Bauer in Love
Bauer Media has launched Now To Love, a website aimed at women, which has already launched in Australia. The site brings together extended online content from New Zealand Woman’s Weekly, Woman’s Day, Good Health Choices, The Australian Women’s Weekly NZ, Simply You Style and NEXT. Now To Love follows the model set by Food To Love and Homes To Love, and launch of current affairs hub NOTED. Bauer has now verticals for Women’s Lifestyle and Entertainment, Food, Home, Fashion and Beauty, and Current Affairs and Culture.
TVNZ’s New Blood
TVNZ has confirmed plans for new storytelling content online to help build its younger audience. The project is part of the New Blood scheme to attract the number of people who do not usually watch TV. The search for “new blood” coincides with blood on the floor restructuring of news that tipped to see at least 20 traditional news jobs go.
Toby Talbot returns
High profile New Zealand advertising creative Toby Talbot has returned to Saatchi & Saatchi after 10 years after he spent just 10 months working with Peter Biggs at Assignment. He been given the new title chief creative officer. The appointment is the latest move in a formidable career for Talbot that has seen him in executive creative roles at Colenso BBDO, DDB Auckland, Rainey Kelly Campbell Roalfe Y&R in London, TBWA and DDB Sydney. Talbot is credited with leading a creative resurgence at DDB in both New Zealand and Sydney, and has won numerous local and international awards including Campaign Asia’s Creative of the Year for Australia and New Zealand. He was also behind the most awarded mobile campaign in the world this year, #comeonin for Sydney Opera House.
RNZ birthday
Public broadcaster RNZ has marked the 50th anniversary of its early evening news show Checkpoint, with the show enjoying surging ratings. RNZ changed the news show into a more celebrity-focused show led by former TV3 current affairs host John Campbell. RNZ says it has made big gains from a big focus on digital downloads and televising presenter John Campbell online.
New NZME Saturday sports show
NZME-owned Radio Sport has launched a breakout local sports show based in Canterbury on Saturdays. Running from noon to 6pm, the show is hosted by Matt Richens and Leighton Burtt.
Sky’s SuperRugby
Sky TV reports SuperRugby is performing exceptionally well with a year-on-year viewership increase of 21% for games played in New Zealand. It is not only local derbies that are doing well – games featuring New Zealand versus overseas teams are getting very strong support. On average, these games have drawn 354,000 viewers per game, an increase of 18% to 299,000 year-on-year.