Heather du Plessis-Allan: Was saving Shortland Street the right thing to do?

Reluctantly, I think saving Shortland Street was the right thing for now. 

The news on Shorty today is that it’s been saved, but it will go down to three episodes a week. 

What's saved it is taxpayer money: $3 million from NZ On Air and then be eligible for a rebate from the Screen Production Grant which must be about $6 or $7 million. 

Which means we’re pumping in around about $10 million in taxpayer money to save a soap opera. 

I'm reluctant about this because I generally don't think we should prop up failing businesses. If they can’t make a buck it’s because not enough people like the product, 

in which case it should be allowed to die. 

But... I think there’s an exception this time. 

Because it might just be possible that Shorty may be able to pay its own way again... maybe. 

The reason I say that is because it’s not that Shorty is unpopular, it actually has a lot of people watching.  

The last figures that I can find are from last year, 79K people in their key demographic watched it on TV2, which doesn’t sound that impressive, but then you add in the streaming numbers of TVNZ+: 455K a week. 

And well, that is impressive. 

By comparison, at the same time TVNZ News only earned 180K streams, even though the news has got two extra episodes a week, Shorty was beating it by 2.5 times. 

The problem isn’t that it’s unpopular. 

The problem is that TVNZ hasn’t figured out how to actually make enough money from the people watching it on TVNZ+. It knows how to get money from TV2 ads, but it doesn’t know how to properly monetise online yet. 

So... Shorty street is only guaranteed for another year.  

I dunno if that's enough time for TVNZ to figure out how to earn more money on the app, but I hope it does. 

Because it would be a pity to lose a show that is still watched by that many kiwis, and that has trained some of our best acting talent: Temuera Morrison, KJ Apa, Thomasin McKenzie, Craig Parker, Martin Henderson, Robyn Malcolm. 

And which is, frankly, is one of the few shows left actually reflecting us back to ourselves. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, because Shorty Street has been saved. Today it's going
to go down to three episodes a week. I reluctantly
think that saving Shortland Street was the right thing to do.
For now, what saved it is tax payer money, no surprise.
Is there three million dollars from New Zealand on air
and then it's also going to be eligible for a
rebate from the screen production Grant, which must be about

(00:20):
what like six or seven million dollars or something like that.
So that would mean that we're pumping in around about
ten million bucks in tax payer money to save a
soap opera. Now I'm reluctant to do this because I
generally do not think that we should be propping up
failing businesses, which is what Shortland Street is. If it
can't make a buck, it's because not enough people like
the product, in which case it should be allowed to die.

(00:40):
But I think there is an exception this time with
Shortland Street, because it might actually be possible that Shorty
may be able to pay its own way again, just maybe.
And the reason I say that is because Shorty Street
is not unpopular. Actually, it's got a lot of people
watching it now, figures it's kind of hard to get
a handle on. Absolutely the latest figures, but the last

(01:01):
that I can see from last year, and at the time,
seventy nine thousand people in the key demographic were watching
it on TV two. Now, that is not impressive, let
me tell you, seventy nine thousand is not a big number.
But then you add in the streaming numbers on TV
and Z plus and that's four hundred and fifty five
thousand a week, and suddenly it becomes quite impressive because
now we're talking about more than five hundred thousand people
watching it, like, well more than five hundred thousand people

(01:23):
watching it. By comparison, at the same time, TV and
z's News only earned one hundred and eighty streams on
one hundred and eighty thousand streams on TV and ZEN plus.
And even though the News has two extra episodes a
week right because it runs all week long, Shorty was
beating it two and a half times. So the problem
isn't that Shortland Street is unpopular. The problem is that
TV and Z hasn't figured out how to actually make

(01:44):
enough money from the people who are watching it online.
On TV and Z plus, it shows it knows. Rather,
this is TVNS it. It knows how to get money
from TV two's ads, but it doesn'tyet know how to
properly monetize what's going on online now Shortland Street is
only guaranteed for next year, and beyond that there's no guarantee.
I don't know if a year and a half is
enough time for TV and said to figure out how

(02:05):
to earn more money on the app, but I hope
it does, because, to be honest with you, it would
be a pity if we lose a show that is
still watched by that many Kiwis and that has actually
trained some of our best acting talents Timmywira Morrison, kJ
Upper Thomas and Mackenzie, Craig Parker, Martin Henderson, Robin Malcolm,
all of whom have gone on to careers overseas. Frankly, also,
and this is important, it is one of the few

(02:27):
shows left that actually reflects us Kiwis Back to Ourselves
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