‘Devastation’ as major TV channel shuts down

A major media company has shocked millions with the announcement it will be closing down in a matter of months.

One of New Zealand’s major media companies has announced the closure of its entire newsroom with over 200 staff members affected.

The closure means all operations, both television station and news website, will be shut down in June this year.

The decision was attributed to a sharp decline in TV advertising revenue and shifts in audience viewing habits.

The company’s leadership said it had struggled to find a financially viable model for news production in New Zealand, as attitudes towards major media outlets shift.

“Advertising revenue … has disappeared far more quickly than our ability to manage this reduction, and to drive the business to profitability,” Warner Bros. Discovery head of Asia Pacific operations James Gibbons told staff, many of whom were in tears.

“This doesn’t mean news isn’t valuable. We just haven’t found a way to make it work financially here in New Zealand.”

Mr Gibbons said that the disappearance of advertising revenue outpaced the company’s ability to manage the reduction and make the news business profitable.

TV executive Glen Kyne said the station played a “crucial” role in balancing the nation’s prime time media coverage.

“It is so difficult to fathom that proposing these changes is necessary,” he said. “We all know that Newshub is a crucial part of a functioning fourth estate in New Zealand as a whole.”

The closure leads to the loss of popular television stars, including hosts of the flagship 6pm news bulletin, Samantha Hayes and Mike McRoberts, and the host of Newshub’s new 7pm show, Ryan Bridge.

This is not good as it leaves state-owned TVNZ as the only TV news provider. If the rumours about Stuff collapsing this year are true we will have a very small mediascape. Perhaps this is what happens when the offering is the same from every outlet?https://t.co/fV3ODFNONt

— Ani O'Brien (@aniobrien) February 27, 2024

Around 200 journalists, producers, editors, and camera operators are affected, with the potential for only 50 staff remaining after the restructuring.

“The announcement today that Newshub in its entirety could shut down at the end of June is heartbreaking. I first walked through the doors of our Auckland office 22 years ago as a 17-year-old on work experience,” Hayes posted on social media.

“I’ve been here for the past 18 years, many of my colleagues a lot longer than that – a handful since day one 35 years ago. It’s a newsroom brimming with talent and enthusiasm, and I just feel so incredibly sad for everyone today. I love making live television. I love doing the news… and so we’ll keep doing it until the lights go out – see you tonight at 6pm.”

With the closure, state-owned TVNZ is left with a lion’s share of the television news production in the island nation.

Former Newshub presenter Oriini Kaipara, speaking on behalf of the Independent Maori Journalists Association, said the news was “a huge shock”.

“This is a huge shock and deeply concerning. I’m gutted. Newshub isn’t just a news service but a very large whānau made up of past and present kaimahi who, I have no doubt, will be feeling the weight of this decision.” she said.

New Zealand’s Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr said the news was crushing for all involved.

“I feel for anyone who receives redundancy notice like that, like the Newshub people.

“We greatly value the media and the press; society needs the media and the press and so my heart goes out to the team,” he said.

“That shop has run its balance sheet as it has and made its decisions.

“Economic demand is slowing and we are seeing excess supply starting to emerge, rather than the excess demand that is inflationary. We are in a disinflation period.

“We anticipate to see lower than otherwise wage expectations, unemployment starting to rise, businesses not investing where they may have or not. These are demand decisions that monetary policy is one factor on it.”

Originally published as ‘Devastation’ as major TV channel shuts down