evolve to meet the needs of their customers and for the future. As we have always done, Stuff Group will continue to reshape the business, invest in new roles and new products where that makes sense, and this requires change proposals such as today’s.”

The job losses are the latest in a series of cuts at major New Zealand media firms. Over the past five years, Stuff, NZME, TVNZ and others have all reduced newsroom numbers, as they reshape their business models in response to challenging economic conditions.

TVNZ to consider pay-per-view entertainment

TVNZ’s successful and welcome entry into the pay-TV sports market has raised the inevitable question of whether the broadcaster will now also enter the subscription entertainment content arms race.

A most likely scenario is that TVNZ could partner with a global streamer, such as HBO Max, to supercharge its entertainment content and digital subscription model.

A deal like that would once again give HBO Max a well-established broadcaster to hitch to in the New Zealand market, after it and Sky split earlier this year.

TVNZ already offers a range of free entertainment content, courtesy of local productions and international syndication deals. These deals will continue to be critical for its advertising revenue.

“Now we’ve got that capability, then we will definitely look at other ways that we can strengthen the subscription or the pay-per-view opportunities,” TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell told Media Insider.

“Sport was the first genre that we were obviously going to explore, but now that we’ve got the capability, it just allows us to think about different partnerships or collaboration abilities with international distributors, or local partners as well.”

She also said that streamers such as Amazon were now more open to distribution deals for specific content.

For example, Daisy Jones and the Six first streamed on Amazon in 2023; TVNZ later inked a deal that granted the state broadcaster AVOD rights, allowing it to stream and broadcast the series with advertising.

The sports battle

The Football World Cup is understood to have opened TVNZ’s eyes even more fully to the opportunities that lie ahead in the subscription market.

Sky TV has obviously been shaken (and driven) by TVNZ’s inroads and intentions, moving quickly to secure long-term deals with the NRL and EPL in recent weeks. That complements already long-running deals with rugby and cricket.

But there’s no doubt TVNZ is lurking, and now armed with the data from the Football World Cup.

“We’ll be able to look at them [sports rights] through a different lens,” said O’Donnell.

“When rugby rights came up, we only had the advertising option. NRL was just unfortunate timing; we didn’t have any evidence from Fifa, obviously.

“Now we’ve got it all, we can be ambitious but diligent with the investment business case that we put forward.”

TVNZ has a foot in the rugby market, with it broadcasting this season’s NPC and selected FPC games on free-to-air television.

The next TV sports-rights battlegrounds are set to be for A-League football, a planned new netball league, and the controversial new domestic T20 cricket competition.

Sky’s rugby numbers

We do love our rugby - and Kiwis are lapping up the All Blacks-Springboks series.

According to an NZ Rugby release yesterday, 1.275 million viewers have watched the series on Sky Sport and Three so far. A further 510,000 viewers have streamed the series via Sky Sport Now and Sky Go.

And most impressively, many of us woke up in the wee small hours for the first two test matches, which kicked off at 3am.

Sky TV told Media Insider: “For the first test, approximately 40% of all viewing was live and 60% was delayed. For the second test, live viewing increased, with around 47% of all viewing taking place live and 53% delayed.”

Readership results

Latest print readerships for newspapers and magazines were released by Nielsen yesterday.

Newspapers

Year on year, the NZ Herald and Waikato Times’ print readership came back, down 4000 readers each. The Herald maintained a big lead, with readership at 500,000, almost 400,000 more than Wellington’s The Post, which was up 1000 readers to 117,000.

In the South Island, The Press was stable, while the Otago Daily Times was back 10,000 readers.

Magazines

Both Are Media and Stuff proclaimed strong readership results for their magazines.

Year on year, Are Media’s The Listener and NZ Woman’s Weekly, Stuff’s TV Guide, NZ House and Garden and NZ Gardener; and independent titles Rugby News, Cuisine, and NZ Geographic were among some of the bigger titles that enjoyed readership increases.

Many of these titles and several others, including Are’s Kia Ora and Your Home and Garden, also enjoyed quarterly growth.

Are Media editorial director Sarah Henry said the results reflected the strength of the company’s brands.

“Our brands continue to play an important role in the lives of New Zealanders, providing trusted journalism, entertainment, inspiration and practical advice across news, celebrity, travel, homes and lifestyle.”

Stuff owner Sinead Boucher said premium print and digital magazines were enjoying a revival as readers sought “a calm, finite experience without endless scrolling”.

Stuff commercial director Lee Piper referred to a new Martelletti Consulting Quality of Attention survey released this week - he said it reinforced what publishers had long known - “that print and digital magazine readers consume advertising with more focus, active engagement and receptive mindset than other types of media”.

Sky’s new sales boss

Sky TV has appointed Phil Lucy as its new chief sales officer, effective from Monday.

The pay television operator will be hoping this brings some stability for the sales team, which is now under one umbrella after Sky acquired Three for $1 last August.

Sky said Lucy brought more than 20 years’ commercial leadership experience across New Zealand and Australia, “with a strong track record in driving revenue growth, leading large-scale commercial teams and delivering strategic transformation in the media sector”.

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