KEY POINTS:
Fairfax Media is counting the cost of a small "inappropriate" item in its Sunday Star-Times glossy liftout which led to four pages being literally pulled before the magazine reached newsstands.
Fairfax hired casual staff in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch to remove pages 5 and 6, 45 and 46
from about 200,000 of the SST liftout.
The offending item is believed to have been on the editorial page with a pointer to a sex website, linked to an article in the magazine about the porn queen Suzanne Portnoy.
Sunday Magazine editor Emily Simpson - who has recently returned after a period on leave - referred queries to Paul Thompson, who was appointed Fairfax executive editor last September.
It is understood other senior Fairfax management were concerned.
"We have our editorial standards and they are well known," said Thompson.
"My view was that this content clearly crossed the line and we could not let the magazine be distributed containing that material."
The decision to physically pull out four pages was made late in the week.
"It was not an easy step to take which shows the regard for readers and for advertisers," Thompson said.
The Portnoy website seems to be a bit sleazy and more than risque.
The details of the offensive items are not clear.
But the questionable content could not have come in a worse week for Fairfax which was involved in a major promotion and giveaway for thousands of Sunday newspapers linked to the Round the Bays race.
6 WEEKS TO NEW INDIE
Thompson confirmed Fairfax was looking at changes to its weekly business newspaper the Independent Financial Review.
This column reported last week the paper was to be relaunched and some columnists were being laid off. The change is expected in six weeks.
Thompson said the Indie had a good future as a weekly business newspaper and rejected a suggestion doing the rounds in the media world that it would be folded into the Dominion Post or the Press.
GETTING THE FLICKS
SkyCity Entertainment directors are apparently keen to flick the cinemas division by March 31 and are resisting suggestions to break up the chain. But potential bidders are taking their time - in part because the last time bidders walked away the asking price was halved from $110-$120 million to $50-$60 million. New chief executive Nigel Morrison insists there are two potential buyers waiting in the wings, though he would hardly broadcast that there is firm interest from just one. US-based Reading Cinemas still looks the most likely buyer.
PRIME TIME CONCERNS
This column reported recently on the ratings problems at TV3's magazine show Campbell Live. But TV3's problems go beyond that. Its late prime shows are also taking a big hit, according to ad agency Total Media, quoting the February figures for people aged 20-54 from AGB Nielsen research. The number of people watching television in February 2008 was up 3 per cent off a low base in 2007. But TV3 was down by 8 per cent in the 8.30pm to 10.30pm time slot.
It's not clear why but some believe the channel has taken a cautious approach saving its best shows for later in the year because of the shortfall of programming caused by the Hollywood writers' strike.
Prime Television is also down by 8 per cent - which may be due to a late start to the programming season. TV2 was down by just 2 per cent on February 2007, but that was down 17 per cent on 2006. TV2 will have cause to be grateful for Shortland Street which has been drawing large numbers of younger viewers to the channel. The big winners in free to air television have been TV One, whose audience is up by 12 per cent boosted by a slick on-air look and generous programming budgets - helped by generous taxpayer subsidies.
BUGGER RUGGER
Sky Television is fighting off the prospect of regulations. But for all that sports is Sky's lifeblood, the company might be wondering if anti-siphoning laws restricting rugby coverage to free-to-air TV might not be a bad thing.
AGB Nielsen figures show that live coverage of the Rugby Super 14 competition is floundering, with the audience for Friday games down slightly and Saturday up on 2007.
Which doesn't sound too bad until you take into account that it is still down 50 per cent on 2006.
Trouble is the Super 14 is only half way through a five year contract, so there is no fix-it anytime soon. The good news for Sky is that other shows are compensating for the Super 14 results.
GOOD MOVE
HB Media's new magazine Good - New Zealand's Guide to Sustainable Living - sounds like a sitter for a government subsidy.
But HB Media publisher Martin Bell insists the new mag will not be getting grants or special support from the Sustainability Council.
The company behind Idealog and House of Travel-backed travel magazine Inspire will have Good on newsstands by early June.
The 130-page magazine will be published six times a year and is accompanied by a website, good.net.nz.
Bell said that the readership would have a crossover with people aiming at healthy eating.
Good magazine will contain practical advice and ideas about food, personal and family health, renovating and building, technology, transport, business, investing, travel and fashion, as well as environmental and social issues. Bell says there is "pent up demand" for information and ideas from a group of ordinary people.
The magazine's sales and social marketing manager Gavin Healy, was formerly the social marketing and sales manager with the Herald.
