Jeremy Wells with his Like Mike puppet of Mike Hosking. Photo / Supplied
Now, a brief Like Mike segment from 2014 is playing out in a defamation and invasion-of-privacy case in the High Court at Auckland.
More specifically, NZME, owner of Hauraki and publisher of the Herald, is trying to have the action struck out before it reaches a substantive hearing.
This week, the High Court heard that on July 30, 2014, Wells focused his Like Mike commentary on a stoush that was unfolding on Waiheke Island between TV personality and former sports star Marc Ellis and a neighbour over Ellis’ construction of a driveway.
The Like Mike piece was quoted at various stages during Monday’s proceedings, including the opening lines: “If there’s one thing that annoys me more than even Green voters it’s silly do-gooding neighbourly nosy parkers, in particular the ones that stop you doing things on your own property.
“Marc Ellis knows all about them – he’s trying to build a driveway to his practical, unpretentious five-bedroom family bach on Waiheke and some neighbour is getting in the way. The council has granted consent so what’s the problem?
“My guess is that the complainant is either a lesbian or bi-curious, both of which spell danger. Most people who block progress on Waiheke Island are lesbians. You see, lesbians are often lesbian and by their very nature they complain. They’re often jealous, they own dogs …”
Wells, impersonating Hosking, also said: “Occasionally you’ll get a good lesbian, one that plays sports. But in my experience, which is zero when it comes to lesbians because I’ve never met one, they’re potentially terrible neighbours.”
The Waiheke Island resident – named in news reports in 2014 as a neighbour in dispute with Ellis – took exception when she discovered a transcript of the Like Mike item on an independent and anonymous blog site more than nine years later, in October 2023.
“That’s the document that started everything,” the woman’s lawyer, Willy Akel, told the High Court this week.
A major issue in the hearing was whether the woman’s claim was filed too late.
NZME said she discovered the website in October 2023 but did not commence proceedings until 2026, while Akel told the court that its continued availability on the blog site meant publication remained ongoing.
The woman traced the transcript back to the Like Mike item on Hauraki.
She is claiming defamation and a breach of privacy.
But NZME is seeking to strike out the claims on multiple fronts, arguing they have little realistic prospect of success.
Jeremy Wells’ Like Mike segment eventually spawned a video series and puppet.
It says the woman was never named or identified; the Like Mike audio was no longer available after 2021; very few people had seen the piece on the Hauraki website; the limitation period for bringing a defamation claim had expired; the piece was not defamatory, and any harm would be less than minor.
“The sarcasm is dripping,” Russell McVeagh’s Joe Edwards, representing NZME, said of the Like Mike piece. “That’s the context in which it was made and which it should be taken.”
He emphasised Hauraki hosts’ irreverent style – the broadcast was clearly satirical, he said, and intended to be humorous and not taken literally.
NZME also said it had nothing to do with the blog site that had transcribed the segment, and it did not know who was behind it.
Before Associate Judge Nick Malarao, NZME said it was also seeking security of costs if the case did proceed to a full hearing.
Edwards estimated fees would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. He did not believe the woman had the means to pay in the event of a costs award.
On behalf of NZME, he said the woman’s actions were an abuse of process.
Akel, however, was adamant his client had a case, citing – as an example of the identity argument – a NZ Herald news report that named her the day before the Like Mike segment was broadcast in 2014.
NZME maintains that neither Wells nor anyone else at the company knew the woman’s sexuality when the segment aired, a point central to its argument that the privacy claim cannot succeed.
Akel said he wanted the opportunity to cross-examine Wells at a trial over his statements in a sworn interrogatory that he had been unaware of the woman’s sexuality when he created the piece.
Akel: “The main arguments of the defendants appear to be that because Mr Wells didn’t know he was breaching privacy, he couldn’t be liable. As we said in our written submission, that’s a novel argument.”
Associate Judge Malarao: “Does your client accept that Mr Wells didn’t know?”
Akel: “No. That should be subject to cross-examination. The reason I say no is we don’t know. I’m not saying he did know. I’m saying we don’t know.”
Associate Judge Malarao: “There’s been no statement of defence. If there’s a statement of defence filed that says Mr Wells didn’t know, you’re going to have to do a reply to that. And you are not going to accept that allegation?”
Akel: “No, that would not be accepted. This really, sir, is a classic case where discovery will be important for many reasons.”
Edwards said the alleged defamatory meanings pleaded by the woman were strained, particularly the claim of being portrayed as a dangerous person who should be shunned.
He said the comments were directed at broad groups (“lesbians”, “nosy neighbours”), not at anyone personally. He also said modern courts were unlikely to regard merely being described as lesbian as defamatory.
Akel said arguments about whether his client was identified, whether the words were defamatory, whether Wells knew her sexuality and whether there had been continuing publication were all matters for a trial, not a strikeout.
He rejected NZME’s argument over the word “lesbian”, saying that the pejorative sting lay in the way sexuality was used in the piece, with words such as “objectionable” and “dangerous”.
Edwards said that the blog which published the transcription was independent of NZME and that neither it nor Wells had any idea who was behind it.
But Akel said Wells and NZME were the originators of the content and he questioned why the media firm had not pursued a takedown action, under copyright law, from the American platform that hosted the blog.
“Despite repeated requests of NZME and Mr Wells, they have refused to engage with WordPress [the hosting platform].”
He said it was “very hard to understand the position that has been taken”.
He argued that Wells and NZME had copyright on the material and “while they don’t take action, we have a continuing defamation”.
NZME argued that the piece wasn’t defamatory in the first place.
Judge Malarao has reserved his decision.
All Blacks streaming glitch: Money falls from Sky
All Blacks playmaker Ruben Love. Photo / Photosport
Sky TV is offering a partial credit to Sky Sport Now customers following a technical glitch that prevented them from watching most of the All Blacks’ mid-week tour match in South Africa.
As fans continued to rage about the outage on social media, Sky last night repeated an earlier apology – “we’re very sorry to those Sky Sport Now customers whose viewing was interrupted” – with news of a $10 credit.
Sky Sport Now customers expecting to watch live coverage of the All Blacks’ match against the Lions on Wednesday morning were instead confronted with stage four highlights of the Vuelta a España cycling race.
“Sky Sport NZ just ruined my family’s morning! We get up with our kids to watch the lads do the haka live and I’m watching dudes in spandex pedal around a hill!” wrote one customer.
Another was more blunt: “Where’s the fkn game @skysportnz useless.”
A Sky TV spokeswoman told Media Insider: “We know it was an early start for fans and incredibly frustrating for those who were impacted.”
The problem, she said, was due to an outage on the global technology platform that delivered Sky Sport Now’s livestreams to viewers.
“Sky Sport Now is delivered via a separate platform to our broadcast and streaming services on Sky – including Sky Box and Pod, Sky Go, Three and ThreeNow – and none of those services [was] affected.”
The problems were fixed, but not until after halftime.
“While this was outside of our control, as a gesture of goodwill, we’re offering a $10 account credit to monthly and annual pass customers who were affected, and a full refund to customers who bought a day pass to watch the All Blacks that day,” the Sky TV spokeswoman told Media Insider.
On a social post last night, Sky Sport wrote: “If you were affected, please contact the Sky Sport Now Help Team at support@skysportnow.co.nz.”
Comment: Where was the Three back-up plan?
So can Sky reassure viewers this won’t happen again – and crucially during an All Blacks test, or a Warriors NRL match?
“We deliver hundreds of thousands of hours of live sport every year and issues like this are rare,” said the spokeswoman.
Sky TV now has what is surely an obvious back-up option to overcome any future glitches. The clue was in its response further above.
Sky acquired free-to-air Three and Three Now 13 months ago. It’s a mystery why Sky did not – or even could not – move the All Blacks match to these channels.
After all, Sky made a song and dance earlier this year when it announced Three would be the home of delayed All Blacks matches.
Fifty-seven years after humankind put a man on the moon, Sky said yesterday: “It isn’t currently possible to simply switch a Sky Sport Now stream across to broadcast TV at short notice.”
That comment appeared to ignore a key point.
It’s not so much switching a stream across; it’s about quickly recognising a problem, and transmitting a match on a free-to-air channel it already owns, for everyone to see.
That would earn the broadcaster lots of PR points and avoid the backlash it received from paying customers this week.
I pushed further on why Three wasn’t a contingency, and Sky said it had nothing to add. I pushed again.
“It’s not on the immediate roadmap but it could be a consideration,” said a spokeswoman.
Interestingly, TVNZ was very open about a plan to use its free-to-air channels as a backup if there were ever a problem with its $44.95 tournament pass for the recent Football World Cup. As it turned out, that wasn’t required.
The streaming problems were the last thing Sky TV needed this week, as it announces its full-year financial results this morning.
TVNZ/Sky TV financial results
Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney (left) and TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell.
Stay tuned to nzherald.co.nz and Media Insider this morning for the release of Sky TV’s result, at 8.30am, and TVNZ’s annual financial result, at 9am.
Through the morning, Media Insider will also have interviews with TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell and Sky TV chief executive Sophie Moloney.
NZME analysis
Analysts Forsyth Barr say Herald publisher and Newstalk ZB owner NZME has delivered a half-year result broadly in line with expectations, with operating ebitda modestly ahead of forecast.
The company announced a half-year operating ebitda of $26.5 million – up 11% – and a statutory post-tax profit of $6.6m.
Forsyth Barr noted NZME’s plans for more cost-cutting – including lower lease costs for its central Auckland offices and a more efficient print-plant facility to be built in Auckland that will deliver $3m-$5m savings in 2028 and annualised savings of $7m thereafter. The investment outlay in the new facility would be covered by 2030.
NZME has also identified “efficiency initiatives”, including automating manual workflows, “utilising AI to deliver the next wave of efficiency”. This would lead to annualised savings of $4m, with full benefits realised in 2027, and a further $3m of annualised savings to be delivered in H1 2027, with the full benefit realised in 2028.
Forsyth Barr analyst James Lindsay said NZME’s FY28 earnings “therefore depend more on cost execution than a strong advertising recovery or property upturn”.
He cut operating ebitda for FY26 and FY27 by -3% and -1% on softer revenue but lifted “FY28 by +7% as combined cost savings build”.
He lowered the company’s spot valuation share price from $1.20 to $1.18.
NZME shares sat at $1.11 at the market’s close on Thursday.
Former RNZ host takes off
Former RNZ Midday Report host Charlotte Cook.
Former RNZ Midday host Charlotte Cook has revealed she has taken voluntary redundancy from the public broadcaster, and is pursuing a new move.
“Almost eight years ago, I followed my gut and started telling stories at RNZ,” the broadcaster and journalist told followers on Instagram this week.
“Stories that took me to Christchurch in the aftermath of March 15, I spent an evening with the world-famous sushi penguins, I made being a hairy woman into an award-winning podcast, worked with Kiwis on the front line in Ukraine, cooked lasagne with the Prime Minister, and presented my own show.
“For a while now, I’ve been working out what my next move is and trusted that my gut (which is risky if you know my gut) will continue to steer me in the right direction.”
She said she was using her voluntary redundancy for a “launchpad for what-comes-next”.
“Leaving RNZ feels a little like leaving home all over again, but I’m incredibly proud of what I’ve achieved here and grateful for the incredible people who’ve sat alongside me. Not everyone has the opportunity to tell the stories I’ve told, and the privilege will stay with me for a lifetime.”
Vero’s new heroes
Vero’s name has pride of place on one of Auckland’s tallest buildings.
A significant win for Publicis-owned creative advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi, which has snared Vero Insurance after a competitive pitch process, Media Insider can reveal today.
Saatchi becomes Vero’s creative agency, while its Publicis sister company, Spark Foundry, becomes Vero’s media agency, responsible for strategy, planning and buying.
Vero is owned by Suncorp New Zealand and is one of the country’s biggest general and specialist insurers.
The companies say their new partnership will see Saatchi & Saatchi support Vero across brand strategy, creative development, and ongoing digital and social content, “with a focus on further strengthening the brand’s connection with New Zealanders”.
Vero corporate affairs and marketing executive manager Campbell Hodgetts.
Vero corporate affairs and marketing executive manager Campbell Hodgetts said both agencies stood out for their thinking and creative ambition.
“Saatchi & Saatchi impressed us during the pitching process with their innovative approach and strong creative thinking. We were particularly drawn to their ability to use creativity and data not just to uncover the obvious growth opportunities, but to find those others might miss.
“Spark Foundry also stood out for its fresh, forward-thinking approach to media, with a focus on helping our work cut through and deliver impact.”
He said Vero had a “strong foundation and a proud history in New Zealand” and there was an opportunity “to share that strength more meaningfully and more consistently with Kiwis”.
Vero was already working with Publicis’ Digitas NZ to redevelop its digital experience through a newly designed website with a bespoke navigation for customers and brokers.
We can expect to see the first pieces of work from Saatchi & Saatchi roll out by the end of the year.
Print play
More great news from the regions and from my own home province, South Canterbury.
A Waimate local who created her own online news site when the town’s community newspaper closed is now expanding into print.
District Life owner Kate O’Connell.
“I’m taking a small risk and launching a monthly print edition of District Life,” Kate O’Connell told followers on social media this week.
“I started District Life because we no longer have a community paper in Waimate. The district has changed so much since I’ve lived here, but the positive news wasn’t reaching very far.
“The aim is to create something useful and interesting for readers, while offering businesses affordable, effective marketing and advertising across print, online and email.
“It’s fun and I love doing it…”
There was further information about the plans on the District Life social pages.
“Rural readers also want something printed to read at smoko – and from cover to cover. Waimate no longer has a community newspaper, so District Life is launching a monthly version covering local news, people, businesses and opportunities.”
O’Connell pointed out that low overheads meant advertising rates stayed affordable. “The first edition is coming together, going to print in the first week of September.”
‘Big moment’
On a week when one of country music’s greatest legends, Dolly Parton, died, the genre shows no signs of losing its sparkle.
Worldwide, the rise of country music into the mainstream has been a phenomenal trend.
NZME hitched itself to the wagon last year with the launch of its iHeartCountry station – and now, a special human touch has been announced.
iHeartCountry Radio music director and now breakfast host Dan Bernstone.
From Monday, the station will have its first host, with music director Dan Bernstone in the hot seat for iHeartCountry Mornings from 6am.
A lifelong country fan, Bernstone earlier co-founded Southern Cross Country Radio, an online station. The station wound down earlier this year when Bernstone joined NZME.
“I just love where country music is and the direction it’s heading right now, and I’m stoked to be part of it on iHeartCountry New Zealand,” he said.
David Brice, iHeartCountry NZ content director, said an expanded live schedule was about super-serving a growing audience.
“Live radio is where community happens, and nobody builds community around country music like Dan.”
NZME chief audio officer Jason Winstanley said: “This is a big moment for the station. Moving to a genuinely live, local schedule lets us build community around country music at a whole new level and opens up real commercial opportunity as the format keeps growing in New Zealand.”
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.