Montana warns other sponsors in TV scrap

PETER HUBSCHER: Company penalised for success

Montana was yesterday warning off other companies from working with TVNZ after a bitter stoush with the state broadcaster.

The wine giant pulled its nine-year sponsorship of the Sunday Theatre programme and is set to pull a Corbans sponsorship as a result of the scrap.

Its cancellation comes after protracted arguments between Montana's lawyers and the network over who owns the "brand" Montana Sunday Theatre.

Montana managing director Peter Hubscher yesterday warned off other companies from sponsoring TVNZ shows, saying the network could not be trusted after it asked for a 25% increase in sponsorship per episode.

"This sends a message to everyone in the world: Do you want a partnership with TVNZ?" said Mr Hubscher. "We had a long-term relationship and you don't put the price up 25% in one year.

"[Sponsorship] should be tied to the cost of television advertising [which has only shifted marginally in the current year]. We put a lot of money in [Sunday Theatre], we invested in a property and helped them make it worth something.

"Then they say they can sell it to someone else. It will go to the highest bidder. Who are you dealing with when that is the way they behave?"

But TVNZ said the sponsorship was set below market value and the revised package put to Montana was still cheap.

TV1 programme manager Karen Bieleski said there would be no problem attracting a new sponsor, particularly given a 24% increase in average ratings for the drama series in its core demographic, people aged 25-54.

"There has been a dispute between TVNZ and Montana's lawyers," said Ms Bieleski. "There was a perception that they owned the Sunday Theatre brand. Things did get ... intense."

She said Montana was disabused of its ownership notion and TVNZ "would not enter into a new contract with those grounds of ownership."

But Mr Hubscher said the issue of brand ownership was a separate dispute and there will be no further legal action as a result of the company ending its sponsorship, which was solely due to the fee increase.

He said the company had been penalised for the success of its support of the drama series and "will almost certainly lead to the termination of sponsorship of Corbans Taste New Zealand."

"But we haven't made that call yet," said Mr Hubscher. "[TVNZ] won't want too many customers walking away. The market in New Zealand isn't that big."

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