While it remains unknown how the cuts will affect the teams and shows run by the state broadcaster, the announcement may impact some of New Zealand’s most high-profile and award-winning journalists - including Hilary Barry, Simon Dallow, John Campbell and Jenny-May Clarkson.
TVNZ has confirmed up to 68 jobs are facing cuts in coming months and the consultation stage begins tomorrow, a spokesperson has confirmed.
The move comes amid news of the state broadcaster’s interim operating loss of $4.6 million for the past six months of 2023.
It has not yet been revealed how the cuts will impact shows such as 1News, Seven Sharp and Sunday, but there's speculation the 6pm bulletin could be cut from an hour to 30 minutes.
Elsewhere, reports suggest mergers could take place in certain teams like current affairs programme Sunday and popular consumer affairs show Fair Go.
The company is home to some of New Zealand’s most well-known and respected journalists and presenters, and the changes to TVNZ could see yet another devastating blow to local media just one week after the announcement of Newshub’s proposed closure on TV3 at the end of June.
The New Zealand Herald looks at TVNZ’s most popular programmes.
1News
The weeknight bulletin is currently anchored by Simon Dallow, with weekend bulletins anchored by Melissa Stokes. Sport news is presented by Hayley Holt or Andrew Saville, with the weather segment fronted by Daniel Corbett. The live broadcast has an array of backup anchors and presenters including Wendy Petrie, chief correspondent John Campbell, Jack Tame and many more well-respected industry figures.
The bulletin has received multiple award nominations and wins across the years including their NZTV Award nominations last year for Best News Coverage on the Auckland flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle, the latter of which they won. 1News reporter Thomas Mead also took out the win for Reporter of the Year.
1News moved to a single presenter format, in line with TVNZ’s other news shows Te Karere and 1News at Midday in August 2020 following a Covid-19 restructure. Veteran journalist Petrie was co-anchoring the show with Dallow up until that point.
Breakfast
Hosted by Chris Chang, Jenny-May Clarkson, Daniel Faitaua and Anna Burns-Francis, Breakfast airs from 6am every weekday keeping New Zealanders in the know about the latest breaking news, as well as sports, weather and entertainment.
On January 26, upon both the show and TV3 competitor AM Show’s return from Christmas break, ratings revealed Breakfast reached 216,000 viewers and AM Show reached 192,000 in the broad demographic of viewers aged 5 and over.
It was a drop in audience from the year prior which saw Breakfast reach 272,400 people upon their return. However, the drop could largely have been due to January 26 being Auckland Anniversary Day.
Seven Sharp
Fronted by award-winning journalist Hilary Barry and presenter Jeremy Wells the 30-minute current affairs show screens every weeknight at 7pm.
Providing Kiwis with a nightly dose of laughs and sharing the lighter side of the news, the co-hosts were nominated for Best Presenter - Entertainment at the 2020 New Zealand Television Awards and it was revealed in a TVNZ showcase in December last year that the show was one of the broadcaster’s most popular.
Celebrating 1000 episodes in June 2022, Wells and Barry spoke to the Herald at the time claiming the fun of the show is that “you never quite know what to expect each day”.
Wells continued, “Whatever’s happening in New Zealand, there’s Seven Sharp - the little caboose on the back with some cameras and some microphones, a couple of satellites pushing it out to New Zealand. So with Hilary and I, that’s what’s been happening for a thousand episodes, the little campervan that could.”
The show continued to run throughout the pandemic with Barry saying staying on air felt like “holding people’s hands” through a difficult time.
Q+A
Fronted by award-winning journalist Jack Tame, the show takes a deeper look at today’s news aiming to answer the questions that Kiwis care about. Much like Seven Sharp, the show was named one of the broadcaster’s most popular last year.
Largely focused on politics, economics and global events, the show airs every Sunday morning and sees leading industry figures talk to Tame about topical matters. The show was a must-watch throughout the 2023 election which saw Christopher Luxon and the National Party elected into government and included many heated exchanges between Tame and leading politicians including New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.
Fair Go
Hosted by Pippa Wetzell, the Monday night show focuses on consumer rights, ensuring they stand up for the underdogs. Some stories on the popular show has recently covered include a 90-year-old man whose bank told him to get a new phone so he could access their app. Another story revealed just how easy it was for children and teenagers to purchase vapes online.
First airing in 1977, the 30-minute show is New Zealand’s second longest-running local programme behind Country Calendar (1966).
Last month Media Insider revealed, Hadyn Jones resigned from Fair Go. The move initially raised questions, as Jones told viewers at the end of 2023 that he was travelling with his family.
But once marketing for the 2024 show started being released without Jones’ name or image attached, it was clear the star wasn’t returning and he soon confirmed the news to fans in an Instagram post stating he “wanted a change”.
Sunday
The popular weekly current affairs show has held a longstanding spot on the broadcaster’s network.
Having first aired in 2002, the show replaced 60 Minutes in the 7.30pm Sunday night slot. It was moved to a 7pm slot in 2012 and cut to 30 minutes.
A 2014 review saw the programme return to a one-hour format.
The show features stories from local and international correspondents including Mava Moayyed and Mark Crysell and is hosted by award-winning journalist Miriama Kamo.
Sunday won a New Zealand Television Award last year for Best Current Affairs Programme. It was up against Newsroom Investigates, Paddy Gower Has Issues and Te Ao with Moana.
