Posting profits but what is the future bottom line?

We have become all too familiar with New Zealand media company interim and full year reports oozing red ink, so it was pleasant surprise to see three of them reporting profits last week.

The biggest earner by a large margin was Sky, which announced its net profit had risen two per cent to $41.8 million on revenue that was up a solid nine per cent to $826 million. Over the past three years its share dividend has more than doubled.

Sky’s biggest drawcard is its sports offering and it added icing to the profit announcement by disclosing that it has secured rights to English Premier League matches. It also has long-term contracts with rugby, cricket, league and the Olympics.

Then NZME waded in with a post-tax half-yearly profit of $6.6 million that reversed a $400,000 loss for the same period last year. Radio was its standout performer, with operating revenue growing eight per cent to $61.8 million, significantly ahead of its publishing revenue.

Finally, TVNZ reported a profit of $16.3 million and an end-of-year dividend of $2.2 million. In total the state-owned company contributed close to $4 million to the government coffers in 2026.

Less pleasant was the realisation of how TVNZ and NZME achieved their profits. Continue reading “Posting profits but what is the future bottom line?” →

The truth is: You can no longer believe your eyes

Last week marked the start of landmark court action that a consortium of US states has brought against Meta over the effects of its social media platforms on young people. Much of the opening arguments focussed on the addictive effects of its algorithms and infinite scrolling. Those insidious features are bad enough, but my biggest fear is that these platforms will rob us of our grip on reality.

It remains to be seen whether the young can be protected by National’s 11th hour bid to introduce legislation banning under-16s from social platforms (ACT says not, and does not support the banning Bill introduced yesterday to Parliament). But let’s not stop at children in assessing the grip on reality: The potential to lose the ability to determine what is real is a danger facing all of us.

 Once upon a time, losing touch with reality was a quick way of being declared insane. Today, it can afflict all of us, and I have to admit that it is driving me mad.

Every time I addictively scroll down Facebook, I am confronted by images that look real, but which are the product of artificial intelligence. I see the reimagining of historical events, bikini-clad maidens with near-impossible torsos, idyllic scenes, horrific scenes, and cats and dogs that are endearingly cute.

Those are the ones that disclose their origins or which I can readily identify as AI-generated, but I have been caught out with images I took to be real. Continue reading “The truth is: You can no longer believe your eyes” →

Broadcasters back on top in fragmented market

One of the pre-requisites of déjà vu is that you knew what happened in the first place.

I have a feeling that the people flooding the New Zealand marketplace with streaming platforms offering boundless content are blissfully unaware of what happened to radio in New Zealand in the 1990s.

In 1989 the local radio market was deregulated and the number of stations rocketed. In 1984 there had been 22 stations but by 1999 the number had reached almost 300. Something had to give, and it did. Rapacious networks began swallowing up stations and the market rapidly became consolidated again.

I feel we are at the 1999 stage with streaming platforms, although the numbers are nowhere near as high as in the heyday of independent radio. Nonetheless we have gone from one dominant operator (Sky TV) to an array of separate operators, each offering the world of your dreams…for a price. There are at least 15 video streaming platforms in addition to Sky’s offering and the on demand services of TVNZ+, Three Now and Māori+.

The top seven, according to NZ on Air’s Where Are The Audiences? 2026 report, are Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Neon, Skysport Now, Apple TV+, and CrunchyRoll (no, I hadn’t heard of it either because I’m not a fan of anime). Then there are nine ‘others’, including Hulu, Acorn, Stan and F1TV (for keen motorsport enthusiasts).

Th NZ on Air/Varian audience research was released last week. You can access it here.   It suggests, to me at least, that we may be at the proliferation zenith and are starting to see changes that could lead to some consolidation of the market. Continue reading “Broadcasters back on top in fragmented market” →

Milestones: The punctuation marks of media moments

My attitude to milestones is somewhat ambivalent: On the one hand they mark notable events, but on the other they remind me that time presses on.

Speaking of presses, a milestone was reached last week with the announcement that NZME is to acquire the printing equipment from Stuff’s Petone plant. It will replace the behemoth that has printed the New Zealand Herald since 1995 in the purpose-built Ellerslie press hall, where I stood to watch redesigned newspapers come off the press under my watch as editor.

The Petone press is only a third the size of the machine that is housed in an iconic edifice beside the Southern Motorway at Ellerslie. It is also more modern and was relocated from Australia when Fairfax (then owner of Stuff) closed its Melbourne printing site at Tullemarine. Stuff is consolidating its printing to its more modern Christchurch plant (see Tuesday Commentary March 31 2026). 

More importantly, the Petone press is right-sized for the current circulation of the Herald.  When the Ellerslie plant was established three decades ago, the paper’s net paid circulation was well over 200,000. The Herald no longer publishes its circulation figures, but it is undoubtedly selling fewer than half the number the Goss HT70 presses were designed to pump out for each issue.

The agreement between Stuff and NZME is a good one. It ensures the equipment remains in New Zealand and push out another (inevitable) milestone. It will extend the life of the print edition of the country’s largest newspaper. NZME would not be replacing its presses if the print edition was about to be dropped. The company revealed last week that there would be annual operational savings of about $7 million a year, and that could be the deciding factor in maintaining a print edition longer than would otherwise be the case. On the other hand, it remains to be seen whether there is anyone looking to buy 30-year-old presses built for the golden age of newspapers. Continue reading “Milestones: The punctuation marks of media moments” →