John Drinnan: Paul Henry show more radio than TV

Paul Henry hosts MediaWorks new morning show Paul Henry. Photo / Getty Images

Paul Henry's new show is mostly about radio and not much about pictures.

TV3 and RadioLive have been warning that the focus of the new breakfast show would be on the aural, not the visual. But I was still surprised how little there was to see on this morning's first episode.

After all the months of preparation, MediaWorks decided to play it safe - and as a result the debut was dull and a bit old fashioned.

There was no spark of things to come - or of anything that might make it worth watching.

According to MediaWorks, Paul Henry is a work in progress.

But it was still surprising that there was no attempt to prearrange some interesting content, and I'm not necessarily necessarily talking about news.

Maybe it was the radio studio set. Paul Henry show seemed like a "small" programme and not at all like the "Paul Henry Land Playground" that I had imagined.

My tips -

• Do something about the radio microphones. MediaWorks says they are not just a gimmick.
• It looks odd to watch Hilary Barry reading the news with the cadence of a radio person.
• Rustle up some more content.
• Give viewers more of a break from Henry.
• Drop the shot from the back of Henry's head.