NZME is aligning all its rural radio, digital and print offerings under a single brand – The Country. The changes will see the Farming Show, fronted by Jamie Mackay, renamed The Country “to better reflect the wide scope of content from the show”.

Falling revenues have led to the closure of Tangible Media’s NZ Fishing World glossy magazine, which is switching its output to digital. 

FCB Media leads the field by a country mile in the 2016 Beacons (formerly the Media Awards) with 23 finalists. CAANZ announced its full list of finalists this morning.

NZME is to launch a new radio station, Mix93.7, in Wellington this Monday (April 18). The station, which is already on air in Auckland and Christchurch, will play a continuous blend of the best music from the ’80s and ’90s from the likes of Madonna, Prince, Michael Jackson, Crowded House, INXS, U2, Robbie Williams, George Michael and Ricky Martin.

Saatchi NZ has launched the first major campaign for ‘cheap’ NZ power company Electric Kiwi – an online-only outfit that offers a “smarter, smaller” alternative.

Saatchi & Saatchi Sydney – with NZ agencies Carat, Traffik and Beat PR – has launched a NZ campaign for a new premium chocolate brand, Cadbury Coco.

Lexus New Zealand is urging Kiwi designers to enter future editions of the global Milan-based Lexus Design Award – after no NZ agencies signed up for the 2016 event.

Vodafone is welcoming confirmation that the promise to open fibre networks to increased competition will remain as a key feature of the New Zealand communications market in 2020.

New Zealand’s annual measurement of alcohol adspend and consumption continues to surprise – just out today is a report from the Foundation for Advertising Research that shows the 2015 adspend was lower than 1991, which was the last year of the broadcast ad ban.