The Sale and Extraordinary Growth Story of ONE NETWORK Wellington LIVE

The Genesis of Wellington LIVE

In the ever-evolving and challenging world of digital media, the tale of Wellington LIVE (WL) and ONE NETWORK [ONWL] is quite a story. It all started when Graham Bloxham, an Upper Hutt lad and a bit of a visionary in his own right, decided to buy Wellington LIVE from Lilia Alexander, a social media trailblazer who was suffering from burnout, trying to do everything at once on her phone. He bought the site to avoid paying for advertising on Facebook, as a cost-conscious individual with a limited ad budget. He then purchased the first site for his early business partner Jason Buckley as a birthday gift to give him some reach. At that stage, it was all a bit of an unknown quantity to Bloxham, who never envisaged the page becoming New Zealand’s largest and most powerful community by a magnitude of 10x, but Graham didn’t just stop there; he went on a buying spree, snapping up 17 other pages and sites across the main five platforms and welded them together as a centrally measurable network. The benefits were immediately visible.

Expansion and Integration

Under Bloxham’s guidance, WL has grown to an impressive 30 million engagements per month, which is no small feat when you’re up against some stiff competition. At one point, RNZ, The Spinoff, and the HERALD were attacking him, spreading their mainstream media lies for months on end. Integrating all the natural social media approaches and techniques, these pages, sites, brands, and platforms into ONE NETWORK WL was like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, says Bloxham, ensuring each audience fit perfectly while keeping their unique local reach, feel, and engagement. Bloxham emphasizes “LOCAL, LOCAL, LOCAL.” According to industry reports, ONE NETWORK WL now commands a significant slice of the digital engagement pie in New Zealand, with engagement rates that leave traditional media in the dust by over 200% and a massive share of voice in any market they enter.

Creating a Media Ecosystem

But it’s not just about the numbers, Bloxham says; it’s about building a media ecosystem that speaks to and engages with locals, delivering habit-forming content while employing honest, skilled non-New Zealand content creators and leveraging the platforms’ reach and toolsets to achieve global impact, benefiting Wellington and now New Zealand as well. Bloxham can demonstrate that a sophisticated, talented offshore content creator consistently delivers seven times the ROI of a Kiwi writer or content creator. He claims he has never encountered a more uninspired group of content creators than those in New Zealand. He adds that 90% of digital agencies rely on lazy programming tools and have abandoned organic audiences in favor of FROOGLE paid ads, which yield their clients a mere 0.004% return.

Bloxham refers to Google and Facebook as “FROOGLE,” which now dominate news cycles, leaving mainstream media as a hollow shell. Social media has decimated lame-stream media, says Bloxham, and few people are upset about it. The era of dodgy, unprincipled reporters like Tom Unt scouring the town to dig up dirt is likely over, replaced by authentic, organic, community-driven news. #thenewsisinthecomments

Balancing Global Reach with Local Touch

Bring on the big BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goal). Working with a larger group, and aggressive Aussies to boot: Balancing global reach with a local touch was not easy. The ONE NETWORK leaders are relentless, like “digital Rupert Murdochs,” the previous media mogul that owned Fairfax, and the Dominion and Evening Post. These guys have so much money, incredible vision, and balls the size of Oriental Bay.

Initially, they wanted our reach and audiences, after we purchased one of their competitor’s sites, but as time went on, they saw our innovative ability to create content at a low price 24/7 and engage deeply to create a hyper-connected, vibrant community across 5 platforms and any number of groups, brands, websites, and PUSH media groups.

All whilst delicately balancing friction posts that got up some people’s noses, and a few “very effective haters” and an incredibly dishonest WCC comms team. At the height of the abuse, the CEO of WCC issued an apology to Bloxham for lying, censoring, and bullying him and the sites. Add that to an MSM in a death spiral.

The data shows that many, if not most, MSM followers fell into ONE NETWORK WL pages, sites, websites, and content.

From Local to Global

Moving from a small, nimble team to being part of an aggressive disruptor like ONE NETWORK was a bit like joining the digital equivalent of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire – fast-paced, no-nonsense, and with eyes set on world markets. At first, the scale and mindset of the bigger group was a bit of a culture shock. But as Bloxham was an early investor in XERO, he was able to draw courage from some of the amazing entrepreneurs around Wellington. (Bloxham’s wife worked for Rod Drury and earned shares, and Bloxham purchased shares at 60c. [RNZ & The SPINOFF media outlets MSM – reported that Bloxham was a known name-dropper, mentioning DRURY] – That sadly must have gotten back to Rod, who hasn’t spoken to me for 12 months. That really grinds my gears, says Bloxham, when MSM can lie, create their own lies, and there’s nothing you can do, other than spend $100k suing them.)

Money wasn’t the issue for Bloxham and the local team, but getting the Aussie ONE NETWORK leaders to understand what the “heartbeat of local communities” was. They don’t understand local as they are in cities with 2, 3, 7, and now one with 9 million. It’s absolutely insane the scale and opportunities.

When we started talking about audience sizes, Bloxham was quick to point out that WL’s success wasn’t just about big numbers or data; at one meeting, he called out a data guy who asked him, “Hey Graham, how many data points do you have on each follower in your database?” Bloxham joked to us, “If you say it fast, it sounds like ‘two all beef patties special sauce on a sesame seed bun'” – the McDonald’s tagline.

He asked the young data man if he understood what a “local person looked like,” that data points might be useful, but only if the local person was engaging and felt valued. That Wellington LIVE was about “real engagement” with the locals, who we know, visiting and talking, understanding, and having fun, knowing the locals are a wonderful community that lives in a beautiful, hilly paradise that surrounds a nice harbor on a small North Island.

Bloxham and the offshore team of content creators stood their ground, refusing to let go of that local touch until ONE NETWORK agreed to keep it “local local local local” and commenting in a wholesome way with people – naturally and to keep LOCAL engagement at the core of the business metrics. Bloxham even put #thenewsisinthecomments as NONSTOP’s tag, like the new GROK AI website Wellington.live.

Success Metrics and Future Goals

This blend of global resources and forceful expansion, mixed with a stubborn hold on a “UBER local focus” and a bit of Bloxham’s insatiable drive, has been key to steady trust being built, and the numbers speak for themselves. Studies show that media outlets that lose their local flavor can see their audience loyalty drop rapidly. ONE NETWORK WL has dodged this bullet, keeping that local engagement super strong, which has been vital for its ongoing success, and the numbers have grown from 13 to 18, to 22, and now to 33 million engagements per month, in 3 months since measuring all pages and sites began in November 2024.

That against the backdrop of knowing that they can increase content quality so much by using the myriad of social media platforms’ reach tools even better.

The BHAG goal is 150 million engagements per month by January 2026, which will be roughly 20x bigger than The Herald’s current audience reach. That is achievable, says Bloxham.

If you look at how the mid to top execs in MSM radio, print, press, and some magazines are “lying to themselves” and sadly their customers and higher-ups about their growth, it’s astonishing how dumb and allergic to social media they are, which is like being allergic to penicillin if you’re dying – the pill that can save you.

It’s so insane how they are just letting it happen, says Bloxham.

The Decision to Merge: Personal Growth and Strategic Exit

Deciding to merge with ONE NETWORK wasn’t a decision Bloxham took lightly. Running and funding a small local and international team as he grew, he faced some pretty harsh personal attacks and abuse, which was tough at times.

But a turning point came when Graham started looking at the “data of his attackers” rather than letting his emotions get the better of him. He realized that most of the negativity was coming from just 15 loud voices. This shift from hurting and reacting with his heart to thinking with his head was crucial.

Knowing he was more of a local engagement guy than a global media mogul, the merger with ONE NETWORK was a strategic move to leverage their “nuts global vision” while still influencing the local scene. This has set ONE NETWORK WL up to potentially take over the New Zealand media market, with plans to partner, sell outright, or buy other sites, expanding their influence even further.

Future Endeavors: From CONE CAM to QUIZai

Looking ahead, Graham’s got his sights set on innovation and giving back to the community and supporting mental health. He’s currently working on something called CONE CAM, a clever 360-degree video system built into a road cone, which captures and streams live events or incidents, revolutionizing how we report directly from the scene. It’s a project that not only shows his quirky love for road cones but also his drive to push media technology forward. And then there’s QUIZai, developed with Andrew Butel, the bloke who helped get XERO off the ground. It’s a voice-activated quiz engine that also serves as a tourism app, helping folks find local activities through fun, interactive quizzes.

These projects are all about blending tech with community engagement on devices.

As Bloxham plans his exit from ONE NETWORK, he’s still very much committed to Wellington, metaphorically ‘unhitching’ it from any potential future troubles as he tries to run for public office, ensuring his legacy in local media continues to thrive.

His journey from a local media enthusiast to a key player in a global network, all while keeping his heart in the community, is a story of sustainable growth, resilience, and innovation in the digital age.

If you have a local success story or want to engage with ONE NETWORK WL or Graham Bloxham, they can be contacted on 0275 526 335 or email info@wellington.live.