Mike Lane

Mike Lane

Mike Lane is the brains behind one of the boldest innovations in NZ media – the Alternative Commentary Collective.

The ACC formed as an alternate audio commentary stream for cricket, but has quickly morphed into a fast-growing, wildly innovative new media brand that has grown, as Lane puts it “like a clandestine P lab” at media conglomerate NZME, to the point where it is now a major point of emphasis for the business.

An experienced MC and Keynote speaker, Mike can entertain audiences with stories of how he created the Beige Brigade, his one in a million cancer battle, the future of broadcasting and managing some of New Zealand's biggest names.

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The Worst Stories in Broadcast

Episode 32

On this episode we’re re-winding the clock nearly two years to September 23, 2020, when we sat down with Alternative Commentary Collective boss Mike Lane.

Lane was Between Two Beers’ first big ‘get’. Up untill then, we’d been a relatively niche football podcast, but this chat inspired us to broaden our outlook. Lane is a world-class storyteller and this was one of our most memorable episodes.

In it we talk about the worst things the ACC have said on air, what it was like managing Matt Heath, Jeremy Wells, Leigh Hart and Jason Hoyte, what really happened when the ICC booted Lane’s commentary team from the Cricket World Cup, battling and beating cancer, men’s mental health and the future of sports broadcasting in New Zealand.