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Television journalists and viewers will learn this morning whether parts of ��һ�ǿ�����hub will survive a threatened closure - several possible lifelines have been considered - and if TVNZ will keep its current affairs show��Sunday.��

TVNZ is holding the final meetings with its staff about its proposed job and show cuts today, finally clarifying which programmes will go and which journalists face redundancy.��

The threat of cost-saving cuts at the state-owned broadcaster was first revealed last month.��

Yesterday, TVNZ gave an update on the change consultation and confirmed��Fair Go��and the��Midday��and��Tonight��news bulletins would go off-air mid-next-month. There has been a proposal to continue��Fair Go��as a digital brand only.��

Sunday’s future is still on the line and meetings between executives and the show’s staff will take place today.��

Today’s TVNZ meetings coincide with an all-staff meeting at ��һ�ǿ�����hub, which is set to close at the end of June, seeing some 300 jobs go. A mid-morning meeting will outline the outcome of the company’s five-week consultation process on this.��

��һ�ǿ�����hub staff have been working on plans to save their news organisation, which they have put to their bosses at Warner Brothers Discovery. While consultation has been ongoing, Warner Brothers Discovery has also been discussing a possible new news service with third parties, including rival media organisations.��

Guy Body's April 8 editorial cartoon on TVNZ's job cuts.��

As Media Insider revealed yesterday,��any potential outside partnership would likely see the company continue to close its newsroom and pay out redundancies, but then pay a fee to a third party - likely another media firm - to provide a news service, including a 6pm TV bulletin. Stuff is understood to be a frontrunner, possibly alongside Sky Television.��

It is understood any new bulletin might have only one newsreader, rather than two, and may rely more heavily on foreign news.��

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• Watch: Top TVNZ stars in new campaign to fight for shows, jobs
• TVNZ cuts: Fair Go moved to digital platform, some jobs spared

Meanwhile, a team of ��һ�ǿ�����hub staff - led by senior investigative journalist Michael Morrah - has also been thrashing out a potential arrangement to save ��һ�ǿ�����hub. Details of that proposal are understood to have been presented internally to staff last week.��

It is understood that proposal outlines a transformation from a terrestrial TV news service to digital over the next two years.��

From left: Paddy Gower, Karen Rutherford and Charlotte Foster leave ��һ�ǿ�����hub offices after staff were told of a proposal to shutter the news business. Photo / Dean Purcell February 28, 2024��

Morrah previously told the��Herald,��“we’ve got to give it a crack, right? It might not make a difference. We don’t know, but we have to put something forward in the event that we could save part of the newsroom”.��

At TVNZ, meanwhile, a round of meetings was held yesterday morning. They revealed the end of the��Midday��and��Tonight��bulletins��and the��Fair Go��show in mid-May.��

For��Fair Go,��TVNZ said it planned to continue “the brand” online. Four new roles with a specific focus on long-form consumer and current affairs were slated.��

“There would be an opportunity for this team to continue reporting under the��Fair Go��brand and viewers would still be able to share their consumer concerns by writing to the��Fair Go��inbox,” TVNZ said in a statement.��

One ��һ�ǿ����� 6pm newsreader Simon Dallow presents a story on TVNZ's proposed news cuts.��

TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell��said the consultation process had been robust and all feedback had been considered.��

“I want to acknowledge again the significant value and contribution that these shows have made over many years,” O’Donnell said.��

“While these decisions are incredibly difficult, we must bring our costs more in line with our revenue and get our business in shape for a digital-first world.”��

TVNZ proposed to cut up to 68 roles and four programmes on March 7,��eliciting disappointment from staff, their union and the public.��

TVNZ staff begin to arrive for a meeting about staff cuts. Photo / Jason Oxenham��

The��loss of news and current affairs shows concerned many, with some worrying about how it would affect wider society��- particularly given TVNZ’s announcement came a week after its only competitor,����һ�ǿ�����hub, revealed��its closure.�� ��

The cuts were necessitated by falling revenue, chief executive O’Donnell said. Tough economic conditions and structural changes had impacted revenue and prompted difficult choices “to ensure TVNZ remains sustainable”, she said.��

Despite trying to lower operating costs in the past year, “we’re now at the point where we need to reduce the size of our team to bring our costs more in line”, O’Donnell said.��

About 100 protesters, including TVNZ staff,��gathered outside the broadcaster’s head office in central Auckland in opposition to the cancellations��on March 28.��

Raphael Franks is an Auckland-based reporter who covers breaking news. He joined the��Herald��as a Te Rito cadet in 2022.��

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at ��һ�ǿ����� including Managing Editor,��NZ Herald��Editor and��Herald on Sunday��Editor and has a small shareholding in ��һ�ǿ�����.��

This article was originally published on the NZ Herald .��