Duncan Greive has a solo podcast this week, talking about the debut of Spark Game Arena Live, a huge new event at Spark Arena. He looks at the upside and downsides of the trend away from sponsorships towards brands creating their own projects. Plus: who's number one? Both NZME and Stuff claimed the title this week – but does it even matter? And finally, a look at the way you can see shrinking media budgets through smaller traveling contingents across both sport and politics. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One eked out a flat result, the other had a giant loss. Toby Manhire and Duncan Greive discuss what that says about their revenue models. They also discuss the downward trend for RNZ, one mirrored by public media entities around the world. Finally, they look at X’s ban in Brazil and the arrest of Telegram’s founder in France, as a window into the global techlash. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glenn McDonald spent over a decade with a very mysterious and specific job title: data alchemist at Spotify. It's possible – even likely – that no one on earth knows as much about music streaming. He is in New Zealand for the Going Global music industry conference, and joins Duncan Greive to talk about how Spotify does and doesn't work for artists, why Spotify doesn't stretch your listening habits, and what he really thinks about its big move into podcasting and audiobooks. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2024 edition of NZ on Air's Where are the Audiences is a bombshell - largely because so little has changed. The past decade has been characterised by a sharp and consistent rise in UGC, social and SVOD platforms, while local media has slid precipitously. This year that slide has arrested – and in some cases reversed.Duncan Greive is joined by The Spinoff's Ātea editor Liam Rātana, dissecting the findings as they take turns drafting their five favourite data points from WATA 2024. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The All Blacks were early on the sports doc series train – but the result was widely panned, due to a sense the subjects weren't willing to really open up for it. Robyn Paterson has directed a new series for Sky on the Wheel Blacks, a team she says has far more candour than their more famous counterparts. She joins Duncan Greive to discuss the changing shape of disability storytelling, and the potential merger of the film commission and NZ on Air. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duncan Greive and Glen Kyne discuss the bombshell announcement that Laura Maxwell is leaving Stuff, with owner Sinead Boucher to take over in the interim. What does it say about Stuff's strategy, and who might replace her? Plus signals suggest TVNZ is making a big play into sports and a paywall – what does that mean for the state broadcaster, and for Sky? And finally, a look at the rise of the new TAB as a force in New Zealand media, with all the moral complexity that brings with it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glen Kyne joins Duncan Greive to discuss the appointment of Graeme Mason to chair the NZ Film Commission board. The former Screen Australia boss seems the strongest signal yet that the NZFC and NZ on Air are coming together. We run through some worrying signs out of US cable – and ask what they mean for the potential sale of Foxtel, Sky's Australian equivalent. We also look at NZME making a revived Game of Two Halves for Sky, the X advertiser lawsuit and the remarkable run of Susan Wojcicki at YouTube. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ant Timpson has spent much of his life at war with the establishment. With ventures like the Incredibly Strange Film Festival and 48 Hours, he courted controversy and made a home for misfits of film. Now he's a veteran of governance and has directed a family film – albeit one with a killer psychedelic mushrooms sequence. He joins Duncan Greive on The Fold to explain what came over him. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Glen Kyne joins Duncan Greive to discuss earnings season in big tech media, with particularly noteworthy results for Meta and Netflix. Locally 1News has opened up a big 25-54 lead over Stuff's ThreeNews – partly using overwhelming force at the Olympics, the NZ Herald debuts an instructive piece of data journalism, and Ant Timpson's Bookworm lends itself to a discussion of the local box office. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Duncan Greive is joined by recently-departed WBD leader Glen Kyne to pilot a brand new format for The Fold. It features Duncan and Glen analysing new strands in local and international media, along with regular deep dives into different aspects of the business. The first episode features reflections an explainer on why TV advertising fell off a cliff, a look at the upcoming NZ Rugby rights deal and the government's decision to bail out Shortland St. From now on, interviews will run less frequently and on Thursdays.Please give us feedback on the new format: duncan@thespinoff.co.nz Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices