For the past few weeks, people have been anxiously asking me about the future of Media7 after TVNZ 7 closes down at the end of this month. And I have been painstakingly trying not to speak out of turn, without entirely giving the impression that all hope was lost. Because, although nothing has been certain until really rather recently, it wasn't.
Now it can be told: we're going to TV3, on Saturday mornings. The official announcement was made this afternoon in this press release from NZ On Air:
Media Release from NZ On Air
Thursday 14th June 2012
NZ On Air pleased to announce support for Media 3
NZ On Air is pleased to announce funding for Media 3 (formerly Media 7).The Top Shelf-produced programme examining local media will move to TV3 on Saturday mornings in August with an encore screening late on Sunday evenings. It will also be available on-demand at tv3.co.nz.
“We are thrilled to support this excellent programme” says NZ On Air Chief Executive Jane Wrightson. “Host Russell Brown and the team already enjoy a dedicated following and we are delighted that TV3 has chosen to extend their schedules even further by adding this series”.
"We are really pleased to be adding Media 3 to the TV3 line-up," says MediaWorks TV Acting Director of Programming Mark Caulton. "It is an ideal addition to the thought-provoking programming we have developed for our weekend schedule, such as The Nation, Three60 and Think Tank."
Obviously, the whole team is extremely pleased, not just for the obvious reason -- it's good to have a job -- but also because this is a validation of what we've done these past five years. I think part of the character of the show comes from the fact that for more than half the team -- me, Jose, Sarah, Sam (and going back a bit, Simon Pound) -- this is our first experience of making television. We've come to it fresh.
I think we're going to fit in well at TV3.
And I'll reflect at more length on this later, but I'd like to say a word now for our network executives at TVNZ, who have been hugely supportive of Media7. We'll aim to do justice to their faith in us by finishing on a high note.
There's tonight's very lively show on the great education backdown, with Matthew Hooton, Bryce Edwards and Mike Williams (plus Paul Buchanan on the news we don't get from Afghanistan) -- and then just two more. We'll be rousing.
PS: I guess one other thing I can tell you now is about the Media7 theme music. It was originally composed and produced by SJD, then freshened up at the begining of last year by Disasteradio. I asked Scratch 22 to do the next rework for the new series and I got back the first demo today. It's totally boss.