Headaches for TV3's boss

Boss Ian Audsley is shaking up MediaWorks. Photo / Martin Sykes

The Australian "hatchet man" hired to smooth out the kinks at TV3 and C4 has announced his arrival by sending Christmas presents to the competition.

Ian Audsley, the former chief operating officer for Australia's Nine Network, was rumoured to have sent Panadol to TVNZ management - to help with the headaches they'll face as he shakes up the small-screen arm of MediaWorks.

"I have sent people at TVNZ a Christmas present, but I can assure you it's nothing medicinal and nothing illegal," said Audsley from Sydney yesterday, where he is holidaying.

"I can't tell you what the presents are because then they'd know what they're getting for Christmas - but I reckon I'm the one who might need the Panadol."

The 48-year-old was handed a 12-month contract after long-serving MediaWorks group chief executive Brent Impey resigned this month.

Audsley has been called on to help MediaWorks - which runs TV3, C4 and various radio stations - lift its game after a difficult financial year spent struggling to deliver profits and prop up slumping ratings.

Audsley has a reputation in Australia for his cut-throat management, which prompted his "hatchet man" nickname when he worked under former Nine Network chief executive Sam Chisholm.

Rumours are circulating about cost-cutting and job losses, but Audsley said there was plenty of work to do before any big decisions were made.

"There is no directive from the board to me [to cut jobs]. I want to positively grow the business and at no time has there been mention that that needs to include cuts," he said.

"You can never say never in TV, but it's not being looked at now."

One idea that has generated plenty of feedback is the idea to rebrand TV3, a move which could include a revamp of the silver fern logo.

"I have sent emails to staff to generate ideas, and there are 400 people who work here every day, which means 400 new ideas every day," said Audsley.

"A lot of people have come to me about marketing and I'm absolutely open to every idea.

"The logo - the silver fern - is our logo, and I'm happy to look at how else we can apply that."

Audsley said he would do "a lot of reading" over the holidays, to get to grips with the history of MediaWorks and the ratings war with TVNZ.

The latest AGB Nielsen Media Research ratings show TVNZ is well ahead of TV3 in morning news and the top weekly shows.

The latest viewing figures for all people aged five and over show TVNZ's news and current affairs programmes are faring better than TV3 counterparts.

TV3 is claiming success in the late-night news slot among its target demographic, the 18-49 age range.

But elsewhere, ratings are dropping, with the audience of breakfast show Sunrise falling 25 per cent last month and Campbell Live shedding 20,000 viewers between October and last month.

Audsley said he hadn't "given much thought" to Sunrise yet, but plans to sit down with TV3 news chief Mark Jennings to discuss the future of the morning show.

"There are things I want him to do in terms of programming, and he needs to tell me what he wants to do with Sunrise," he said. "When we have that discussion then we can decide what to do with it. I want to take a very measured and sensible approach."

Audsley will be back in Auckland to take the reins early next year.

A TVNZ spokeswoman said the state broadcaster wasn't interested in the activities of its competition and said chief executive Rick Ellis wouldn't be interested in commenting.