This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources:  "Fair Go" –  news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2011) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)

Fair Go
Created by	Brian Edwards
Presented by	Pippa Wetzell
Country of origin	New Zealand
Production
Executive producer	Nicola Russell
Camera setup	Multi-camera
Running time	30 minutes (with advertisements)
Original release
Network	TVNZ 1
Release	7 April 1977 (1977-04-07) – present

Fair Go is a New Zealand consumer affairs television programme hosted by Pippa Wetzell. First aired in 1977, it is New Zealand's second longest-running local programme (after Country Calendar). It is also one of its highest-rated programmes, frequently placed high in the New Zealand TV Guide list of most viewed programmes.

Content and programming

Fair Go features a mixture of investigative journalism and consumer affairs stories, based on the motto: "If you've been ripped off, short-changed or given the runaround and nobody wants to know...we do!"

Fair Go also held the annual Fair Go Ad Awards, in which the best and worst advertisements on New Zealand television are announced, and a competition to find the best 30-second video by New Zealand students is held.

History

Fair Go began in 1977, the creation of presenter Brian Edwards and producer Peter Morritt. ^[1] At the time it was seen as breaking new ground. It would not simply deal with consumer issues, it would investigate complaints from viewers and if those complaints were justified, it would name names. The biggest fear at the time was that the programme would attract huge lawsuits. Lawyers were hired to check every word on the script and the fears turned out to be groundless.

The other novel factor in the show was the high personality profile of its presenters and reporters. Other more recent high-profile presenters include Kevin Milne, Kerre McIvor (née Woodham), Carol Hirschfeld, Rosalie Nelson, Liane Clarke, Greg Boyed and Simon Mercep.

When Fair Go began it was shown in two 10- to 12-week seasons each year. But with the popularity of the show, and the huge number of complaints sent into the programme, it was decided in 1993 to produce one long season which would run for almost the entire year.

As the show matured, the complaints it dealt with involved higher stakes. Fair Go's biggest cash settlement was for over $350,000. There have been several other settlements involving six figure sums. However, the show will go into battle for as little as one cent (and has), if the issue behind the dispute is an interesting one. Fair Go has always considered entertainment and humour as suitable partners for its more investigative work.

In March 2024 it was proposed that Fair Go will be ending the following May due to a TVNZ restucture after experiencing financial difficulties. ^[2] This news was confimed in April 2024, with the final show occurring in mid-May 2024. ^[3]

Cast and crew

As of April 2024, current reporters for the show, along with the two hosts, are Alistar Kata, Kaitlin Aldridge, Gill Higgins and Garth Bray. ^{[4] [5]}

Kevin Milne ONZM had worked on Fair Go from 1984 until 2010. ^[6]

Awards

In 1997, Fair Go was awarded a Bravo award by the New Zealand Skeptics for "poking a little of their irrepressible fun at alleged psychics providing lucky lotto numbers." ^[9]

References