The Fold

It's a week since TVNZ shocked the media with a proposal to shut down 1news.co.nz and merge news with content. Glen Kyne joins Duncan Greive on The Fold to discuss the merits of the approach, what it implies about the future of the business, and other ways it might save $30m and provide a pathway to a sustainable future. Plus – reflections on the debut of Stuff's HOW:TO, and what it might mean for...

Sam Stuchbury founded Motion Sickness as a brand and advertising agency in a flat in Ōtepoti. 10 years on, it has become known for powerful campaigns like 'Proud to be Māori' and 'Rep your Suburb' for Whānau Ora. The company dominated the Axis Awards and picked up silver in the Global Agency of the Year awards in London. Stuchbury and Motion Sickness head of strategy Hilary Ngan Kee join Duncan Gr...

On Friday afternoon, Google published a post to its little-read New Zealand blog, one which immediately sent shockwaves through the local news media. It confirmed what had been rumoured – that if the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill passes in its current form, Google will pull news from all its systems and services, and cancel all its agreements with local news media. It sets up an enormously hig...

Matt Bain spent a career working across prestige brands in digital contexts before returning to New Zealand to become Data and Marketing Director (CMO in all but name) of the telco-turned-digital services provider that is Spark. It's one of the biggest marketing jobs in the country, with a budget to match – but figuring out what Spark is and how it sells itself isn't easy, especially given its rec...

Anna Rawhiti-Connell is head of audience for The Spinoff, but spent most of the last decade working in social media for BNZ and the Auckland Theatre Company. She joins Duncan to do a deep dive into the changing nature and shape of social platforms – specifically what happened to links, and therefore traffic. Then they discuss two changes at Stuff – the end of Newsable, and the removal of vertical...

James Hurman is a globally recognised expert in advertising effectiveness – and believes many businesses have become transfixed by generating present day sales through social and search, at the expense of those in the future, generated by brand building on other surfaces. Together they examine what New Zealand's large advertisers and media agencies are doing with their advertising spend. Learn mor...

Glen Kyne returns to join host Duncan Greive to discuss a pair of different stories which seem to head to the same conclusion. The first is Shayne Currie's report on a leaked email from TVNZ CEO Jodi O'Donnell flagging more cuts at the broadcaster, potentially at 1news.co.nz. The second is a Newsroom story about fast-rising ratings at RNZ's website. It all points to a newsroom merger, something di...

Craig Fenton has been boss of NZ Rugby Commercial for a little over six months, but is already in the midst of a crucial deal, one which will shape not just his period in charge, but the whole future of rugby in New Zealand. He joins Duncan Greive to discuss the evolving sports rights landscape in New Zealand, and how Craig sees the All Blacks, Black Ferns and Super Rugby taking advantage of the l...

Tamar Münch joins Duncan Greive to discuss the challenges facing screen and news media – and how they intertwine. They also discuss the resignation of Mike Sneesby at Nine, and the way Australian media is following a bad trail blazed by New Zealand media. Finally, a look at Snapchat's hold on teenagers and an intriguing new BSA survey. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duncan Greive has a solo podcast this week, talking about the debut of Spark Game Arena Live, a huge new event at Spark Arena. He looks at the upside and downsides of the trend away from sponsorships towards brands creating their own projects. Plus: who's number one? Both NZME and Stuff claimed the title this week – but does it even matter? And finally, a look at the way you can see shrinking medi...

One eked out a flat result, the other had a giant loss. Toby Manhire and Duncan Greive discuss what that says about their revenue models. They also discuss the downward trend for RNZ, one mirrored by public media entities around the world. Finally, they look at X’s ban in Brazil and the arrest of Telegram’s founder in France, as a window into the global techlash. Learn more about your ad choices....

Glenn McDonald spent over a decade with a very mysterious and specific job title: data alchemist at Spotify. It's possible – even likely – that no one on earth knows as much about music streaming. He is in New Zealand for the Going Global music industry conference, and joins Duncan Greive to talk about how Spotify does and doesn't work for artists, why Spotify doesn't stretch your listening habits...

The 2024 edition of NZ on Air's Where are the Audiences is a bombshell - largely because so little has changed. The past decade has been characterised by a sharp and consistent rise in UGC, social and SVOD platforms, while local media has slid precipitously. This year that slide has arrested – and in some cases reversed. Duncan Greive is joined by The Spinoff's Ātea editor Liam Rātana, dissecting...

The All Blacks were early on the sports doc series train – but the result was widely panned, due to a sense the subjects weren't willing to really open up for it. Robyn Paterson has directed a new series for Sky on the Wheel Blacks, a team she says has far more candour than their more famous counterparts. She joins Duncan Greive to discuss the changing shape of disability storytelling, and the pot...

Duncan Greive and Glen Kyne discuss the bombshell announcement that Laura Maxwell is leaving Stuff, with owner Sinead Boucher to take over in the interim. What does it say about Stuff's strategy, and who might replace her? Plus signals suggest TVNZ is making a big play into sports and a paywall – what does that mean for the state broadcaster, and for Sky? And finally, a look at the rise of the new...

Glen Kyne joins Duncan Greive to discuss the appointment of Graeme Mason to chair the NZ Film Commission board. The former Screen Australia boss seems the strongest signal yet that the NZFC and NZ on Air are coming together. We run through some worrying signs out of US cable – and ask what they mean for the potential sale of Foxtel, Sky's Australian equivalent. We also look at NZME making a revive...

Ant Timpson has spent much of his life at war with the establishment. With ventures like the Incredibly Strange Film Festival and 48 Hours, he courted controversy and made a home for misfits of film. Now he's a veteran of governance and has directed a family film – albeit one with a killer psychedelic mushrooms sequence. He joins Duncan Greive on The Fold to explain what came over him. Learn more...

Glen Kyne joins Duncan Greive to discuss earnings season in big tech media, with particularly noteworthy results for Meta and Netflix. Locally 1News has opened up a big 25-54 lead over Stuff's ThreeNews – partly using overwhelming force at the Olympics, the NZ Herald debuts an instructive piece of data journalism, and Ant Timpson's Bookworm lends itself to a discussion of the local box office. Lea...

Duncan Greive is joined by recently-departed WBD leader Glen Kyne to pilot a brand new format for The Fold. It features Duncan and Glen analysing new strands in local and international media, along with regular deep dives into different aspects of the business. The first episode features reflections an explainer on why TV advertising fell off a cliff, a look at the upcoming NZ Rugby rights deal an...

Jenn Cheuk is the founder and editor-in-chief of Rat World, "a magazine for the underground" she publishes in Tāmaki Makaurau. Now up to issue seven, it radiates the specific energy of driven, fragile yet urgent creativity across forms ranging from lengthy interviews to comics to photography, covering art, theatre music and more. She joins Duncan Greive on The Fold to discuss the state of the arts...

Spinoff founder Duncan Greive has been writing regularly this year on business, politics and pop culture. But his slightly more niche area of interest is the media itself. This week was a big week for the media with AM and Newshub airing their final episodes and a new lease on life for the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill. If you don’t know what that bill is, check out Duncan’s author page on the...

Today marks the end of Newshub, an organisation which has been around for 35 years, and has a strong case as the most original and idiosyncratic newsroom this country has ever known. Sam Hayes and Mike McRoberts have more than 40 years combined experience at Three, and join Duncan Greive on The Fold to look back across the history of 3 News, assess its singular culture and some crucial moments alo...

Hal Crawford ran Newshub through a crucial era – but has traveled a strange path since. He joins Duncan Greive to discuss the unique personality of Three News, the prospects of Stuff at 6pm – and his very different career since he returned to Australia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As founder of South Pacific Pictures, John Barnett has played a crucial role in the development of screen productions as varied as Shortland St, Whale Rider, Sione's Wedding and Outrageous Fortune. Now operating independently, he remains one of the most powerful – and critical – voices in New Zealand culture. He joins Duncan Greive to assess the current state of the industry and explain why he bel...

Duncan Greive hosts his friend and colleague Toby Manhire on The Fold, to discuss the back-breaking process of making Juggernaut, his new podcast covering the tumultuous years of the fourth Labour government. Then they switch gears to discuss Goldsmith's first weeks as media minister, the post-Newshub recruiting efforts of major media companies, and early signals about Stuff's Three News. Click he...