Stuff to produce 6pm TV news bulletin broadcast
Tuesday, 16 April 2024
Stuff to produce 6pm TV news bulletin broadcast for WBD from July
Stuff owner and publisher Sinead Boucher says the product will look “to innovate not replicate the 6 O’Clock news”.
The boss of Warner Bros Discovery's NZ arm, Glen Kyne said the move was important for New Zealand; there should be more than one 6pm news option.
Stuff Group and Warner Bros Discovery (WBD) have announced an agreement for Stuff to provide a daily news bulletin to WBD.
The new Stuff-made 6pm news will begin on Saturday 6 July, the day after the final Newshub bulletin airs on Friday 5 July.
It will broadcast for an hour Monday to Friday with a 30 minute programme on the weekend.
The announcement follows WBD’s confirmation last week of a new structure which meant the closure of its newsroom, the Newshub website and ending AM and the 6pm TV news bulletin.
“Our proposal to WBD was to deliver high-quality news now and a news product for the future,” says Stuff Owner and Publisher Sinead Boucher.
“We will look to innovate not replicate the 6 o’clock news, building on our expertise in digital audiences and engagement and our ability to deliver live and lively news 24/7 all over Aotearoa.
“Newshub 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.”
Boucher said the move was a next step in Stuff’s transformation strategy, following a management buyout in 2020.
“We have strategically reorganised our business from the ground up, investing in new platforms, technology and capability and reshaping the business to be data and digitally-led. This allows us to seize opportunities as they arise, to be bold in our decisions and to set a new course for our journalism and audiences, for our commercial partners and for our future.”
Glen Kyne, WBD’s Senior Vice President and Head of Networks in New Zealand, Australia, and Japan, said the group received a number of proposals.
“This agreement also gives all New Zealanders confidence that there won’t just be one broadcast news option on TV. It’s 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 Newshub closure would have on media plurality and we’re very pleased that New Zealanders will be able to have a choice about what news they watch at 6pm.
“We also saw clear editorial and cultural alignment between Stuff and Newshub which extends to embodying the spirit of TV3 through nearly 35 years and generations of journalists, planners, producers, crew, and owners,” says Kyne.
“It’s that alignment with Stuff’s independent spirit which we see having a positive and enduring fit.”