Quite a bit has happened between the first, 2023 season of Paddy Gower Has Issues and the forthcoming second series. Broadcaster Three closed its news operation in July last year, making Gower and his Newshub colleagues redundant. Then, last month, Three was bought for a dollar by Sky Television. Meanwhile, Gower has been popping up on news website Stuff with his “TFN” video interview slots and opinion pieces, as well as fronting advertorial campaigns. Now, he’s returning to broadcast television and Three with Issues, which also brings back comedian Karen O’Leary to take on consumer matters as in the first outing. Time to ask the man asking the questions some questions.
Does it feel weird being back on prime time on Three in this post-Newshub era?
It feels weirdly awesome! I am honestly so stoked to be coming back and doing important journalism for Kiwis that I am just looking forward and not thinking about the past. I know I am just so privileged to be getting to do this, I need to be grateful and enjoy it. We actually have an incredible new set using amazing “augmented reality” – think an extremely hi-tech green screen. Karen O’Leary is back, too, she is pumped. We won’t have the comedian panel this time around, but there will still be plenty of laughs. I’ll get into one issue for the first half of the show, sometimes a journo helping me, and O’Leary will get into hers in the second half. She’s going to have a consumer focus. The show is going to be better than ever.
The publicity is billing you as “New Zealand’s favourite journalist”. Isn’t that a bit like being NZ’s favourite, um, what?
I’m honestly happy to be New Zealand’s favourite anything, even if it is (… insert word here … ). As long as I’m doing what I love, and the best I can do, I’m happy. Honestly, though, despite the narrative that some push about “the media”, when I am out and about in New Zealand, people are keen for me to get stuck into issues on their behalf. And that’s exactly what I’ll do.
So, what issues will you be having this season?
We have eight episodes, with two issues an episode – by my count that is 16 issues. We will get into things that affect us all in some way. The health system, flooding, cost of living, what is happening in our classrooms, supermarkets, butter, social media and so on. We are covering issues that Kiwis really care about – or need to care about. We are out and about in New Zealand at the moment – Gisborne, Northland, Christchurch, the West Coast. And more places to come. It is all go.
How will this work on Stuff? Will the show be edited into bite size chunks for online consumption? If so, how does that affect how you create the broadcast show?
Great question. While people can watch it on old-school TV, they will be able to get it wherever they get their information. It is a “collab” between Three and Stuff, and we’ll be using what I call “radical distribution”. People will see chunks on Stuff or on social media, but they’ll be able to kick back and watch the whole thing on Three and ThreeNow. The show is built with that in mind. It is like a journalistic piece of Lego.
Will there be sponsored content on the show, as you’ve been doing on Stuff?
No. And to be fair, I’ve done just a handful of sponsored pieces on Stuff. After being made redundant and in a pretty dire media landscape, that is how I pay the bills.
The show missed out on NZOA funding in the middle of last year, then got it at the end of the year. What changed?
New Zealand on Air is making this all possible. You’d have to ask them, but I think it just has different funding rounds throughout the year and it’s not unusual to miss out in one and get it another. But the first announcement of no funding came out the day they shut Newshub down, and it was headline stuff and all very public. That’s life for me. My business partner, Jon Bridges, [former executive producer of The Project] and I had decided to go out on our own and do “Paddy Gower Has Issues” as an independent production through our company Believer Media.
We didn’t give in; we took some feedback and went back and applied again. We had a formal partnership with Stuff by then. We could show NZ On Air truly radical distribution, which basically means taxpayers are going to get bang for their buck. Jon and I believe in what we are doing and we are grateful that NZ On Air, Three and Stuff have believed in us.
Any thoughts on your show now going out on a Sky-owned Three?
Absolutely outstanding! Sky is a New Zealand owner of Three that is interested in New Zealand stories. Even though I had no idea it was coming and am technically just a contractor, I am stoked and proud to be working for Sky.
Does the Sky connection create a potential sports spin-off: Paddy Gower has Issues with ... that ref, test cricket, the offside rule, the Wahs disappointing the nation once again?
That’s a great idea! I’d expect to see this at the end of every major sporting event. I’ll obviously have “no issues” when we win things. Thanks for the idea.
Paddy Gower Has Issues, Three, starts Tuesday, August 19, 7.30pm. Streaming on ThreeNow and Stuff.
