Signals and Static
Reflections on Life and Broadcasting in New Zealand
$30.46
- Paperback
310 pages
- Release Date
18 November 2026
Summary
Signals and Static is a vivid memoir from one of New Zealand broadcasting’s quiet pioneers.
From Play School and What Now? to Nice One Stu and How’z That?, Rex Simpson takes readers behind the scenes of local television as it came of age, navigating creative risk, big personalities and the relentless pressure of live production.
Adopted as a child and raised by Scottish immigrant parents in rural Māori communities, Rex traces the ea…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781991436115 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1991436114 |
| Author: | Rex Simpson |
| Publisher: | Mary Egan Publishing |
| Imprint: | Mary Egan Publishing |
| Format: | Paperback |
| Number of Pages: | 310 |
| Release Date: | 18 November 2026 |
| Weight: | 23g |
| Dimensions: | 153mm x 230mm |
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Rex Simpson
Rex Simpson created What Now?, produced Play School and conceived Praise Be. Across a broadcasting career spanning nearly five decades, he worked behind the scenes on some of New Zealand’s most familiar television programmes and behind the microphone at radio stations from Dunedin to the Coromandel.
Born in Auckland and raised in rural Māori communities in the Far North and Ōpōtiki district, Rex got his first taste of broadcasting after winning a teenage radio DJ competition in Gisborne. He joined TV One in 1975 and went on to head TV3’s Children’s and Young Persons Department, establish independent production company Kids TV and develop programmes for audiences in New Zealand and overseas.
His working life also took him into hospitality and local politics. On the Coromandel, he combined community radio with service on the Thames Community Board and later as a district councillor. He retired to Ghana in 2023.
His memoir, Signals and Static, brings together a lifetime of storytelling, creative ambition and community involvement, offering an insider’s perspective on New Zealand broadcasting and the changing country around it.
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