Subj : Newshub closure confirmed, nearly 300 jobs to go
To   : All
From : News Person
Date : Wed Apr 10 2024 11:32 am

Newshub will end programming and shutter its newsroom by July, Warner Bros
Discovery has confirmed, with close to 300 jobs to go.

Journalists and producers were told at an all-hands meeting this morning.

Staff could be seen walking to an event venue for the meeting just before
11am, alongside high-profile news presenters Mike McRoberts, Samantha Hayes,
Patrick Gower, Rebecca Wright, and others.

Journalists and producers on the current affairs programme Sunday are also
waiting to learn the fates of their jobs as TVNZ announces its plans later
today.

Earlier this week, there was speculation that Newshub's newsroom operations
could be kept in some form, but significantly scaled back.

Original proposal cut 75% of company's staff
Staff have been waiting over a five-week consultation period after Warner
Bros Discovery proposed significantly cutting back on local production.

The original proposal would have seen the closure of Newshub's TV and online
news platforms and impact around 75% of the company's local workforce -
around 300 people. It would also impact local shows like The Block and
Married at First Sight.

Blamed on a drop in advertising revenue, the February announcement sent
shockwaves throughout the news and media industry.

At the time, Warner Bros. Discovery NZ boss Glen Kyne told 1News: "The
reality of it is, the scale of the downturn in the TV advertising market has
been so great, we haven't seen a viable option aside from what we've
announced".

The major cuts for Newshub and Three have come only around three years after
the company bought it for $20 million.

With a recessionary economy, news publishers have faced a precipitous decline
in the advertising market. In February, select committee MPs were told some
news publishers are "clinging on by their fingernails" and that the sector is
in "grave peril".

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