Midweek with Holmes

In 1988, high profile radio host and occasional actor Paul Holmes was approached about the idea of hosting a nightly current affairs programme. TVNZ and TV3 were both interested; Holmes went with TVNZ. They tested the market in early 1989 with half-hour show Midweek with Holmes. The team managed to secure interviews with Winston Peters and Helen Clark. The first nightly Holmes show launched on TV One in April 1989; for the next 15 years, it would occupy a prime-time slot directly after the news.