Shaun Brown’s television career spans 45 years, beginning as a reporter with the NZ Broadcasting Corporation. In his early days as a journalist, he covered a number of historic stories including nuclear bomb tests on Mururoa Atoll, and the funeral of Prime Minister Norman Kirk. Brown moved from reporting to producing, followed by executive roles as the Head of TVNZ News and Current Affairs, then Head of Television. He moved to Australia to head up public service broacaster SBS. 

In this ScreenTalk interview, Brown talks about:

• The challenges of using basic technology in the early days of NZBC news
• Creating global coverage of the Mururoa Atoll bomb tests
• Causing a ruckus by changing the presentation team on Fair Go
• The rationale behind creating the late news show Eyewitness News
• Coordinating the response to the competition from fledgling TV3, while running TVNZ News and Current Affairs
• Starting the Holmes show
• Controversially introducing advertising into programmes, while leading Australian television and radio broadcaster SBS (Special Broadcasting Service)
• Being disappointed at the lack of true public broadcasting in New Zealand