Fair Go

Last updated

Fair Go
Fair Go logo.png
GenreBusiness, Talk Show
Created by Brian Edwards
Presented by Pippa Wetzell
Country of originNew Zealand
Original languageEnglish
Production
Executive producerNicola Russell
Camera setupMulti-camera
Running time30 minutes (with advertisements)
Original release
Network TVNZ 1
Release7 April 1977 (1977-04-07) –
13 May 2024 (2024-05-13)

Fair Go is a New Zealand consumer affairs television programme hosted by Pippa Wetzell. First aired in 1977, it was New Zealand's second longest-running local programme (after Country Calendar ). It was also one of its highest-rated programmes, frequently placed high in the New Zealand TV Guide list of most viewed programmes. It aired its final episode on 13 May 2024.

Contents

Content and programming

Fair Go features a mixture of investigative journalism and consumer affairs stories, based on the motto: "If you've been ripped off, short-changed or given the runaround and nobody wants to know...we do!"

Fair Go also held the annual Fair Go Ad Awards, in which the best and worst advertisements on New Zealand television are announced, and a competition to find the best 30-second video by New Zealand students is held.

History

Fair Go began in 1977, the creation of presenter Brian Edwards and producer Peter Morritt. [1] At the time it was seen as breaking new ground. It would not simply deal with consumer issues, it would investigate complaints from viewers and if those complaints were justified, it would name names. The biggest fear at the time was that the programme would attract huge lawsuits. Lawyers were hired to check every word on the script and the fears turned out to be groundless.

The other novel factor in the show was the high personality profile of its presenters and reporters. Other more recent high-profile presenters include Kevin Milne, Kerre McIvor (née Woodham), Carol Hirschfeld, Rosalie Nelson, Liane Clarke, Greg Boyed and Simon Mercep.

When Fair Go began it was shown in two 10- to 12-week seasons each year. But with the popularity of the show, and the huge number of complaints sent into the programme, it was decided in 1993 to produce one long season which would run for almost the entire year.

As the show matured, the complaints it dealt with involved higher stakes. Fair Go's biggest cash settlement was for over $350,000. There have been several other settlements involving six figure sums. However, the show will go into battle for as little as one cent (and has), if the issue behind the dispute is an interesting one. Fair Go has always considered entertainment and humour as suitable partners for its more investigative work.

In March 2024 it was proposed that Fair Go will be ending the following May due to a TVNZ restructure after experiencing financial difficulties. [2] This news was confirmed in April 2024. [3] Fair Go aired its final episode on 13 May 2024, with host Pippa Wetzell and the rest of the Fair Go team bidding farewell to viewers. [4]

The Fair Go brand now operates as a four person current affairs team which makes content for TVNZ’s on-demand service.

Cast and crew

As of April 2024, current reporters for the show, along with the two hosts, are Alistar Kata, Kaitlin Aldridge, Gill Higgins and Garth Bray. [5] [6]

Kevin Milne ONZM had worked on Fair Go from 1984 until 2010. [7]

Legacy

Although Fair Go does no longer exist as a television show, it still has a Facebook page where those who feel underrepresented or "ripped off" can still submit cases to them in an attempt to uphold consumer rights.

In May 2024, TVNZ promised the Fair Go brand will live on — with a new four-person long-form consumer and current affairs team to make content for TVNZ's digital platforms. [10]

Awards

In 1997, Fair Go was awarded a Bravo award by the New Zealand Skeptics for "poking a little of their irrepressible fun at alleged psychics providing lucky lotto numbers." [11]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">TVNZ</span> New Zealand state-owned television network

Television New Zealand, more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific region. All of its currently-operating channels are free-to-air and commercially funded.

<i>1 News</i> News division of TVNZ of New Zealand

1News is the news division of New Zealand television network TVNZ. The programme is broadcast live from TVNZ Centre in Auckland. The flagship news bulletin is the nightly 6pm news hour, but 1News also has late night news bulletins, as well as current affairs shows such as Breakfast and Seven Sharp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Campbell (broadcaster)</span> New Zealand journalist and television personality (born 1964)

John James Campbell is a New Zealand journalist and radio and television personality. He is currently a presenter and reporter at TVNZ; before that, he presented Checkpoint, Radio New Zealand's drive time show, from 2016 to 2018. For ten years prior to that, he presented Campbell Live, a 7 p.m. current affairs programme on TV3. He was a rugby commentator for Sky Sports during the All Blacks' test against Samoa in early 2015 — a fixture he had vocally campaigned for while hosting Campbell Live.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paul Henry (broadcaster)</span> New Zealand radio and television broadcaster

Paul Henry Hopes, known professionally as Paul Henry, is a New Zealand radio and television broadcaster who was the host of the late night show The Paul Henry Show on New Zealand's TV3 which ended December 2014 so that Henry could host a new cross platform three-hour breakfast show Monday to Friday on TV3, RadioLive and online. Paul Henry launched on 7 April 2015 and initially had an audience larger than the two shows it replaced on radio and TV. For nine months in 2012, he also co-hosted an Australian television show, Breakfast, which ceased production on 30 November 2012, due to low ratings. Henry is host of The Traitors NZ series 1 & 2. He won Bronze as Best Host for series 1 at the New York Festivals in April 2024. Series 2 is set to air June 2024.

Newshub was a New Zealand news service that aired on the television channel Three, and on digital platforms, until July 2024. It also operated on radio stations run by MediaWorks Radio until December 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ian Fraser (broadcaster)</span> New Zealand broadcaster and personality

Ian Geoffrey Fraser is a New Zealand broadcaster and personality. He was the chief executive officer of Television New Zealand from 2002 until 2005.

<i>60 Minutes</i> (New Zealand TV programme) 1990 New Zealand TV series or programme

60 Minutes is a New Zealand television newsmagazine show. It was originally broadcast on TV3. The show began in New Zealand in 1989 based on an American programme by the same name.

Susan Wood is a New Zealand television presenter who hosted TV ONE's nightly news and current affairs show Close Up.

<i>Sunday</i> (New Zealand TV programme) New Zealand current affairs programme

Sunday was a New Zealand current affairs programme that broadcast on TVNZ 1 on Sunday nights at 7:30 pm between 2002 and 2024.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kim Hill (broadcaster)</span> New Zealand broadcaster

Fiona Anderson Kim Hill is a New Zealand broadcaster who presented the programme Saturday Morning on Radio New Zealand National, a public radio station, between 2002 and 2023. She was named International Radio Personality of the Year in 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pippa Wetzell</span> New Zealand television personality

Pippa Wetzell is a New Zealand television personality and journalist with TVNZ 1.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carol Hirschfeld</span> New Zealand broadcaster (born 1962)

Carol Ann Hirschfeld is a New Zealand journalist, documentary maker, broadcaster, producer and media executive. She is best known for her role as a TV3 News presenter alongside John Campbell from 1998 until 2005. As a broadcast media executive she has been a powerful advocate for improving the coverage of Māori issues, and of increasing the diversity of voices within the media. “I think the biggest challenge is to have that Māori voice in mainstream media organisations. And one of my concerns has been how to integrate an informed Māori viewpoint into the fabric of our news.”

Alison Mau, known professionally as Ali Mau, is an Australian-born New Zealand journalist and broadcaster. She is a former television news anchor, former co-host of the TVNZ current affairs show Seven Sharp, former co-presenter of the consumer affairs show Fair Go, and former co-host of TVNZ Breakfast programme. Mau is a former talkback radio host on RadioLIVE, a nationwide Auckland-based New Zealand talkback, news and sport radio network owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand.

<i>Breakfast</i> (New Zealand TV programme) New Zealand news TV programme

Breakfast is a New Zealand morning news and talk show airing weekday mornings on TVNZ 1, produced by 1 News. Debuting on 11 August 1997, it was the first of its genre in New Zealand. It contains a mixture of breaking news, news, sport, weather and feature items. Originally a two-hour programme, it was expanded to three hours in 2012. It is currently presented by Jenny-May Clarkson, Daniel Faitaua, Anna Burns-Francis and Chris Chang.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greg Boyed</span> New Zealand television presenter (1970–2018)

Gregory Stephen Boyed was a New Zealand journalist and television presenter. He was best known as the presenter of TVNZ 1's 1 News Tonight; he also hosted Breakfast, 1 News At 6pm, Q+A, and Seven Sharp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kamahl Santamaria</span> New Zealand journalist (born 1980)

Kamahl Santamaria is a New Zealand television journalist who achieved international prominence as an anchor for Al Jazeera between 2005 and 2022. In April 2022, he joined the hosting team of Breakfast, on New Zealand's TVNZ 1, but resigned abruptly after a brief period on air. Allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards female employees subsequently emerged.

<i>Seven Sharp</i> New Zealand TV programme

Seven Sharp is a half-hour-long New Zealand current affairs programme produced by Television New Zealand. The programme was created after the discontinuation of Close Up. It broadcasts at 7 pm every weekday on TVNZ 1. Seven Sharp typically presents 3 stories within a 30-minute timeslot every weeknight, and is designed to be more integrated with social media and real time opinions than its predecessor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerre Woodham</span> New Zealand broadcaster

Kerre Woodham, formerly known as Kerre McIvor, is a New Zealand journalist, radio presenter, author and columnist. At the end of 2017 she was named as the replacement for Andrew Dickens on Newstalk ZB Sunday mornings beginning in 2018 and Leighton Smith on mornings beginning in 2019.

Simon Mercep is a New Zealand television and radio journalist.

References

  1. ↑ "Fair Go | Series | Television | NZ On Screen".
  2. ↑ "Live: Staff in tears - TVNZ dumping Sunday, Fair Go, two daily news bulletins". The New Zealand Herald . 8 March 2024. Archived from the original on 24 March 2024. Retrieved 7 March 2024.
  3. ↑ Shepherd, Simon (10 April 2024). "TVNZ to dump Fair Go, two news bulletins". Newshub . Archived from the original on 10 April 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  4. ↑ "Fair Go show final: 'It's not over — we will still be here'". 1 News . 13 May 2024. Archived from the original on 13 May 2024. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
  5. ↑ "Fair Go". TVNZ+ . Archived from the original on 7 March 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 "Credits: Fair Go". NZ On Screen. NZ On Air. Archived from the original on 13 March 2024. Retrieved 12 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "Kevin Milne | NZ On Screen".
  8. ↑ "Surviving depression: Matt Chisholm's brave decision to quit TV". Stuff.co.nz . 15 October 2019. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  9. ↑ Grant, Frances (27 March 2002). "Crusading for the little guy". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 5 April 2022.
  10. ↑ "Fair Go show final: 'It's not over — we will still be here'". 1News. Retrieved 19 June 2024.
  11. ↑ "Bravo Awards". New Zealand Skeptics. Retrieved 7 November 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.