Latest fromJohn Drinnan on business
John Drinnan: What's a celebrity really worth?
COMMENT: Calling newsreading an 'artistic pursuit' might be a bit rich.
John Drinnan: Hilary Barry's Breakfast role safe
TVNZ says it is happy with the cast of its morning show.
John Drinnan: Curious timing for dual roles
COMMENT: As massive upheavals rip through the media, our state broadcaster has shown an extraordinary sense of timing.
John Drinnan: Voda-Sky deal a win-win-win
COMMENT: Another day, another media merger. The combination of Sky TV and Vodafone amounts to a takeover of Sky.
John Drinnan: Maori TV: $11m, RNZ: Zero
COMMENT: Bill English gave Maori TV n a $10.6 million boost in the Budget, although it has a $12.9 million nest egg built up over years of taxpayer funding.
Drinnan: Big deal - beginning or ending?
Some will see the proposed merger of Fairfax New Zealand and NZME as the beginning of the end of an era for New Zealand media.
John Drinnan: Merger talk a sign of the times
COMMENT: Two media giants into one? Changed market makes NZME-Fairfax tie-up a real prospect.
John Drinnan: Radio NZ weighs up asset sales
COMMENT: Radio New Zealand may sell some of its property portfolio to replenish its coffers.
John Drinnan: MediaWorks owner tightens reins
COMMENT: MediaWorks owner Oaktree Capital is more closely overseeing TV3, Four and half the country's commercial radio stations.
John Drinnan: Throwing away key to the lockup
COMMENT: It's easy to see the leaking of an official cash rate decision from a Reserve Bank lockup as a one-off mistake by MediaWorks.
John Drinnan: Taxpayer funding current affairs shows
COMMENT: New Zealand On Air is continuing on a path towards taxpayer funding for TV network current affairs shows.
John Drinnan: Shedding light on Lightbox
COMMENT: Spark-owned Lightbox is developing its pay TV offering and an announcement on its next move is expected soon.
John Drinnan: PM's squabbles come at a cost
COMMENT: Incidents involving three freelancers questioning the Government have led to costly legal action.
John Drinnan: Filthy Rich lacks courage as networks become more risk-averse
COMMENT: Free-to-air networks are fighting for a bigger share of diminishing TV advertising revenue, and drama is at the costly edge of that battle.
They do things differently in Maori broadcasting
Why did a row involving Mihingarangi Forbes and Annabelle Lee challenging Willie Jackson wind up before a Crown entity, asks John Drinnan.
John Drinnan: On-demand services boosted
MediaWorks is taking initiatives to improve its on-demand offering on 3Now.
John Drinnan: Campaigners for screen sector
Over the years, John Barnett and Dave Gibson have fought to get funding for their respective film and TV dramas.
John Drinnan: Maori show mooted for TV3
Current affairs programme would be 100% taxpayer funded.
John Drinnan: Sharp comedy snares subsidies
Traditional media are adapting as they strive to hold on to their share of advertising dollars with digital and video markets continuing to rise.
John Drinnan: Houses trump big new studio for Auckland
$90 million Hobsonville development plan abandoned partly due to big housing crisis.
John Drinnan: Little light on illicit movie sales
The Mt Wellington movie pirating operation shut down by Hollywood studios was run by a New Zealand representative sportsman.
John Drinnan: Hager case bad PR, not disaster
There has been some minor brand damage for Westpac, because the incident goes to the heart of two key elements of all bank brands: trust and privacy, writes John Drinnan.
John Drinnan: Weldon still in the driver's seat
Oaktree Capital is still backing MediaWorks chief executive Mark Weldon, amid persistent rumours of change at the top, writes John Drinnan.
John Drinnan: Is Xena coming back to NZ?
Hollywood interests are believed to be behind at least one of the two contenders to develop an Auckland Council-backed film studio at Hobsonville, writes John Drinnan.
John Drinnan: RNZ relaxes the moonlighting rules
High-profile staff of Radio NZ have been moonlighting on outside money-earners.
How Mr Grumpy turned into Mr Nice
All Blacks coach Steve Hansen may be the best advertisement yet for media training.