KEY POINTS:
APPLE A-DAY
Like all Apple products, The Apple iPhone attracts marketing fervour. But isn't it just a flash mobile phone? Distributor Vodafone is leading the hype as it launches iPhone in New Zealand today. Vodafone claims the user-friendly iPhone interface will hasten the trend for mobile phones as
mobile media.
BREAKFAST CRUNCH
How much longer will MediaWorks cover financial losses for the TV3 breakfast show, Sunrise? C4 boss Andrew Szusterman has been given the job of increasing dismal audiences. Expect to see a less newsy, more entertainment-focused show.
CARSON'S CLIENT
Wellington marketing man Fraser Carson was named as the account director overseeing Labour Party advertising for the general election. Carson - who worked on the 1993 and 1996 Labour campaigns with his firm Fresco - says that Prime Minister Helen Clark will no doubt be a key adviser to the campaign. Good call Fraser, good call.
DIGITAL DIVIDE
Media mogul Rupert Murdoch, was quoted as saying that a business monopoly is a terrible thing unless you own one. No wonder Murdoch-controlled Sky Television has resisted development of Freeview, an alternative digital platform to Sky. The television war is far from over.
EAST OF EDEN
Fans of the new Cadbury TV commercials featuring a man in a gorilla suit playing the Phil Collins song In The Air Tonight may not have noticed a rather nice parody on YouTube. The same clip is used portraying the hairy one playing the theme from BBC soap Eastenders.
FAIRFAX FAVE
How much longer will classified advertising and online auction site Trade Me remain outside the empire of its owners at Fairfax? Trade Me was sold to Fairfax in March 2006. But it has stayed resolutely focused on users rather than advertisers, and that has limited its value to Fairfax. That must be frustrating to Fairfax as its other media assets come under pressure.
BY GEORGE
George FM, broadcasting dance music from its studios in Ponsonby, has a unique commercial market. But with the sale of Mai FM operating rights to MediaWorks it may also be unique as the last commercial station that is not owned by either MediaWorks or The Radio Network.
OH HENRY!
What is behind the two-month break TVNZ has given Breakfast host Paul Henry? We hear that Henry has made it clear that he would like a permanent place in prime time and that the break is part of an offer intended to prevent his departure and that he will be moved to prime time.
IRONMAN IMPEY
Ironbridge, owners of radio and TV company MediaWorks, have made big changes to management and given chief executive Brent Impey more direct oversight of TV3 and C4. That will no doubt create a new frisson at the broadcaster's studios in Auckland's Eden Terrace.
JOLLY GOOD
The new look NZX website provides better charts detailing the movement of share prices over time.
TYING THE KORDIA
What is the future of the state-owned telecommunications firm Kordia if National comes to power? Kordia gingers up private sector investment in telecoms and is behind a move for a new fibre-optic link across the Pacific breaking the monopoly of Southern Cross.
The question is whether the Nats could or would privatise Kordia - and whether it would overrule TVNZ demands that Kordia should not compete in the media market. This would make it more valuable to a buyer.
LEFT BEHIND
Would the last left winger at the Listener turn off the lights? Columnist Russell Brown has ended the Listener's left-leaning sensibilities as liberals howl at changes to the editorial line under editor Pamela Stirling.
But Stirling can point to relatively stable circulation and the magazine's success in this year's Qantas Media Awards.
MAORI MOVES
MediaWorks' purchase of operating rights to Auckland's Mai FM makes some sort of sense for the Auckland tribe Ngati Whatua which is only interested in maintaining a tiny amount of Maori content.
But the decision to have an Australian private equity firm profiting from crown allocated radio frequencies under the Treaty of Waitangi raises questions about Government stewardship of non-commercial radio frequencies.
NEWS NEWS
TVNZ head of news and current affairs Anthony Flannery got a lot of flak when he was named as Bill Ralston's replacement. The Aussie with a background in tabloid TV was derided as a lightweight at a time TVNZ was downgrading the influence of its news division. But Flannery has overseen a ratings turnaround at One News.
ONLINE
Newspapers are at the cutting edge of an online revolution.
Martin Gillman, managing director of Total Media, says that Herald website nzherald.co.nz is the closest aligned print and online media.
And he says the shift away from print had been slower than many had thought.
PVR WARS
Sky Television's introduction of the My Sky 2 second-generation personal video recorder (PVR) has extended its lead over digital service offered by Freeview.
But the consortium of free-to-air broadcasters is planning its own accredited PVR later. And TV manufacturers' moves this month to install Freeview tuners in new TV sets will give it an advantage.
QUESTION TIME
New Zealand governments have avoided regulating the broadcasting market.
And few expect the current review of broadcasting regulations will mean extra restrictions on Sky TV. But after years of free rein, Sky is nervous there will be a media sheriff in its patch.
RIP TVNZ CHARTER
National has promised it won't privatise TV One or TV2 but the TVNZ charter is a dead duck. I'll predict there will be few tears at the TVNZ board.
They will no longer have to come up with bizarre excuses for taking taxpayer grants.
STRATOS FARE
Jim Blackman and the team at Stratos Television have extended the success of Triangle Television, building a nationwide television network on Freeview and Sky on a tiny budget.
Stratos programming is eclectic with a niche audience but is made with a pittance of public money. Meanwhile public money is used to finance commercial shows on other channels. Something is wrong there.
TELECOM TIPS
Outgoing Telecom retail chief Simon Moutter insisted the Telecom brand was so strong the company would have no trouble regaining the largest share of the mobile phone market when it introduces a new network next year. Is it right or does Telecom need a whole new brand?
UNBUNDLING
Once an obscure notion, unbundling of the local loop allows competitors access to the Telecom phone exchanges and copper wire networks. This year it has become a reality. It will have a huge effect on the phone business and as telecommunications converge with media on services like Internet Protocol TV.
VEITCH
Tony Veitch's mea culpa for lashing out at his partner Kristin Dunne-Powell sounded very similar to Paul Holmes' explanation of his infamous "cheeky darkie" remark. Perhaps that is because Holmes helped his Radio Network workmate to write it.
WEEKEND LINK
Fairfax Media is looking at merging the subediting functions for its Sunday newspapers Sunday News and the Sunday Star Times and its Auckland regional newspapers. Moves by Fairfax and earlier outsourcing by Herald publisher APN News & Media are part of a major shakedown in the economics of the newspaper business.
XTRA EXIT
Whatever happened to Xtra? It used to signify internet activities for Telecom, but now Telecom has virtually shifted out of the content business. Telecom admits it is easing its way out of the brand - which makes sense - but it is a slow death.
YAHOO BOO HOO
Of course Xtra survives in Yahoo7!Xtra. We hear that relations between the two parties are strained. Telecom had hoped Yahoo would have a much higher media profile and that would fuel sales for its broadband services.
It's understood that Yahoo7!Xtra is doing okay and is earning bigger profits than when Xtra was linked to MSN. But Yahoo has a reputation for doing things the way it wants to and giving short shrift to input from outsiders.
ZIG ZAG
Maori TV chief Jim Mather likes to say that the channel has succeeded by zagging where others zig. But will the broadcaster be happy with its stubbornly small audiences or look at new ways to grow?
