Mediaworks' new current affairs program replaces Campbell Live. What are our experts hoping for and do they think it can deliver.

TV3 has hired the best people, now they just need to deliver the right mix of stories.

That's the opinion of media commentators ahead of Monday night's launch of its new 7pm current affairs show Story.

Hosted by Duncan Garner and Heather du Plessis-Allan, the half-hour show not only has to try and close the ratings gap between TV3 and TVNZ's Seven Sharp, but also overcome a fair amount of animosity from those still angry at the network's decision to axe the much-loved Campbell Live.

Supplied Duncan Garner and Heather du Plessis-Allan are the hosts of the new TV3 current affairs show Story.

Brian Edwards, who fronted New Zealand's first "less deferential" current affairs show Gallery in 1969, says he expects great things from the dynamic duo of du Plessis-Allan and Garner.

"They've got the right people fronting the programme. I've been an enormous admirer of Duncan for a very long time and I'm also an admirer of Heather.

"However, I think they need to avoid some of the things we've seen before when it comes to 'chatty duos'. I've always thought it looks very strange on 3D when Duncan is talking to Samantha Hayes. It all looks so artificial – something that is supposed to be conversational, but is so clearly scripted. That sort of silliness should be avoided.

"They have to rely on the ability of these two, in my view, international quality journalists, to bring back dynamic, current affairs stories to prime-time."

Edwards says he would expect Story to be a programme "primarily of exposes" and, if it isn't, "people might be disappointed".

"They've got to be looking for more stories like Teina Po ra [where TV3 investigations helped lead to his rape and murder convictions being quashed by the Privy Council]. That was extraordinary work. You want to be a programme that the politicians and evildoers are fearful of."

New Zealand Broadcasting School journalism tutor Vicki Wilkinson Baker agrees that TV3 has chosen well in du Plessis-Allan and Garner.

"They are talented, proven, great broadcasters and the people who worked on Campbell Live showed great potential for delivering really good, hard-hitting journalism. It is just a question of whether that's the format of this programme and whether it's going to have the budget to back it.

"Mark Jennings [TV3's head of news] promised when they got rid of Campbell Live that this was going to be hard news-focused and not a 'soft programme'. But I also know that's hard work and expensive and, when you have a really tight budget like TV3, it's going to be difficult to sustain."

Wilkinson-Baker says she really hopes Story works, for the New Zealand public's sake.

"Fundamentally the more news programmes we have the better, and competition between TV3 and TVNZ has got to be healthy. They are really under pressure to turn this around, but I'm sure they will have been busy and will have a really good stockpile of material for the first couple of weeks. The question will be if they can keep on delivering longer term. I hope they have the resources to continue [like Campbell Live did on Zero Hour Contracts and the Dead Sea kiosks] exposing injustices and ripoffs. What we need at 7 O'Clock is not more infotainment, but hard-hitting programmes that hold people and politicians to account."

However, veteran television reviewer Trevor Agnew worries that MediaWorks may have hobbled Garner and du Plessis-Allan before they've even begun.

"TV3 have done them a huge disservice by shoddying up the 7pm timeslot with rubbish like Road Cops and Come Dine With Me NZ. Duncan Garner is a good, dogged interviewer who asks all the right questions, but I'm just not sure he'll get the back up he needs [from TV3].

"I hope for the best, I wish them luck, but I think they've got a raw deal and I worry that they've been set up to fail."

Fellow reviewer Jane Bowron says Story's recent promos have given her hope that the show won't just be "froth and entertainment".

"While they have been strange and subdued, it does indicate that they are going to be like Campbell Live and take up issues and keep going back to them. Earlier, all indications had been that it was going to be less current affairs than what Campbell was and contain a large entertainment slot."

She says the "old days" idea of doing two hard news items and ending on a "happy" piece went out the window with Seven Sharp, but she hopes Story will avoid that show's "the odious editorialising commentary" which takes up a large amount of its time, "which I think a lot of people find frustrating and resent".

A fan of both Garner and du Plessis-Allan, Bowron believes they are right people to gain that all important generational cross-over audience. "They've got so much experience and yet they are young enough to still be interesting to a younger viewer watching them on their cellphones or whatever."

She says she'd like to see a return to regular politician visits and live debates. "Garner is good at debate and would be a great adjudicator. In his past lives he's done a lot of good shows, especially The Nation."

Heartened by the recent promise shown by TV3's Sunday night current affairs show 3D (also co-hosted by Garner), Bowron says it would be tragic if the show didn't find its place and engage the ever-changing audience.

"I hope it really takes off, but also that they stick hard to the current affairs. I also hope it doesn't become all about the hosts. That's really important to me. I just want them to become great interviewers and hosts and get the facts and interesting things out of people. That's the journalist's job. I know TV's different now, but it has become so mushy and pureed. I think people might be ready for an uncooked vegetable."

Story debuts on TV3 at 7pm on Monday, August 10.