Overseas sales the key to Shorty St's survival, say industry insiders

Screen-industry experts say sales to international streaming platforms are key to the survival of long-running Kiwi medical drama Shortland Street .

These would provide much needed funds to keep the soap going, after speculation rose about its future.

Screen Producers NZ president Irene Gardiner says international sales by production company South Pacific Pictures will be what keeps one of New Zealand’s most-watched and highest-rated television shows going.

“Sales money isn’t huge but if you can get enough sales to enough territories, it does mean a bit of income which will help them survive.”

Shortland Street is the longest-running drama in the country, in production since 1992, but speculation about its future has grown given wider industry struggles.

TVNZ has not confirmed the series’ return next year.

Head Nurse Carrie Burton, Dr Hone Ropata, and nurse Alison Raynor in Shortland Street episode one, 1992. Photo: South Pacific Pictures

Gardiner says less local funding is pushing New Zealand production companies towards global solutions.

In February, Shortland Street began airing in the United Kingdom for the first time in 15 years.

The show has also screened in Australia, Fiji, Niue, the Cook Islands, and Zimbabwe.

One of New Zealand’s leading screenwriters, and Shortland Street’s original story editor, Gavin Strawhan, says the problem goes beyond the medical drama.

“You can’t make a show here unless you get overseas funding but you can’t make a show that’s very Kiwi unless [you get New Zealand funding], so it’s a catch-22,” says Strawhan.

He says the creation of Shortland Street came in response to an “American invasion” on New Zealand screens.

“There was a sense that every country needed to tell its own stories.

“We couldn’t compete with the production values of overseas productions but we could tell fast stories ripped from the headlines, quite immediately.”

Gavin Strawhan. Photo: South Pacific Pictures.

Shortland Street is not only important for nurturing the local screen industry, but is also an important show for New Zealand socially, says Gardiner.

“It is great for a nation to have a soap.”

Gardiner says the moment production of local shows decreases, access to New Zealand, Pasifika and Māori stories, as well as New Zealand humour and places, does too.

Shortland Street was NZ On Air’s top scripted show in April, with 154,700 viewers.

However, the new format attracted 11,000 fewer accounts on TVNZ+ in the first three weeks of 2025 than the same period in 2024.

The series is far from its highest ratings of 350,000 watchers in 1999 and 2010.

Last year, the show was handed a lifeline when the Government made changes to allow a 40 per cent screen production rebate to apply to Shortland Street.