Media: Solid debut for Willie Jackson

Willie Jackson and Toi Iti (left) made a solid start to NewsBites on Maori Television.

PONSONBY TV

Willie Jackson's NewsBites had a solid debut on Monday with Derek Fox making a welcome return to screens and Barry Soper doing a good turn as the slightly-right-of-centre-whitey.

But I hear that at least one member of the board of Maori Television is keeping a close watch to ensure that Jackson's new show always reflects a Maori outlook.

The show's debut had pakeha in two vital roles - liberal commentator Finlay Macdonald and Eating Media Lunch satirist Paul Casserly.

There's a danger it could wind up focused on the Ponsonby Rd set.

Carol Hirschfeld executive produced and Macdonald, her partner, is credited as a writer.

Maori TV confirmed the (rather good) satirical segment by Toi Iti was a collaboration between Iti and Casserly.

A source at Maori TV said nobody doubts Jackson will keep the show real for a Maori audience.

Part of the role for Maori TV is to give experience to Maori broadcasters. Pakeha had senior roles with Eye to Eye but Casserly - with his offbeat take on the world - will be an integral part of the show. Is that Maori TV?

INDY TV FACES THE SQUEEZE

The independent television production industry faces a squeeze in 2010 as TV3 and TVNZ cut back on local production to battle financial crises.

Producers are concerned about a shift to in-house production and developing in-house facilities, cutting independents out of intellectual property rights.

TV3 faces demands to pay back a heavy debt burden and TVNZ faces government demands for a 9 per cent return on assets.

Unrelated announcements by MediaWorks and TVNZ on Wednesday set off rumbles in the industry, which relies on the two firms.

Ironbridge Capital named Australian Ian Audsley as the new executive director of its MediaWorks TV channels, TV3 and C4.

And the Government introduced a TVNZ amendment bill that removed the last ghosts of state TV's obligations to a charter.

Audsley - who was chief operating officer for the Nine Network - may not have been aware of the significance of his comments.

He indicated the future of free-to-air TV sector is tied into making more intellectual property rights.

For most, if not all of its 20 years, TV3 has not been interested in IP rights.

TVNZ has been more aggressive on that front.

The viability for many independent production industries is built around TV3 - a stance enabling them to profit from successful shows.

The amendment bill scraps the TVNZ charter, watering down the focus on programming and accepts its role as a digital media company.

The amendment removes obligations to be anything but commercial.

EURO STAR

TV3 is planning changes next year with former European correspondent Rachel Smalley expected to return for a high-profile role.

Smalley worked for 3 News in Auckland, before heading to TV3 Ireland and becoming the first non-Irish news anchor in the Republic. She has worked as a senior producer for BSkyB News in London.

TV3 declined to comment but it's unlikely she would go direct into an anchor role. One suggestion is she would work across 3 News and Campbell Live, acting as a regular fill-in for John Campbell.

Meanwhile, TV3 is continuing to put a big marketing effort into Nightline host Samantha Hayes, who has been sent to Copenhagen to cover the global warming conference. Hayes is not everybody's idea of a great news anchor - her on-air persona is quite cold and wooden - but ratings for her late show Nightline have been strong.


ADMAN'S BIG UP

Aussie advertising identity Harold Mitchell is giving TVNZ a thumbs-up for halving the 20 per cent commission it pays to advertising agencies.

Ad agencies body CAANZ is fuming, saying the cutback will undermine the entire industry and appears to have the support of advertisers.

Mitchell's firm - Mitchell Communication Group - is the biggest media buyer in Australia with A$1.3 billion ($1.64 billion) in revenue and a player in New Zealand. He says the current system amounts to protectionism.

"Entrenched companies have lived on the 20 per cent commission.

"TVNZ is absolutely right and anybody arguing against it is simply protecting an ancient form of business," Mitchell said.

"Many years ago I broke open the commission structure in Australia and [Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman] Allan Fels found that the 20 per cent commission system was a form of protectionism," he said.

Advertising should be a case of supply and demand, Mitchell said.

Many advertising agencies - especially smaller ones - are fighting the change, which takes effect in 2011, saying it will damage the local ad industry, move media buying decisions across the Tasman and boost TVNZ's bottom line without cutting costs to advertisers.

AMIABLE STROLL

Mitchell was a pioneer in Australian advertising in 1976 - forming a media buyer firm distinct from the big agencies.

He has maintained relationships with media moguls, including the Packers and Kerry Stokes, and has become the go-to guy for Aussie coverage of the sector.

As executive chairman of Mitchell Communication, he and his family maintain a significant role in the company.

His view is that even listed media companies need to maintain the role of a proprietor or owner. Mitchell was in New Zealand to promote his autobiography Living Large that seems to refer to his formerly imposing girth.

The book is an amiable promenade through the Aussie advertising and media world, a world distinct from the harsh environment depicted by ad people who have worked there.

He dismisses the view, saying with a chuckle that people who believe that must be "losers".

Meantime, Mitchell has his eye on changes with media and the advertising model but says advertising will retain an important place.

"We know there is a battle underway about the distribution of information. People will ultimately pay for content they want."

HOLDING PATTERN?

Australian private equity company Ironbridge Capital is pushing ahead with its unorthodox approach to running debt-laden broadcasting company MediaWorks.

On Wednesday MediaWorks chairman Brent Harman confirmed it was hiring tough-talking Ian Audsley as "executive director" for television on a contract of 12 months.

It will be interesting to see whether Audsley will introduce some of the "work hard, play hard" culture that made Channel Nine such a fascinating place to work. He is sure to be a big change after Brent Impey.

With Impey stepping down amid friction with Ironbridge, MediaWorks is sticking to its plan for the TV boss and MediaWorks radio chief executive Sussan Turner to report separately and direct to the board while insisting the company is a combined radio and TV broadcaster.

Clearly Audsley's expertise is not in radio. But it seems an unusual arrangement - where the board maintains a role binding the two intimately-linked businesses operations.

Is it permanent? Or will this change next year when Impey has left the scene?

Audsley is regarded as a protege of famously tough Channel Nine boss Sam Chisholm - and comes with a reputation for maintaining a tight control on costs.

At a time when MediaWorks is weighed down with debts - from when Ironbridge bought the firm in 2006 - he insists he is not focused on cost cutting.

But his other options to grow revenue in the middle of an unprecedented ad slide must be limited. I'll predict 2010 will be an eventful year at TV3 and C4.

FAMILY FEUD

I hear MediaWorks has improved the bond between its TV and radio arms, after tense relations between Impey and Turner this year. Partly it was a workaday inter-division rivalry with poaching of staff.

But tensions became apparent on-air sometimes, not least with RadioLive's Michael Laws criticising the TV3 Telethon. This may have been healthy editorial rivalry - or a sign of deeper tensions within the MediaWorks family.