Media: 'Poor' RNZ cops one from the privates

Q&A host Paul Holmes has yet to say whether he will stand for the Auckland Super City mayoralty. Photo / Martin Sykes

A KPMG report says extra cash is needed to remedy severe under-staffing and under-funding at Radio New Zealand.

But MediaWorks - the private equity-owned firm with half of New Zealand's commercial radio stations - says the squeeze should go on public radio, not be taken off.

MediaWorks chief executive Brent Impey said some of RNZ's problems arose from being institutionalised and it was outrageous to hear calls for more public cash.

RNZ is looking for 5 per cent ($1.5 million) in cost cuts to meet the latest shortfall. But Impey says cuts should be 15 to 20 per cent ($4.5 million to $6 million) to match the private sector cutbacks.

On Monday, the Herald reported details of the KPMG baseline funding review. The review suggested the $30 million to provide Radio New Zealand National, Concert and RNZ International was about $5 million short.

Impey - who heads RadioLive, More FM, The Edge, The Rock, Mai FM, The Breeze, Solid Gold and Kiwi FM - blasted Radio New Zealand for "crying poor".

He said calls for extra funding were "galling" when private sector media companies were laying off staff.

RNZ has had constant funding and an increase ($2.4 million) last year, Impey said.

"We [private sector media companies] have had to make paradigm shifts in the way we run businesses to keep them viable.

"I do not see anything like that at RNZ," he said.

PURE AND POOR

Anybody who deals with public radio will tell you there is not a lot of fat, but a siege mentality is emerging.

Maybe chief executive Peter Cavanagh deserves credit for a purist streak, banning Morning Report host Sean Plunket from writing a column in Metro magazine - because RNZ believes hosts do not have opinions.

Or maybe RNZ has got caught up in a pure public broadcasting vision - stopping its star interviewer having a column in Auckland where its audiences are smaller.

RNZ has been on the edge of a financial crevice for as long as I can remember. How long can it go on without some change?

One insider said the present shortfall was because RNZ was over-confident it would get a funding boost this year because of the KPMG report.

Even supporters say that there are inefficiencies about the way things are run in the non-commercial system.

Impey said: "In today's world of running radio stations it is incomprehensible that you have $30 million to run one news and information station and one music format."

He says that if you set up public radio services from scratch you would come up with a different system.

The private sector has its own interest in RNZ and its remedies might not suit.

What sort of system would work?

TVNZ AND POLITICS

I don't mind Paul Holmes as host of the Q&A programme.

Political scientist and panelist Therese Arseneau seems to be immune to Holmes' charms, but he has a good rapport with the movers and shakers who appear on the show.

However, TVNZ is risking the credibility of its premier political programme because its host has not declared his intentions regarding standing for the Auckland Super City mayoralty.

Only TVNZ would allow a journalist to host a television debate when he is considering being a candidate.

Q&A producer Tim Watkin said TVNZ had not asked Holmes his intentions for the mayoralty and did not intend to.

It was some time before he was obliged to put his name forward and Q&A would certainly change its approach if he did.

Watkin said there were no special provisions limiting Holmes from conducting Super City discussion on Q&A.

But what would happen if Holmes did stand and it was found he had been preparing for the candidacy while at Q&A? Does that affect the credibility of the show?

Watkin said that TVNZ would cross that bridge when it reached it.

Holmes - who provided political training for Don Brash before the 2005 election - probably has not decided yet whether to stand.

One imagines he would not enter a political race unless he thought he had a chance of winning.

In ascertaining the level of support he could do worse than turn to his close friend Mike Williams - a polling maestro, political organiser and fundraiser - who recently joined Holmes in a campaign against the scourge of the drug P.

POLITICAL SHOW

TV3 is meeting with New Zealand On Air today to discuss funding for The Nation, its Sunday morning politics show that will run next year. Stephen Parker - a former TV3 political editor who is now press secretary to Economic Development Minister Gerry Brownlee - is understood to be among prospective hosts.

Parker said that no decision had been made yet but he had advised the minister he was being considered to front the show.

PLUMPING UP

ACP Media's decision to buy Citymix and incorporate it into Metro magazine makes sense.

ACP has recommitted to Metro and it looks fine in its back-to-the-future A4 format. But it does look a bit thin and the monthly glossy would benefit from being plumped up with entertainment listings.

ACP announced this week Citymix owner and publisher Christina Sayers-Wickstead had been appointed as the new editor of Next magazine and that would have been a factor in the deal. It is not clear what cash actually changed hands.

Citymix has had a tough job in a market with listings in weekly publications and faced challenges ensuring listings are up to date and not overwhelmed by events.

These problems will remain when Citymix is incorporated into Metro - and be exacerbated by the fact that Metro is now published only 10 times a year.

But I'd expect web portal MSN - part owned by ACP - will help overcome that problem by updating listings.

ACP New Zealand chief executive Paul Dykzeul made headlines a while back when he scaled back ACP's online operations but said his scepticism related to the impact of display advertising and he had no doubts about its use for classifieds or listings.

Sayers-Wickstead - by the way - is a former editor of ACP's Fashion Quarterly. As editor of Next, she will replace Brenda Ward who is to manage Nova Models.

FAIRFAX CHANGES

Fairfax New Zealand chief executive Allen Williams would make "no comment" this week about the sudden departure of Fairfax Sundays' general manager Michael Richards.

Richards - whose responsibilities include the Sunday-Star Times and Sunday News - left the Newton offices last Friday amid disagreement with some senior people over his approach.

One person familiar with the situation said that problems had been building over months and that Fairfax Media New Zealand's head office at Viaduct Harbour had become involved.

Richards is no stranger to controversy, having been publisher of the Fiji Sun and chief executive of the Pacific Area Newspapers Association (Panpa).

In June last year this column reported Richards had taken umbrage at an anonymous email distributed to Fairfax management in Auckland. The document was critical of his role at Panpa from 2006 to 2007. Panpa launched an inquiry into how the material was released.

The anonymous note - sent to senior Fairfax executives - included mostly innocuous details about the performance of Panpa but also some strongly worded comments that Richards said were "malicious and defamatory".

LOCATIONS, LOCATIONS

Film New Zealand is looking for a new chief executive to handle its expanded role attracting overseas companies to make movies in this country.

Judith McCann has stepped down from heading the Government-funded industry body as it changes from a locations office to take over the more proactive role attracting overseas film-makers to access subsidies and spend money in New Zealand.

Under the change, Film New Zealand will take over some of the role of New Zealand Trade and Enterprise which has sent a public servant to meet the Hollywood film industry and promote our film business.

The chief salesman for that role was Paul Voigt who left recently to take up a role with organisers for the Rugby World Cup.

Film New Zealand Board of Trustees chairman Julian Grimmond - who produced the TV series The Great Race - said that one option for Film New Zealand in its new expanded role was working with other organisations.

The Film New Zealand revamp coincides with a review by Peter Jackson into the way the film funding body the New Zealand Film Commission operates.