New media minister rolls in after PM's surprise reshuffle; TV news and current affairs on the way down here, but highly competitive across the Tasman.

Mediawatch this week looks at the sudden appointment of a new Minister of Media and Communications - and what went wrong for the outgoing one.

Also - while our TV broadcasters are cutting back their news to the bare minimum, news is still lucrative for Australian TV networks - and it's so competitive they often end up in court.

Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details