Presenters Simon Dallow (TVNZ), Ingrid Hipkiss (RNZ), and Melissa Stokes (TVNZ) will soon be all under the same roof, when RNZ moves into TVNZ's Auckland headquarters. Photo montage/Oliver Rusden
Noise restrictions, off-limit interviews and floor plans revealed - TVNZ’s rules for incoming RNZ staff and builders; Independent advertising agencies take aim at global merger and the practice of ‘principal trading’; The untimely deaths of three respected journalists and editors.
TVNZ’s 6pm newsreaders Simon Dallow and Melissa Stokes will soon be under the same roof as RNZ Checkpoint‘s Lisa Owen. On weekday mornings, Breakfast‘s Jenny May Clarkson and Chris Chang will be a few floors below Morning Report‘s Ingrid Hipkiss.
And TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell and Auckland-based RNZ leaders will be regularly bumping into each other, as our two public broadcasters finally come together - physically at least - in TVNZ’s spaceship-like Victoria St headquarters.
The companies say they are looking forward to and excited about the move, with the building expected to be ready for some 150 RNZ staff, after a fit-out of the sixth and seventh floors, by late November.
Right now, those RNZ staff are crammed in a pokey building, a couple of blocks away in Hobson St.
But Media Insider can reveal today that RNZ is also facing a wide range of rules as the new tenant - some of them unsurprising, others perhaps a little more revealing.
A ‘building rules’ draft document says RNZ won’t be able to use common areas of the building for live or pre-recorded broadcasts, or to solicit interviews or seek information from other occupants - essentially, TVNZ staff.
Effectively, that means a gung-ho RNZ reporter can’t lie in wait in the atrium to doorstop the likes of O’Donnell or any other TVNZ bosses and talent whenever there’s a newsworthy event involving TVNZ.
RNZ also can’t film or solicit interviews with TVNZ visitors.
Under the rules, TVNZ will be allowed to use common areas for broadcasts and content creation, but its staff also won’t be able to film or solicit interviews with RNZ staff, talent and visitors.
The rules further state that TVNZ retains full naming and signage rights for the building. In other words, don’t expect to see too much, if any, RNZ livery on the exterior, initially at least.
“To clarify, RNZers, when they join us in our Auckland building, are welcome to request interviews with TVNZers,” said a TVNZ spokeswoman. “Those requests are just required to go through official channels...
“All TVNZers have a reasonable expectation of privacy within their workplace. Before showing up at someone’s desk with a microphone or a camera, you do have to ask if it’s ok! This courtesy will go both ways.”
And just in case anyone had any doubts, the rules state that RNZ staff can’t sleep or reside in the building, just as, presumably, TVNZ’s staff can’t either.
As RNZ prepares to award the tender to fit out the new studios and floors, there will also be a strict ban on noisy construction works in some parts of the building while TVNZ is broadcasting live shows such as Breakfast and the 6pm news bulletin.
Tender documents reveal the requirement for a construction noise blackout period in TVNZ’s basement between 6am and 9am, Monday-Friday, and from 9am-10.30am on Sundays.
A similar noise ban will be in force in the basement every evening - from 4pm (4.30pm on Saturdays) to anywhere between 7.30pm and 8.30pm - so as not to disrupt the 6pm news bulletin (as well as Seven Sharp on weekdays).
“RNZ will be undertaking building work to fit out their space in an appropriate way for their tenancy,” says a TVNZ spokeswoman.
“You are correct, we have put some restrictions around when this work can take place to ensure there’s no disruption to Breakfast, Te Karere, 6pm, Seven Sharp and Q+A.“
And while it’s a fit-out of a radio business, the builders “must not have stereo or radio equipment playing in the building” during the construction phase, say the tender documents.
The previous Labour Government pushed for a merger of TVNZ and RNZ, only to later kill the idea.
So is the Auckland move the beginning of a merger by stealth?
The companies will still be separate operationally but, nevertheless, the co-location should give executives an opportunity to consider how they can collaborate on the likes of breaking news stories and deeper investigations.
There might eventually be an opportunity for combined backroom operations.
“Rules around tenancies are fairly commonplace,” says the TVNZ spokeswoman.
“They ensure both parties’ expectations are met and new neighbours enjoy being in the same space together.
“We’re looking forward to having RNZ in the building. It feels fitting to have another media organisation coming in, and we think it will open up opportunities for more collaboration.”
Tender documents show level 7 will house RNZ’s reception (with an illuminated RNZ tohu logo), a boardroom and two main studios, along with a green room for guests, a news booth and access to an outdoor deck.
On level 6, there will be a music studio, Concert FM, more edit suites, a podcast studio and a multimedia studio.
The documents say contractors will need to partly demolish the existing fitout and build studios, meeting rooms, a boardroom, an IT/server room, workplace and general office areas. Bathrooms will be upgraded.
Contractors have until May 29 to submit their proposals. The successful bidder is expected to be advised by early June, with work to start in early July.
The targeted completion date is November 22.
“RNZ is excited to be moving into the TVNZ building from late 2025 and looking forward to the opportunities it will bring for our people to deliver more for New Zealand audiences,” said an RNZ spokeswoman.
She said the release of the project’s fit-out RFP (request for proposals) was “an important milestone”.
RNZ says in the RFP document: “With around a third of New Zealand’s total population now living in Auckland, it is important that RNZ has a strong base in the city ...
“Just under half of RNZ’s total staff work now from the Auckland region and RNZ’s current premises is at capacity and no longer fit for purpose in terms of future technologies.
“The new space (levels 6 and 7 of the TVNZ building) offers a 100% increase in size [which] allows for future growth as well as an opportunity to structure the space in a way that makes sense for a public media organisation that is no longer solely a radio broadcaster ...”
The document says it’s looking for partners “who understand the ethos of public service and being mindful of prudent use of taxpayer money by delivering value”.
The RNZ spokeswoman said of the relocation: “We will not be commenting on cost at this time in order to help ensure the process is competitive and delivers good value for money.”
The RFP document says RNZ is partway through a three-year business programme “to transform how we deliver high-quality content”.
“This programme is driven by our refreshed strategy that was made possible by a $25.7m funding boost from 2023.”
While there will be excitement about the move, there are also likely to be nerves among RNZ bosses and the board as they await to hear their budget for the next 12 months.
As Media Insider reported last month, there are suggestions taxpayer funding for RNZ could be pared back in the Budget.
As other media companies feel the pinch, sources say Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith and Finance Minister Nicola Willis and their officials are taking a laser-like look at RNZ’s funding.
“All budgets are under scrutiny,” a spokesman for Goldsmith said last month. “Decisions will be made as part of Budget 2025.”
One source earlier said that the $66.6m that RNZ receives directly through NZ on Air could be pared back, with at least some of that money redistributed to the broader media industry through NZ on Air’s contestable funding programme. That provides funding for specific shows and projects.
No decisions had been made as of a month ago. Among the considerations has been whether RNZ’s funding should be maintained to ensure the organisation can, for example, continue to afford to send reporters on overseas political trips and – as it’s done most recently – commission its own political poll.
A group of independent New Zealand advertising agencies have lobbed a hand grenade at the planned merger of global agency giants OMG and IPG, highlighting concerns about a little-publicised business practice in the New Zealand media industry.
Independent agency Lassoo Media, backed by seven other agencies, has raised the spectre of more media industry cutbacks and concerns of anti-competitive behaviour if the OMG (Omnicom) and IPG (Interpublic) marriage is allowed to proceed.
As reported in December, OMG’s planned US$13 billion acquisition of IPG in the United States is a seismic shift that will reverberate in New Zealand, where major OMG brands such as PHD, OMD, Colenso, DDB, Clemenger, TBWA, Hearts & Science and Dynamo would be housed under the same umbrella as IPG agencies such as FCB and Initiative.
Media Insider reported in March that the merger would be subject to Commerce Commission approval.
Now, in a submission to the commission, Lassoo Media highlights the business practice of “principal trading”.
Principal trading allows big advertising agencies to buy media inventory - such as TV and website advertising slots, newspaper space, and radio spots - in bulk and in advance at a cut-price rate.
The agencies then resell the inventory to clients for an undisclosed mark-up.
“While principal trading is not illegal, the holding companies (OMG & IPG etc) who collectively hold a dominant share in the market, require local media transact on these terms by providing the media inventory for purchase upfront and, it is believed, by requesting better rates for purchasing large amounts of inventory,” says Lassoo.
“Those local media are companies like TVNZ, NZME, Stuff, Warner Bros Discovery, MediaWorks, JC Decaux and Ooh!Media. Most of these companies have been headline news over the last few years due to the need to severely cut costs and reshape their business.”
Lassoo cites Australian trade media coverage of principal trading “with the goal for their local media landscape to ‘not turn out like New Zealand’.”
“The industry commentary suggests that the holding groups threaten to move huge amounts of money away from local media if they do not adhere to their desire to trade on their terms,” says the Lassoo submission.
“Not because of merit, but because they rely on these deals to be profitable ...”
Lassoo said principal trading might be beneficial to agencies’ largest clients, but many others “remain oblivious to the practice”.
“What is clear, however, is that there is a huge amount of revenue being made by global companies that is contributing to the challenges local media companies are facing.
“The amount of money being transacted through principals in New Zealand could be as high as 40%, however this amount is a closely guarded secret and is not disclosed in [the] financial reporting of public companies like NZME.
“There are significant barriers to entry in implementing a principal trading model. An agency would need significant volume and working capital to undertake and fund this form of trading.
“Without the ability to do so, agencies who do not partake in principal trading can be disadvantaged, forcing them to operate below their cost-of-service, severely limiting the number of players able to sustainably compete in market.
“Principal trading margins are undisclosed, but reports suggest they can be up to 100% above the media purchase price.”
Lassoo says its submission is supported by seven other agencies: YoungShand Ltd, Conductor Ltd, Thompson Spencer Group Ltd, Sneakers Digital Ltd, Stanley Street Agency, Rascal Media Ltd and Hemisphere Ltd.
Independent Media Agencies NZ (IMANZ) has also lodged a submission with Commerce Commission, raising various concerns, including the principal training practice.
“Global holding companies such as Omnicom operate on a margin-based arbitrage model, where media is purchased from local media owners at negotiated or volume-discounted rates, marked up, and resold to clients, often with profits repatriated offshore,” IMANZ says.
“This practice is entirely legal but increasingly opaque and problematic when one buyer dominates the majority of market demand.”
IMANZ said it did not “oppose the merger outright” but it was concerned that any marriage “would result in a single foreign-owned holding company controlling the majority of New Zealand’s media billings”.
It encouraged the commission to seek specific undertakings “to mitigate post-merger conduct that could substantially reduce the commercial sustainability of local media owners”.
This included structural safeguards requiring the maintenance of separate media buying units with independent purchasing authority when negotiating with key New Zealand media owners; transparency requirements for volume-based discounting practices; and assurances regarding continued investment in local media partnerships.
The case for a merger
Earlier, OMG outlined to the commission why it believes it’s important the acquisition and merger needs to proceed, saying the advertising sector is intensively competitive and smaller New Zealand agencies will always have the talent and ability to successfully pitch for work against what would become the biggest advertising agency in the world.
In a 49-page application to the commission, OMG says the advertising, marketing and communications sector is “characterised by intense competition, fragmentation and continuous evolution, particularly with the rise of digital media ... and emerging communication channels, which challenge traditional agencies”.
It says the industry is “evolving rapidly”, driven by changing consumer behaviour and technological advancements that present opportunities and challenges to existing industry players.
The OMG-IPG giant would become the world’s biggest advertising holding company, surpassing Publicis and WPP.
OMG and IPG have also made no secret of the estimated cost savings - up to NZ$1.22 billion globally - including reduced roles.
Sources have said OMG agencies already lay claim to more than 50% of media spend in New Zealand and that the new mega-merger would only reinforce that dominance.
The commission said in early March that it had received a clearance application for the proposed acquisition.
“We will only give clearance to a proposed merger if we are satisfied that the merger is unlikely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition in a market,” said a commission spokeswoman.
The commission is expected to announce its decision on the merger at the end of May.
New Zealand’s latest independent advertising agency, Together, may have won the pitch for the Contact Energy account, ahead of incumbent Hearts & Science.
Which, if confirmed, is a win for the local agencies, at a time when there’s rising angst about the pending IPG/OMG merger.
Tragic news in the media industry this past week, with the untimely deaths of a trio of highly respected journalists:
Long-serving Listener television editor Fiona Rae has died after battling cancer.
In a special editorial last December, upon her resignation due to ill health, the Listener paid tribute to Rae and her “wry wit and dry humour, an encyclopedic knowledge of pop culture and, of course, the very special set of skills required to produce the television and radio pages and write the accompanying TV highlights”.
She had been part of the Listener whānau for more than three decades.
A death notice in the NZ Herald this week echoed those sentiments: “Loved and respected by her colleagues at the New Zealand Listener for her precise and excellent work and her wit and composure on the job. Adored by her friends for her grace, generosity and wry sense of humour. The world will never be the same without her.”
Rae, 62, was the partner of journalist, blogger and media commentator Russell Brown. The couple has two adult sons, Jimmy and Leo.
Brown posted a heartfelt message on social media this week: “We were in each other’s lives since we were teenagers and we faced many challenges together and raised two fine sons.
“I’m well aware that there’s a tsunami of grief looming over that loss, over the end of 45 years of shared experiences and understanding. Nothing will ever be the same.”
Rae will be farewelled in the Main Hall, St Lukes Church, 704 New North Rd, Auckland, at 2pm today, Friday, May 9.
Fashion editor Leigh Matheson died suddenly earlier this week. Matheson - the daughter of fashion legend Keith Matheson - was 49 and is survived by her partner Andy Pickering and their son, Asher.
Pickering also posted a heartbreaking message and photographs on social media this week. “We are devastated to let you know that Leigh passed away suddenly on Sunday night. Leigh will miss you all as much as we will all miss her.”
Pickering told the Herald: “Leigh was a force of nature - passionate, intense, and fiercely original. The way she expressed herself IRL and for her much-loved Instagram community was inspirational. We miss her deeply.”
My own wife, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly editor Marilynn McLachlan, said: “We were shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Leigh.
“As the fashion editor for both New Zealand Woman’s Weekly and Woman’s Day for many years, she was all about helping Kiwi women look and feel their best and embrace their personal style, whatever that may be.
“But more than that, Leigh was also a friend to many of us at Are Media. She had a sharp wit, a keen eye and a generous heart. She will be greatly missed by many. Our thoughts are with her family.”
Matheson will be farewelled next Wednesday.
Longtime former NZ Herald racing and sports sub-editor Paul Kennedy has died in hospital, aged 76.
“Paul was an old-school newsman who realised the value of getting things right,” says NZ Herald racing editor Michael Guerin.
“We worked together, among a lot of other people, for years and, while racing was never a passion of his, he’d often email me out of the blue to check the tiniest detail in a story that I’d think he couldn’t possibly know or care about.
“That is the craft of being a good newsperson or part of an editorial team, caring about things that may not matter to you but they matter to the readers.
“With so many journalists working remotely these days people like Paul have never been more important to making news accurate and maintaining readers’ trust.
“Work aside, he was just a bloody nice man.”
Kennedy was married to the late Mary Virtue, and was the “cherished father of Marion and Eve, father-in-law of James, adoring grandad to Tessa and dearly loved son of his late parents, Mavis and Tom”, according to a NZ Herald death notice.
Kennedy will be farewelled next Thursday.
There have been many developments in the fast-moving NZME board battle this week, the most significant of which has been the emergence of former National Party Cabinet Minister and radio industry entrepreneur Steven Joyce as the likely new chair of the media company.
Joyce’s nomination to become a director appears to be attracting support from myriad NZME shareholders, including the company’s biggest investor, Spheria Asset Management, as well as activist shareholders such as Jim Grenon and Caniwi Capital.
Could peace break out before the annual shareholders meeting?
Whatever the case, there will be substantial change on the board, with a possible mix of new and existing directors. The change that Grenon has been driving is on the horizon.
There will be much interest in NZME’s notice of meeting for the annual shareholders’ gathering on June 3. That will formally outline the process to be followed at the meeting, including the resolutions to be voted on. That notice must be released by May 20.
More on the NZME saga from this week:
Are Media has unveiled a new commercial partnership with Dotdash Meredith (DDM), an American-based digital and print media firm that owns titles such as People, Allrecipes, Real Simple, Food & Wine, Better Homes & Gardens and Travel & Leisure.
The deal allows Are Media to sell digital advertising inventory on these brands to New Zealand audiences.
“This is a transformational moment for Are Media,” said the company’s NZ general manager Stuart Dick.
“By joining forces with one of the world’s most respected content companies, we’re expanding our scale and influence across every major lifestyle category — homes, food, travel, fashion, beauty and beyond.”
Are Media owns a suite of New Zealand magazine titles including Woman’s Day, New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, Your Home and Garden, New Zealand Listener, Kia Ora, and The Australian Women’s Weekly.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
Osmium has yet to say who it might be backing for the NZME board roles.