TVNZ will start talks from Friday with staff who will lose their jobs in the state broadcaster’s bid to stay “sustainable”.<\/p>\n
It is proposed that up to 68 jobs will be cut which equates to 9 percent of its staff.<\/p>\n
TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell told staff on Thursday that “tough economic conditions and structural challenges within the media sector” have hit the company’s revenue.<\/p>\n
She said “difficult choices need to be made” to ensure the broadcaster remained “sustainable”.<\/p>\n
Changes like those proposed today were incredibly hard, but TVNZ needed to ensure it was in a stronger position to transform the business to meet the needs of viewers in a digital world.<\/p>\n
RNZ understands a hui for all TVNZ news and current affairs staff will be held at 1pm on Friday. This follows separate morning meetings for Re: News,\u00a0Fair Go<\/i>, and\u00a0Sunday<\/i>.<\/p>\n
A TVNZ staffer told RNZ it was not yet clear what the meetings meant for those programmes – whether they were to be fully cut or face significant redundancies.<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
RNZ also understands 1News Tonight might also be affected.<\/p>\n
Sunday<\/i>\u00a0presenter Miriama Kamo said the news of jobs possibly being axed was awful.<\/p>\n
“It’s devastating not just for our business, it’s devastating for what it means for our wider society.”<\/p>\n
She said with the likely demise of Newshub it has “dire implications for our democracy”.<\/p>\n
When cuts were being made in news programmes at the state broadcaster that indicated how dire things had become.<\/p>\n
“I’m very very concerned about what the landscape looks like going forward.”<\/p>\n
Last week, TVNZ flagged further cost cutting as it posted a first half-year loss linked to reduced revenue and asset write offs.<\/p>\n
The state owned broadcaster’s interim financial results showed total revenue had fallen\u00a013.5 percent from last year to $155.9 million.<\/a><\/p>\n Its net loss for the six months ended December was $16.8m compared to a profit of $4.8m the year before.<\/p>\n O’Donnell said the broadcaster’s management had tried to cut operating costs over the last year but there was now no option than to look at job losses.<\/p>\n “There are no easy answers, and media organisations locally and globally are grappling with the same issues. Our priority is to support our people through the change process – we’ll take the next few weeks to collect, consider and respond to feedback from TVNZers before making any final decisions.”<\/p>\n A confirmed structure is expected to be finalised by early April.<\/p>\n The layoffs at TVNZ have come one week after the shock announcement by Warner Bros Discovery that it\u00a0intended closing its Newshub operation by the end of June.<\/a><\/p>\n It means up to 300 people will lose their jobs.<\/p>\n