New Zealand’s Got Talent

Some may argue that it’s an unfair comparison but let’s look at the numbers for TV3′s The X Factor compared to TV One’s New Zealand’s Got Talent.

NZGT, which began in September, dominated Sunday nights for the 13 weeks it was on and was the highest rating show of 2012.  The average audience for the series was 839,209 viewers per episode.  However, the difference between the highest and lowest rating episodes was more than 270,000 viewers.

The X Factor has been averaging just over 400,000 viewers per episode, less than half of what NZGT managed.

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On Wednesday we wondered if TVNZ was about to announce Rachel Hunter’s return to the New Zealand’s Got Talent  judging panel.  Today, those questions have been answered.

Rachel Hunter has been named as the third judge for New Zealand’s Got Talent 2013, coming soon to TV ONE.

The international supermodel will join Op Shop frontman Jason Kerrison and choreographer and creative director Cris Judd in the three-person judging panel when filming for the number one New Zealand entertainment show starts in July. Continue reading »

We are excited to announce that Jack Black and @rachelhunterx will be LIVE on the show this Monday.You won’t want to miss it!!

— TVNZ’s Breakfast (@BreakfastonOne) May 14, 2013

TVNZ’s Breakfast confirmed this morning that Rachel Hunter is due to appear on the show on Monday with an announcement.

Does this suggest that she will be announcing a return to New Zealand’s Got Talent for its second season this year?

Is this a good thing?

It seems to be something we do in New Zealand.  If you’re a plus size contestant, you become Big Someone-or-other. In the first season of NZ Idol, Dave Houma became Big Dave.  Last season of New Zealand’s Got Talent, Dane Moeke was referred to as Big Dane.  So where does that leave things for The X Factor?

Māka Fiso is another larger contestant and unfortunately for him, while his mentor proudly speaks hori English, plenty of viewers will refer to him as Macca as opposed to the correct pronounciation, Maaka.

I won’t be at all surprised if he starts getting referred to as Big Maka, something that I expect one of the main sponsors of the show may not be too upset about.

With Jason Kerrison already named as a returning judge for the third series of New Zealand’s Got Talent, this announcement eliminates either (or both) UB40′s Ali Campbell or Rachel Hunter from the panel.

American choreographer and creative director Cris Judd has been named as the second judge for New Zealand’s Got Talent 2013, coming soon to TV ONE.

Los Angeles-based Judd will join Op Shop frontman Jason Kerrison in the three-person judging panel when filming for the number one New Zealand entertainment show starts in July. Continue reading »

Splash! is the latest reality competition series to do the rounds internationally, with the UK, USA and Australia all producing their own versions in the past few months.

The idea is very simple: assemble a bunch of D-list celebrities with no high-diving experience and basically get them to hurl themselves off various platforms for our entertainment.

The Dutch came up with the idea last year, with ITV quickly adapting the format for the UK before ABC in the US and Channel 7 in Australia got on board.

The UK version drew 5.19 million for its premiere while 8.8 million Americans watched their first episode. The Aussie version kicked off last night. Continue reading »

The X Factor New Zealand debuted last night on TV3 to much fanfare.  (You can read my thoughts on the first episode and check out our collection of some of the more memorable tweets made during the broadcast)

It was always expected that the show would rate reasonably well but the numbers this morning were a little lower than many may have expected.

The average audience last night for the season premiere of The X Factor was only 467,360 viewers. This is certainly a good figure for TV3 but let’s compare it to some other big talent shows.

NZ Idol Series 1 (2004): 885,600
Dancing With The Stars New Zealand Series 3 (2007): 787,000
Masterchef New Zealand Series 3 (2012): 497,940
New Zealand’s Got Talent Series 2 (2012): 934,820
The Block New Zealand Series 1 (2012): 374,600

While that number may look much lower than the others, we are talking about a non-TVNZ channel here, and there are some other factors in play. Continue reading »

Last year, NZ On Air funded New Zealand’s Got Talent for its first season on TV One to the tune of $1.6m dollars.  For that investment, each of the 13 episodes had an average audience of 872,152 viewers and became the highest rating show of the year.

At the end of the series, TVNZ announced that there would be another series of the show despite having any commitment from NZ On Air for funding.  So far, Jason Kerrison has been confirmed as a returning judge for the series and the nationwide auditions start at the end of the month.

What this demonstrates is that TVNZ are either incredibly confident that NZ On Air will come to the party at the 11th hour with the funding they need or they believe that show produces audience numbers strong enough that they can fund it entirely out of advertising and sponsorship and come out the other side in the black. Continue reading »

The audition dates and locations for the 2013 season of New Zealand’s Got Talent are as follows. Continue reading »

NZ company Imagination Television has been awarded a major international medal at the New York Film and Television Awards this week.

The production house, which is behind the likes of MasterChef NZ and New Zealand’s Got Talent, picked up a Silver World Medal in the nature/wildlife category for Wild Life at the Zoo – a series they produced for Australia’s ABC network.

Wild Life at the Zoo producer Bettina Hollings commented “The award is a huge honour. It’s wonderful recognition of a production team that strove to create excellence and give a new perspective to this popular genre”. Continue reading »