Episodes
-
On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Friday July 5 2024, we get the latest from the UK as the Labour Party sweeps to power in the general election.
Heather speaks to both Auckland councillor Richard Hills and Mayor Wayne Brown after the council voted against the government's proposed speed limit changes.
Kelly Martin from South Pacific Pictures speaks about Shortland Street being cut to three nights a week.
And the Sports Huddle previews the All Blacks first test of the year against England in Dunedin.
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
It's thought Shortland Street should make up a big part of TVNZ's new digital strategy.
Our longest running soap will drop from airing five nights a week in February, to three.
It will now continue with support from NZ On Air and the New Zealand Screen Production Grant.
South Pacific Pictures Chief Executive, Kelly Martin told Heather du Plessis-Allan the show is streamed more 20-million times annually on TVNZ Plus.
She says linear ratings also remain strong, as well as its engaged audience.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Missing episodes?
-
The Tories have been totally annihilated in the UK election with a colossal victory for Sir Keir Starmer's Labour Party.
It's won 392 seats, topping the amount needed to form a majority Government by more than 60 seats.
Meanwhile, controversial Brexit champion Nigel Farage has proved eight times is the charm —finally getting a seat in Clacton— with his right-wing Reform Party scoring four seats.
LBC presenter Henry Riley told Heather du Plessis-Allan the excitement was palpable at the Reform HQ.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Christopher Luxon is set to meet the UK’s new Prime Minister next week.
He said in a media standup earlier today that he would work with “every leader the partner countries deliver” and was confident he would have a good relationship with whoever won the election.
Labour’s Keir Starmer has won the election by a landslide, the party having taken over 360 seats.
ZB Senior Political Correspondent Barry Soper told Heather du Plessis-Allan that he has a busy first month, with diplomatic meetings with various world leaders in store.
“For the first time now in 14 years, we’re going to see a change in government. Let's only hope that the Labour Party is better than the one that we saw here.”
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
National pride in the US nears record lows.
The most recent Gallup poll revealed that 41% of respondents considered themselves “extremely proud” to be an American, and an additional 26% said they were very proud.
The downwards slope hit its lowest point in 2020, with only 63% of respondents saying they were very or extremely proud, compared to the years after 9/11, which peaked at 70% in 2003.
US Correspondent Dan Mitchinson told Heather du Plessis-Allan that while it is somewhat split on party lines, even for Republicans their pride levels are down.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Plenty of excitement in Dunedin as the city prepares for tomorrow’s match.
The All Blacks are facing off against England in their first test of 2024 - the first test of Scott Robertson’s tenure as coach.
Jason Pine is broadcasting live from the stadium this weekend, and told Heather du Plessis-Allan that the team picked for this game was pretty predictable, designed to get Razor’s era as coach off to a good start.
"I think it’s a good team, there’s probably not a lot that most people would have changed in the, in the 15 or the 23.”
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
The UK Labour Party has won county's election in a commanding fashion.
The tally of Sir Keir Starmer's party's seats has now topped 360 seats —it needed 326 for a majority— and he will become Prime Minister.
Starmer says they're here to return Britain to the service of working people.
UK Correspondent Peter Anderson told Heather du Plessis-Allan that they’re expecting, based on figures so far, for Labour to end up with about 410 seats in the 650 seat Parliament, giving them a majority of 170 seats.
In comparison, he said, the Conservatives are looking to have shed more than 200 seats, and will likely have a rather lowly 140/150 MPs at most.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
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.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Voting booths are opening in the UK, where it's predicted the 14-year Tory rule will come to an end.
Keir Starmer's Labour party is expected to cruise to an easy victory over Rishi Sunak's Conservatives.
UK correspondent Enda Brady says data predicts Labour will win in the biggest victory since 1836.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Equity markets around the world are experiencing lifetime highs - but one expert has warned of the possible risks involved.
The US, Japan, Europe and Australia are all thriving, amid a collective battle with inflation.
Sam Dickie from Fisher Funds explains the situation further.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
The golden era of trade is over and New Zealand needs to push hard to diversify its trading partners, according to a warning from the Deputy Secretary of Trade.
During the Primary Industries Conference, Vangelis Vitalis said primary industry exports went through a boom between 1995 and 2017 but since then, things have become much harder.
The Country's Jamie Mackay unpack the issue further.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Housing Minister Chris Bishop says six major changes to housing reflect the needs of a modern population.
They'll let cities expand at the fringes by stopping councils setting fixed rural-urban boundaries, and requiring them to plan for growth 30 years ahead.
Minimum floor area and balcony requirements are being abolished for apartments.
ZB senior political correspondent Barry Soper explains the benefits of these changes.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Consumer NZ says the nation's tanning salons are putting vulnerable customers at risk of permanent damage.
The watchdog has accused some operators of letting under-18s and fair-skinned users to book sessions - and is calling for an overall ban.
Consumer NZ writer Belinda Castles says other countries have made the move to ban sunbeds amid concern surrounding skin cancer.
"We've got these voluntary regulations - and clearly voluntary is not working. So we should just ban them, there's no need for them."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
On the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast for Thursday, 4 July 2024, Property Developer David Whitburn responds to the Government's announcement to 'flood' cities with housing - will it lead to slum areas?
Pollster Henry Olsen gives us an update on the Biden situation in the US and why he's refusing to stand down.
The Huddle debates whether we should ban sunbeds for good. And who actually uses them?
Plus, tax expert Bruce Bernacchi dives into the IRD coming after crypto owners not paying tax.
Get the Heather du Plessis-Allan Drive Full Show Podcast every weekday evening on iHeartRadio, or wherever you get your podcasts.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Tonight on The Huddle, Kiwiblog head and Curia pollster David Farrar and former Health NZ chair Rob Campbell joined in on a discussion about the following issues of the day - and more!
The Housing Minister has announced a raft of changes designed to fill urban areas with development land and remove council powers to mandate boundaries and standards. Do we agree with these changes? How will we cover the hidden costs?
Consumer NZ has called for a ban on sunbeds, after an increase in young or vulnerable users putting themselves at risk to use them. Do we agree with this?
Joe Biden has dug his heels in and refused to drop out of the presidential race, despite growing calls from the Democrats after last week's debate. Do we think Biden can hang on until November?
Do we agree with Razor's All Blacks squad picks ahead of their clash against England?
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
The IRD has confirmed it plans to target cryptocurrency users who haven't declared it as taxable income.
The department has identified 227,000 users in New Zealand who had made about 7 million transactions with a value of $7.8 billion in the last tax year.
Dentons Kensington Swan tax expert Bruce Bernacchi suspects there's tens of millions of dollars to potentially examine.
"We only have to look at how high some of the crypto asset prices have gone - you've got bitcoin currently trading at $58,000 (USD), four years ago it was $9,000. There's some people who are doing very well."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
There's shock among Kiwi rugby fans, as Stephen Perofeta has been given the nod to start at fullback for the All Blacks in the first match of the year against England.
He's pipped fellow Taranaki and Blues playmaker Beauden Barrett to the starting role at 15 for Saturday's test in Dunedin, with the veteran of 119 tests on the bench.
Former All Black Sir John Kirwan says this is a wise choice ahead of the match.
"I think Beauden will need a little bit of time to get back at that level, and Stephen Perofeta has been a form player in the last few weeks."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
The Government has been warned it needs to build more schools and classrooms to meet a bulge in class rolls.
An April Ministry of Education paper shows 139 schools were over capacity.
Migration last year brought almost 21,000 extra school children.
Ormiston Senior College principal Tim Botting says his school has had to adapt."We've had to use some of the café space, our library space now has students in it. We're coping really well, our staff have adapted, our students are doing well in the space."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
A property expert says housing changes announced today will increase supply - with a massive infrastructure bill attached.
Housing Minister Chris Bishop says they'll let cities expand by stopping councils setting fixed rural-urban boundaries and requiring them to plan for growth 30 years ahead.
Apartment floor area minimums and balcony requirements are being abolished.
Property developer and investor, David Whitburn, says it won't be the holy grail many are looking for.
"It is very expensive to put in the wastewater networks, the roading, the connections to electricity - and so forth."
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
-
Pro-Palestine protesters climbed the roof of Australia's Parliament House in Canberra to voice opposition with the ongoing conflict.
Australian lawmakers have condemned the security breach, and authorities have planned a review into the building's security.
Australian correspondent Murray Olds says a group of climate protestors also made it to the foyer inside the building - and police are expecting to charge several people.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
- Show more