Andrew Shaw

Andrew Shaw began his television career in the late 1970s, as a children's television host. After time as a producer and director, he later became Head of Commissioning, Production and Acquisitions at Television New Zealand.

Born in 1957 in Manchester, England, Shaw’s family moved to New Zealand while he was still in school. The son of NZ Herald TV critic Barry Shaw, he was stuck in a lowly job in the advertising department of The Auckland Star when his father saw a newspaper ad for a children's television presenter. "No one was more surprised than me to get a screen test." At the age of 18, Shaw got the job. "I had one rehearsal, was shown the studio, and there I was — producer, director, front man . . . you name it, I was it."

After making his debut on TV2 presents Andy, Shaw was soon working six days a week, hosting each afternoon's programming. “I fell into it and I was immediately surrounded by extraordinary people". The slot soon changed its name to Here's Andy, and later Hey Hey It's Andy. By 1978, the show and its presenter were receiving 2000 pieces of fan mail per week.

Shaw soon became increasingly aware (as did fellow children's host Stu Dennison) that presenting shows for a young audience inevitably came with an expiry date. He made a deal with the powers that be: he would continue to present certain shows (including the disco-themed Star Zone) in exchange for training to become a multi-camera director for the network. Training meant periods in Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch.

Directing required high levels of planning and organisation. "The technology was relatively rudimentary," Shaw recalled in this video interview. "You needed to be skilful just to shoot television. You had to get it right when you shot it, because you couldn’t really edit it. It was basically very rudimentary post-production."

The sometime speedway racer was soon directing and producing everything from comedy and ballet, to nostalgia (the beloved Radio Times) and country music. On the popular music front, he helmed a number of Live at Mainstreet concert specials, and made iconic videos for Blam Blam Blam, The Clean, and "one of the best songs" he had ever heard — DD Smash hit 'Outlook for Thursday'. He also directed WWll-inspired special The Great Kiwi Concert Show.

As Shaw wrote in this 2020 tribute to Kiwi television, working on both sides of the camera for Telethon was a personal highlight — a reminder of the power of the television medium, as a country willingly embarrassed itself to raise money for a worthy cause. "It brought New Zealand to a standstill, bringing us together for one shared goal . . . There is no safe drug so powerful as putting out 24 hours of nationwide entertainment."

In 1996 Shaw became Head of Programming for both TVNZ channels. The following year the job expanded to include acquiring programmes from overseas.

In 2001 he left TVNZ to become Chief Operating Officer at production company South Pacific Pictures. Keen to broaden SPP's range of programming, Shaw helped ink a deal with multinational FremantleMedia, enabling SPP to produce a local version of hit show American Idol. Shaw was executive producer, and confirmed his reputation as one of the ‘go to' people for directing multi-camera live broadcast shooting in New Zealand. The finale episodes of Idol were high pressure, high rating extravaganzas.

Shaw went on to work as a programming and commissioning executive at fledgling network Prime. In the process he made changes to the channel's schedule, and upped the percentage of local content. "It was good in two years to get some documentaries made, order up a film, and get a 13-part drama (police show Interrogation) produced, which won an award," said Shaw. "It was a good experience."

Even when Shaw left the job and took some time off, it was hard to keep him away from broadcasting — as well as doing some radio, he worked behind the scenes on Mitre 10 Dream Home and Phil Keoghan's No Opportunity Wasted as an executive producer; and joined friend and fellow Radio with Pictures graduate Richard Driver to successfully launch Sky TV's Documentary Channel.

In 2007 Shaw returned to Television New Zealand, as General Manager of Commissioning, Production and Acquisitions. Later he became Deputy Director of Content, overseeing international acquisitions and coproductions. When it came to selecting and buying shows, Shaw said, “you serve all the audiences, and you have to put your perspective away and trust the judgement of your team. The proof is always there in one shape or another the next morning at half past nine, when the Nielsen numbers come out."

Shaw was clear that traditional ratings methods were not the only yardstick. In 2013 he argued that the "scorecard for shows" was a combination of many things. "we look at a show’s critical acclaim, total rating, demographic performance and social interaction..."

In 2010, he returned to the other side of the camera with From the Archives: Five Decades, a show on pay channel TVNZ Heartland. Each episode saw Shaw interviewing a key figure from a particular decade of Kiwi television history, alongside classic TV footage from the past.

He left TVNZ in July 2020, shortly before being named a certified Television Legend at the NZ Television Awards. That year, he wrote of his love of New Zealand television in this piece for NZ On Screen. Asked about his long run in a Newstalk ZB radio interview, Shaw highlighted communication as the through-line of his career, from presenting to commanding television crews in his twenties, to helping decide what went on air. He argued that "the true magic of television is the people that it attracts . . . they were pioneers and adventurers . . . when you're in that space, you can't help but become excited by it."

Shaw's bluntness and passion and bluntness got him into trouble more than once. In 2023, a three-year stint on the board of funding organisation NZ On Air was cut short after a social media post in which he called Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters untruthful and "the worst of this gang of thugs", after Peters called the Public Interest Journalism Fund "$55 million of bribery".

Shaw also provided his services to local producers through his company Sophos Media Consulting. In 2024, local producers' guild SPADA gave him their Industry Champion Award. 

Andrew Shaw died on 24 May 2025 at the age of 68, after a battle with cancer.

Updated on 27 May 2025

Sources include
'Andrew Shaw: from kids show host to TVNZ executive...' (Video Interview), NZ On Screen Website. Director Clare O'Leary. Loaded 18 January 2009. Accessed 27 May 2025 
Andrew Shaw, '60 Years: A Love Letter to Television' NZ On Screen website. Loaded 29 May 2020. Accessed 27 May 2025 
Ben Fahy, 'Horse's Mouth: Andrew Shaw' (Interview) StopPress website. Loaded 26 November 2013. Accessed 27 May 2025
Audrey Gordon, 'No work for TV's Andy Shaw' (Interview) - The New Zealand Woman's Weekly, 20 February 1978, page 9
Michael Neilson, 'NZ On Air board member Andrew Shaw resigns over Winston Peters criticism of media independance' - The NZ Herald, 28 November 2023 
Breakfast - 50 Years of TV with Andrew Shaw (Television Programme) 
'Interview: Andrew Shaw' (Radio interview) - Newstalk ZB. Loaded 15 December 2020. Accessed 27 May 2025