It's time to cut 7 Days off from NZ On Air money so new talent can come through

The 7 Days team of Jeremy Corbett, Paul Ego and Dai Henwood - is it time for their successful show to stop getting public money?
The 7 Days team of Jeremy Corbett, Paul Ego and Dai Henwood - is it time for their successful show to stop getting public money?

OPINION: Is it time for topical TV comedy panel show 7 Days to remove itself from the NZ On Air teat?

The show hit its 250th episode last week with a spectacular in Hamilton, and there is no doubt its popularity on a Friday night is one of Three's big drawcards to the channel in the ever competitive free-to-air marketplace.

From its anarchic style when it first launched in 2009, to its now well-known triumvirate of Jeremy Corbett, Dai Henwood and Paul Ego, there's no disputing the show has had a cut through for a local comedy which has not been seen for years.

Jono and Ben cash cannon - maybe something like this should be used for public funding of shows?
Jono and Ben cash cannon - maybe something like this should be used for public funding of shows?

And furthermore, there's no disputing it can provide moments of hilarity as the gang take a look back on events and give them a humorous spin to help end the week.

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But there is one question which remains - why is the hit show still collecting money from NZ On Air's scripted comedy fund?

Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce's show received $1,717,042 of taxpayer money this year.
SUPPLIED
Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce's show received $1,717,042 of taxpayer money this year.

According to the Nielsen figures, its 2015 series had a cut through of 9.53 per cent of the audience, meaning just shy of 299,000 people regularly tuned in on Friday night. And since its return from hiatus three weeks ago, the show has won the slot each week in the competitive 25-54 marketplace.

So there's no disputing its popularity and its sustained appearance in the top 10 programmes means it's clearly not in danger of falling out of favour any time soon.

The latest round of NZ On Air funding saw the show given $1.056 million from the tax payer's purse to help craft 32 episodes of the series.

Jon Bridges, far right, with comedians on the set of 7 Days. Bridges was the show's producer for eight seasons.
Supplied
Jon Bridges, far right, with comedians on the set of 7 Days. Bridges was the show's producer for eight seasons.

Since its inception, 7 Days has received $7,526,227 of yours - and my - money to help us end the week with a smile on our collective faces.

A spokesman for NZ On Air revealed, when asked, that "NZ On Air provides significantly less than 50 per cent of the budget for 7 Days and our investment as a percentage of the budget has lowered over time."

But given the sustained success, isn't there one question to be asked:

Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce from the Jono and Ben TV show arrive in Palmerston North on a tractor after a 24-hour long journey from Auckland.
MIRI SCHROETER/STUFF
Jono Pryor and Ben Boyce from the Jono and Ben TV show arrive in Palmerston North on a tractor after a 24-hour long journey from Auckland.

Shouldn't 7 Days look for commercial and private funding to potentially allow other shows to come through?

Make no mistake, this is not a piece aimed at trying to scythe down the apparent comedy tall poppy; nor is it an attempt to demonise any of the comedy community of New Zealand (whom reviewing experience has shown stand together and rally round when anyone is criticised).

It's simply a question to ask. What other comedy gems could be waiting in the wings, desperate for a financial foot up to help them reach the next level, and currently are being deprived of doing so?

TVNZ's recent New Blood webseries campaign spent months garnering support for its top 10 and recently announced a winner. That winner will be getting $100,000 to help make a new web series. 

That's about a tenth of what 7 Days received for 32 episodes.

Equally, the eternally popular pranksters, Jono and Ben received $1,717,042 in the last round of funding.

Not them personally, obviously, but the show received the money from NZ On Air to fund 26 hour-long episodes of their Thursday night series. That show pulls in 5.1 per cent of the audience regularly, which is around 214,165 people according to NZ On Air's site.

I'm certainly not advocating these shows lose all their money and it appears NZ On Air has been systematically reducing the money 7 Days receives, but isn't it time perhaps shows that have proven to be successes should be excluded from applying for and collecting funding from NZ On Air?

Last year, New Zealand On Air announced changes in the way local content was to be funded after a survey revealed the way Kiwis are consuming media has changed.

Research from Glasshouse Consulting and NZ On Air found more of the 15-39 year old age bracket was consuming their media online - be it Facebook or YouTube. And while traditional ways of sitting down in the front of the TV will continue, there's clearly a marked change within the landscape to suggest that won't dry up anytime soon.

So, NZ On Air reviewed their policy and changed how they would look to allocate funding, saying on its site on December 19, 2016, "NZ On Air will adopt a new single strategy and single media fund from July 1 2017, after receiving overwhelming support for the new approach from stakeholders."

Clearly the pot there is shrinking and basic maths dictate that with that restriction, not everyone is going to be a winner.

NZ On Air declined to release the figures of how many other comedies were unsuccessful in their quest to get money when faced with 7 Days' application, saying "There are always more applications than available funding. Funding decisions are based on the merits of each proposal, weighed against our overall slate of funded projects and then aligned to the level of available funding. 

This means unfortunately that good proposals are regularly declined. There is always a tension between continuing to support successful series versus supporting new, untested productions, which we have to balance carefully given our static funding. Despite this we have over the last five years supported many new comedy projects for both TV and online. 

We keep declined applications confidential because the applicant may wish to apply again in future or may be able to fund it another way. As such, the proposal is a commercial secret."

And MediaWorks, the broadcaster of 7 Days sent a statement when asked about commercialising the show and stopping receiving NZ On Air money. 

"Quite simply, 7 Days could not exist without support from NZ On Air. Like all comedy, 7 Days is hard to commercialise but we do not believe this is a reason for it not to exist. It is loved by the audience and makes a significant contribution to our comedy and arts culture having started the careers of many of New Zealand's favourite comedians and writers."

It's a view that NZ On Air shares saying, "Sadly in a market the size of New Zealand, television popularity does not always equate to commercial success – it comes down to the cost of making the programme versus the revenue earned from the commercials played within it. 

Some local programmes are not sustainable without a public subsidy. We believe our support for 7 Days is reasonable give the relatively low level of subsidy. Our investment also serves a further, important purpose, which is that the show is an incubator for future successful comedy writers and performers."

In summation, I commend and publicly applaud 7 Days for reaching 250 episodes. 

I'm more than proud to admit I've laughed at the show's raucous end of week nature and the anarchic behaviour that it displayed in its early days. 

It's also no mean feat to see such a sustained and prolonged success of one of our own - it does us all good.

And I'm here to freely admit I harbour no deep frustrated desires to get funding for any TV show ideas I have; nor have I ever either applied for NZ On Air money or been rejected.

The one final thought that continues to nag at me as I look at those funding decisions of nearly $2.8 million for the latest series of both 7 Days and Jono and Ben is a quite simple and altruistic one.  

What other gems could have been unearthed that we could have been saluting now, but lay undiscovered or will never be exposed because a little bit of money never ended up with them? 

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