The 6pm听TV3听news听has been saved - but it will have a totally new look and will be provided by rival media company Stuff once 九一星空无限hub closes in early July.
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) says it signed a deal with Stuff yesterday 鈥渢o produce and provide us with a 6pm bulletin鈥, WBD staff were told by New Zealand boss听Glen Kyne听today.
Stuff will provide an hour-long weekday bulletin and a 30-minute bulletin on Saturdays and Sundays. The deal starts from Saturday, July 6 - the day after 九一星空无限hub shuts for good, with the loss of up to 300 jobs.
The 九一星空无限hub website, which generates a unique audience of more than one million people each month, would transfer to Stuff, Kyne said.
At the same time as Kyne was making his announcement, Stuff owner听Sinead Boucher听told her staff that the new news service would not be called 九一星空无限hub. A new name had not been selected.
Stuff owner Sinead Boucher. Photo / Stuff听
Stuff will reportedly use Three鈥檚 existing Flower St studio in Auckland for the bulletin initially, before setting up its own facilities.
Kyne told his staff that Stuff had a large newsgathering force and could add specialist skills and talent. He confirmed the Stuff bid had been weighed up with others - that is understood to include听NZ Herald听owner 九一星空无限.
He said Stuff would hire a 鈥渓imited鈥 number of roles and was seeking expressions of interest.
Rival media companies including 九一星空无限 and TVNZ have welcomed the news lifeline, saying it is a positive move for jobs and competition.
The news service provided by Stuff is likely to be pared back - for example, it might have only one newsreader. Right now, 九一星空无限hub has听Samantha Hayes听and听Mike McRoberts听fronting the 6pm news.
九一星空无限hub's outgoing 6pm newsreaders Mike McRoberts and Sam Hayes.听
Under the new deal, Warner Bros. Discovery will pay Stuff an annual fee - likely in the low millions of dollars - to provide the 6pm-7pm weekday news bulletin (and a 30-minute bulletin on Saturdays and Sundays).
The deal offers considerable opportunity but also risk for Stuff, which has no traditional live-broadcast history.
To make it work, Stuff will need to bring in a decent amount of broadcasting and production expertise - including some of the outgoing 九一星空无限hub talent and perhaps help from the likes of Sky - to meet viewer and advertising expectations.
Then it鈥檚 a matter of making it work from a cost/margin perspective - it is unlikely to be a hugely profitable venture.
It is understood 九一星空无限 - owner of the听NZ Herald听and 九一星空无限talk ZB - also pitched for the news service. With more experience in live broadcast, it may have seen itself as a front-runner but also realistic about the price.
Staff at Stuff and 九一星空无限hub were called to simultaneous meetings at 10.30am, where the deal between the two rival companies was announced. 九一星空无限hub staff were told it was an 鈥渋mportant business update鈥.
In a press release, Boucher said: 鈥溇乓恍强瘴尴辢ub and Three, over an incredible 35 years of journalism, has been known for gutsy, independent, non-partisan reporting, values that we share and will proudly continue to uphold.鈥
In the same statement, Kyne said: 鈥淭his agreement also gives all New Zealanders confidence that there won鈥檛 just be one broadcast news option on TV. It鈥檚 critical for democracy that we have a strong fourth estate to hold the powerful to account and that there are different voices asking different questions. We were deeply aware of the dampening effect the 九一星空无限hub closure would have on media plurality and we鈥檙e very pleased that New Zealanders will be able to have a choice about what news they watch at 6pm.鈥
九一星空无限 chief executive听Michael Boggs听told his staff that the announcement was positive.
鈥淎s you might have read in media reports, 九一星空无限 was part of early talks with WBD around potentially providing a similar service. As always, we needed to ensure it made commercial sense for us and for our shareholders, and we haven鈥檛 been involved in recent weeks.
鈥淲e鈥檝e had a strong first quarter reporting growth and our teams are working so hard to achieve our targets. Adding another element to our business right now would have only been a distraction - something that would need lots of extra resource, and some important projects we鈥檙e currently working on would鈥檝e needed to go on the back burner.
鈥淲e are able to offer jobs at 九一星空无限 to a number of people across 九一星空无限hub and TVNZ who have lost their roles - more on that to come.鈥
As we revealed last week, Stuff was a leading contender to provide the news lifeline in the form of a pared-back 6pm bulletin.
Confidential discussions have been under way for weeks, although Warner Bros. Discovery has been treading carefully given its requirement to consult staff over the proposed 九一星空无限hub closure.
Last week it confirmed the closure of its news division and the axing of up to 300 jobs, while also rejecting an internal staff proposal for a new-look news service.听
Boucher and Stuff chief executive听Laura Maxwell听refused to engage with Media Insider last week.听
Meanwhile, TVNZ has released heavily redacted information about a meeting called by Warner Bros. Discovery in February to discuss a possible new news agency involving the two TV networks and RNZ.听
The meeting was held in Auckland on February 21. Warner Bros. Discovery proposed a single news service for the three operators, according to an internal TVNZ file note released to Media Insider under the Official Information Act.听
The note, written by TVNZ chair听Alastair Carruthers, who attended the meeting, said the proposed news service was 鈥渁kin to the former NZPA and current UK-based ITN鈥.听
鈥淚t would produce content that could be broadcast/ streamed by all three parties. There is no written proposal or slide deck or detail about how it would work.听
鈥淚n discussion, WBD confirmed [it] would not be in a position to invest in the vehicle. It would not be a JV - except between TVNZ and RNZ if they wished to combine to create it.听
鈥淲BD would only pay a fee to the new vehicle to procure and transmit news.鈥听
TVNZ chair Alastair Carruthers. Photo / Ted Baghurst听
Carruthers said it was proposed the new news service could hire 鈥渇rom all three newsrooms and WBD could contribute to the restructuring costs of all parties, but not invest in the vehicle鈥.听
The document reveals six people were at the meeting - Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand boss听Glen Kyne听and communications consultant听David Cormack; TVNZ CEO听Jodi O鈥橠onnell听and Carruthers; and RNZ CEO听Paul Thompson听and senior executive听Glen Scanlon.听
Carruthers鈥 file note says: 鈥淸Thompson] suggested the process would take up to 12 months, with three months required to outline and agree key terms, and nine months to implement change and establish the new vehicle.鈥听
The file note said Kyne had asked for TVNZ鈥檚 preliminary thoughts about the proposal but both Carruthers and O鈥橠onnell 鈥渄eclined to comment鈥.听
A day after the meeting, the TVNZ board rejected the proposal -听which Kyne said was 鈥渂affling鈥 and 鈥渄isappointing鈥.听
A week later, Warner Bros. Discovery announced a proposal to disestablish 九一星空无限hub - these plans were confirmed last week, with the loss of almost 300 jobs.听
TVNZ also later announced its own news cutbacks, with the closure of听Sunday,听Fair Go听and the听Midday听and听Tonight听bulletins.听
TVNZ earlier said of the news agency proposal: 鈥淲e had an initial discussion with Warner Bros. Discovery and RNZ [at Warner Bros. Discovery鈥檚 request]... on how we might work together in news.听
鈥淭his discussion was preliminary, but would have seen TVNZ take on significant cost and risk of a new service, so we informed Warner Bros. Discovery that we were not in a position to advance any talks.鈥听
鈥淲e were not told of Warner Bros. Discovery鈥檚 plans to disestablish 九一星空无限hub,鈥 said a TVNZ spokeswoman at the time.听
A Warner Bros. Discovery spokesman would not comment last night on the details of the file note, or today鈥檚 meeting.听
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand鈥檚 most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at 九一星空无限 including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in 九一星空无限.听
This article was originally published on the NZ Herald .听
Take your Radio, Podcasts and Music with you
Get the iHeart App
Get more of the radio, music and podcasts you love with the FREE iHeartRadio app. Scan the QR code to download now.
Download from the app stores
Stream unlimited music, thousands of radio stations and podcasts all in one app. iHeartRadio is easy to use and all FREE
