FRENZY GETS NEW TIME SLOT

Rip It Up, Issue 212, 1 April 1995, Page 5

FRENZY GETS NEW TIME SLOT

The New Zealand music show Frenzy is now screening on Thursday nights at 10.30 pm. The weekly half hour video show returned for a third season on TV3 on February 19, but was relegated to ‘the graveyard shift’, usually not screening until or after 11.30 pm on Sundays, and on one occasion at 12.30 am on Monday. During the last week of March the show was returned the day and time slot that it held when it first went to air in August 1993. The existence of Frenzy as a forum to promote New Zealand music depends on regular funding from NZ On Air, who in turn, wish to see a satisfactory return for their input. To continue supporting Frenzy, NZ On Air must be secure in the knowledge the show has a high profile and a healthy number of viewers. Ross Cunningham of Frenzy says although the earlier time slot is good, the shift to Thursdays is not entirely pleasing. He believes the show would secure more viewers if it screened at 10.30 pm on Sundays. "I was happy with the show screening on Sundays, but it would have been more appropriate if we were put on after the movie and before Entertainment This Week. I think content wise and stylistically we are completely opposed to Entertainment This Week, and we would have had a better follow-on audience after the movie. A broader section of people would have seen Frenzy, and I suspect people who have only a

passing interest in music could be pleasantly surprised.” Geoff Steven, Director of External Productions at TV3, is responsible for the positioning of Frenzy within the network’s programming schedule.

“We have hours and hours of television programmes that are available for us to screen. What we’ve got to do is prioritise those programmes and find the most general slot that suits a programme. Frenzy is a programme that goes to a niche audience, an audience who basically find it and look it out because they are committed to New Zealand music. Because it’s a niche audience it will be further back in the schedule.”

Steven was recently interviewed in the New Zealand Herald for an article entitled ‘NZ shows a priority, says TV3.’ The report featured a list of local productions commissioned by TV3, they included That Comedy Show, Skitz and Melody Rules. Frenzy wasn’t among the list, but Steven denies that it is of less importance to the network.

“I think for us to make and commission a half hour New Zealand music programme that is going into it’s third season, doesn’t show that we don’t give it priority. But it goes within the priority of all the other things we do. We’re supporting the show, we’re playing the show — what else can we do?”

In reality TV3 can do plenty. Frenzy, being entirely NZ On Air funded, is presented to the network as a completed package at absolutely no cost to them, but to date they have not screened a single promo for the show since it first went to air 20 months ago. “We advertise our shows within the priority of what we as a commercial television network decide to go with, Frenzy isn’t a major priority with us. It costs us no money, yes, but we’re prepared to give it a half an hour of airtime. We’ve got a lot of other programmes we could put on during that half hour, but we have to prioritise our schedule and our promo schedule. We are committed to New Zealand music but it has to fit in with the total spectrum of our business. We do for it what we can.”

In conclusion, Steven states that if NZ On Air continue to fund the production of Frenzy TV3 will continue to screen it. As stated earlier, continued funding depends on the degree of impact NZ On Air. believes the show commands. Therefore Frenzy needs a fair time slot and the support of the network on which it screens. In comparison to the hours of air time devoted to sport, which is of no more importance than local music, that's not much to ask.

JOHN RUSSELL