TVNZ 2 Fast Tracks New ‘Bubble’ Show
April 17, 2020 
6 Comments
TVNZ 2 will follow Three in fast-tracking to air a newly com-missioned family show fronted by Celebrity Treasure Island co-host Bree Tomasel.
You Got This! will replace 7.00 Thursday repeats of Motorway Patrol from April 30.
Reads the blurb: “Hosted by Bree Tomasel, this hilarious family competition sees four ‘at home’ whānau teams take on a quirky challenge – from baking cakes to magic tricks. Let the ‘bubble’ fun begin!”
The Warner Bros NZ series only got there green light from NZ On Air this week, when the eight-part series received $139,971 in funding.
It was part of a $700,000 initiative to encourage low-cost productions that “could be produced quickly, safely and in lockdown”.
NZOA describes You Got This! as “a prime time family challenge competition on TVNZ 2 encouraging creative use of everyday materials inside four family ‘bubbles’”.
The same COVID-19 response also spawned Three’s new sketch comedy series, Dai’s Party House, which will premiere a week earlier.
In other scheduling news, from tomorrow TVNZ 2 will replace the 6.00 Saturday double-episode re-run of Friends with Nadia’s Comfort Kitchen and Duke is pulling tomorrow night’s Hunters Club COVID Special (the movie The Evil Dead will now screen an hour earlier, at 9.25).
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April 19, 2020 at 10:08 pm
Surprised to see The Voice resurface on NZ screens albeit the UK edition. One would of thought TVNZ 1 would use it to plug their Friday & Saturday night schedule until BGT returns uninterrupted due to Covid.
Not sure if it’s the right demo for TVNZ 1, Leo. Moreover, the network’s about to bring back BGT and given the reality contests TVNZ 2 has lined up, not sure where in primetime the latter could have aired The Voice while still being close behind UK transmissions. Sunday evenings as we head into winter could be quite an inspired strategy.
Surely The Voice UK is similar to The X Factor UK and would of fitted in well on the Friday/Saturday slot? I do see BGT is returning in the next fortnight so would of caused issue.
They may not be dissimilar, Leo, but as TVNZ 2 aired both the US and Oz versions of The Voice , I suspect the network would have wanted to retain the association. There also are the limitations of linear scheduling that would have made it hard for TVNZ 1 to juggle The Voice and BGT in same-week 7.30 slots.
Fair points about keeping each networks shows on brand and timeslot availability. I was thinking since it failed to find an audience on TVNZ 2, it might just work for TVNZ 1 such as how Saturday Night Takeaway has managed to find success on 1.
Quite so, Leo. Takeway tanked on 2 but has been a star performer on 1. Similarly, Michael McIntyre’s Big Show flopped on 1 but has been solid on 2. In both cases it made strategic sense to test their appeal on other TVNZ channels. But I think The Voice has been such a primetime fixture on 2 that the UK version was a natural for the network, especially when 1 is so saturated with UK variety. Moreover, it could improve 2’s evening weekend viewership as we head into winter.