Courtesy of NZ On Screen

TV executive Andrew Shaw talks candidly to NZ On Screen about more than three decades of experiences in the New Zealand TV industry, from being a teen heartthrob to sitting on top of the heap as network commissioner.Courtesy of NZ On Screen

TV executive Andrew Shaw talks candidly to NZ On Screen about more than three decades of experiences in the New Zealand TV industry, from being a teen heartthrob to sitting on top of the heap as network commissioner.Shaw reflects on:

- his early days as a presenter, "fluking" a screentest to get the Hey, Hey, It's Andy gig

- his anticipation of his "expiry date" and the deal he brokered to train as a multi-camera live broadcast director; working on shows from Billy T James' Radio Times to punk music docos, to returning to being in front of the camera to host disco show Star Zone.

- his sabbaticals from TVNZ, working for South Pacific Pictures (where he was charged with broadening their slate from drama and film; he introduced the Idol franchise to NZ TV), working as the founding commissioner for Prime TV, and helping launch the Documentary Channel with Richard Driver

- his passionate belief in the resilience and importance of network TV as a "gathering place" in the age of the internet

- his return to TVNZ and the challenge of balancing "god and mammon" - commercial and public service - that TVNZ has to manage

- "the privilege" of working for the public broadcaster, citing the Edmund Hillary Westminster Abbey memorial service as an example of something he wouldn't get the opportunity to do elsewhere

- criticism about programming arts docos at 10.30pm at night. Shaw's response: "stay awake!"