Congratulations to all Kiwis for making it through 34 days of Level 4 Lockdown…and Tuesday 28 April 2020 marked the start of Level 3 (potentially for only two weeks).
Not much is changing however – we are still in our bubbles, if we can we’re still working from home, our children are learning from home but we can get takeaway coffee and take a spin through McDonald’s drive thru.
However, what has changed markedly over the last four weeks is New Zealand’s media landscape…from both a usage and commercial point of view.
We’ve watched more TV than before Lockdown – across the day and seen in all audience groups.
Even the 1pm press conference starring our PM, Jacinda Arden, and Dr Ashley Bloomfield sees a viewing spike.
We’ve streamed more programming and video than before – TVNZ OnDemand, Three Now and YouTube all reporting increases in streams. Netflix hasn’t released any information but if Facebook mentions and recommendations on the Starcom Teams page are anything to go by, then they’re also seeing greater use.
We’ve turned to online news sites to keep up to date. The top four New Zealand sites – NZ Herald, Stuff, Newshub and 1News – are all showing increases.
We’ve needed to find things to occupy our time – podcast streams have been one beneficiary of this.
From a commercial point of view, the landscape looks very different with some media partners hit very hard.
Some of the largest circulating and best known magazines have ceased publication with Bauer’s decision to quit this market at the start of the Level 4 Lockdown. Based on average net paid sales, Bauer published 9.6m issues per annum; nearly 50% of the total audited paid sales. These readers need to find a home…hopefully within other titles that continue to publish in this market.
People took heed of the Government request to stay indoors and the various traffic reports from Google, QMS, Lumo and oOh! clearly reveal the almost instantaneous declines in audience. The outdoor suppliers have been flexible in allowing campaign cancellations and also proactive in bringing “re start” packages to market in an effort of get brands back into and onto their formats.
Cinemas have not been able to operate under Level 4 and it is likely that they will see a much slower return to business as usual…any future social distancing rules under Level 2 and beyond might see half full theatres for some time. This is coupled with a delayed content pipeline from the major studios.
Content will become a challenge for the television networks from both a local and overseas point of view. Very little has been filmed over the past few weeks and there will be a gap in getting shows filmed and then ready for broadcast. Southern Pacific Pictures, the production company behind Shortland Street, announced last week that filming will recommence on Thursday 30 April. It seems feasible that Mediaworks could do the same with their upcoming Dancing with the Stars series but no official comment has been made.
There has been creativity in getting fresh programming broadcast however – The Graham Norton Show has been broadcasting out of the UK with guests appearing on a “virtual sofa”. Jamie Oliver has been filming “Keep Cooking and Carry On” in his home kitchen. Closer to home, on Three, there has been “House Party” hosted by Dai Henwood billed as a “contributor comedy show” and Paul Henry’s “Rebuilding Paradise”. Over on TVNZ, Nadia Lim’s has had her husband help her film and edit “Comfort Kitchen” and Leigh Hart’s compilation comedy show “Big Isolation Lockdown” is available.
Level 3 has been described by PM Jacinda Ardern as “a waiting room”, we, as media agencies, need to be proactive in preparing to get campaigns back in market, we need to support our local media suppliers and help partner with our clients for a resumption in advertising. We have at least another two weeks within our bubble before we’re at “the new normal” however – let’s see what’s announced on Monday 11 May 2020.
