NZME Appoints Mike Lane To Lead The Alternative Commentary Collective

New Zealand Media and Entertainment has announced it has appointed Mike Lane to lead The Alternative Commentary Collective (ACC) with a mandate to cement The ACC as New Zealand’s leading sports entertainment brand.

Renowned for its irreverent, unique, and widely popular take on all things sport the vast array of content being created by The ACC’s talented team of hosts is continually expanding and now requires dedicated leadership.

“Mike Lane has been a part of the ACC since its inception just over 5 years ago. He’s been the brains behind a whole host of ACC initiatives and from his role as the Content Director for Radio Hauraki has grown the association between Hauraki and the ACC,” said NZME Head of Content Mike McClung.

With the ever-increasing popularity of podcasting The ACC has launched a swathe of new sports podcasts on iHeartRadio like Mad Monday with Dai Henwood, Ben Hurley and Chris Key, The Agenda panel show with the likes of Matt Heath and James McOnie, The BYC Cricket Podcast with Jason Hoyte, Paul Ford and Dylan Cleaver, The Noob Squad gaming podcast and have recently added the Between Two Beers long form interview podcast to the stable.

“Being a digital first product there is pretty much no limit in what we can do and how far we can go when covering sport in NZ, whether it’s commentary, podcasting or live events we plan to be at the forefront of sports entertainment and fundamentally that’s what sport is – entertainment" said NZME General Manager - The ACC, Mike Lane.

The ACC also has an ambitious programme to accelerate the growth of its live commentary and events portfolio.

“The Mad Monday’s Dai, Ben and Chris plan to cover the NRL Grand Final on SKY and iHeartRadio after successfully commentating the State of Origin earlier in the season and we’ll be all over the Blacks Caps summer of cricket including the much-anticipated tour of Australia”

“We’ve also got The ACC Golf Open kicking off in November which will be a quarterly AGA (Alternative Golf Association) sanctioned tournament we will be putting on in partnership with Movember NZ played on courses right around New Zealand. Plus, The ACC, along with Radio Hauraki is the official media partner for New Zealand’s biggest social cricket competition Last Man Stands and there’s more to come!”, said Lane.

The expansion of The ACC’s content and activity follows the recent launch of The ACC Big Show, the return of the cult hit Champagne Rugby, coverage of the All Blacks home series on iHeartRadio and Radio Hauraki PLUS the team expanded into yachting with live coverage of

The America’s Cup.

“Basically, there’s nothing The ACC won’t do, well not that we’ve found yet anyway”, said Lane.

NZME’s Chief Revenue Officer Paul Hancox said the ACC’s ambitious growth plans would deliver a raft of exciting new opportunities for NZME’s commercial partners.

“The ACC’s innovative approach to sports coverage and commentary has really captured the imagination of sports fans right around New Zealand. Mike is a commercial and content genius who’s constantly identifying opportunities to connect customers with our growing audiences. Mike also knows how to get the most out of what is already an unbeatable line-up of Kiwi sports broadcasters and commentators,” said Hancox.

Mike Lane’s appointment to GM - The ACC is effective immediately and NZME has launched a process to recruit a new Content Director for the iconic Radio Hauraki.

The ACC Podcast Collection on iHeartRadio:

The Agenda: The ACC Podcast

The BYC: Cricket Podcast

Mad Monday: NRL/Rugby League Podcast

The Noob Squad: Gaming podcast

Between Two Beers: Steve Holloway & Seamus Marten chat with NZ’s biggest sports stars

Puck Yeah: NZ’s only dedicated Ice Hockey Podcast

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