TVNZ considers 24-hour news channel as it targets 2030 for transition

Tuesday, 25 June 2024

TVNZ chief executive Jodi O’Donnell recently briefed staff on its updated digital strategy.

TVNZ has set 2030 as the year it intends to return to profit and start persuading viewers to switch away from broadcast television and instead watch its programmes online.

A “digital plus” strategy recently outlined to staff would involve giving more prominence to its news and current affairs content on TVNZ+ and could include delivering a 24-hour news channel online, chief executive Jodi O’Donnell said.

O’Donnell signalled in February that she hoped the state-owned media business would break even by 2028 and become “digital first” by then or the following year.

But she told The Post in an update that it had pushed back the targets slightly “given it's been such a challenging environment”.

TVNZ is forecasting an underlying loss of between $28 million and $33m in its current financial year, ending next week, and announced cuts to its programming in March that included the axing of current affairs shows Sunday and Fair Go.

“What we've said is that we'll build a sustainable, profitable business by 2030. My aim is that we will do that before that date, but the last 18 months have been really challenging,” O’Donnell said.

TVNZ was aiming to double its digital audience by the time it started encouraging people to move away from so-called linear broadcast television, she said.

At the moment, about 1.4 million people access TVNZ+ each week and about 2.5 million tune in to its broadcast service.

TVNZ believed it would still be able to broadcast its channels in high definition to most of the country via digital terrestrial television (DTT) until at least the end of 2029, and in standard definition via satellite until 2032.

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But there is no guarantee those broadcast platforms will be available beyond those dates, and TVNZ was planning for the time it would be internet-only, O’Donnell reiterated.

TVNZ’s updated strategy envisages making sure news and current affairs are more prominent on its digital service, TVNZ+, she said.

“We’ve got a big audience across linear for news, but it hasn’t been as easy for us to ensure that content is available fast on TVNZ+.”

A 24-hour news service, or more-frequently updated short news bulletins, could be part of the answer, she said.

O’Donnell’s strategy update comes as Warner Bros Discovery prepares to close its Newshub journalism arm and switch to outsourcing its 6pm news bulletins to Stuff Ltd, and as the Government prepares to announce key decisions on its media policy.

Stuff separately announced an agreement with radio and outdoor advertising business MediaWorks on Monday that will see sales staff at the two companies collaborate to produce combined advertising plans for customers.

At the moment, Stuff and Warner Bros Discovery’s sales teams are only working together on sponsorships for already-announced partnerships, such as for ThreeNews and the Americas Cup.

But it is understood Warner Bros Discovery sees potential for additional collaboration.

TVNZ’s news team was feeling a heightened rather than reduced sense of competition ahead of the launch of the new ThreeNews bulletins on July 6, O’Donnell said.

It is understood Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith was due to take a paper to Cabinet on Monday that includes his recommendations on whether to support the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill drafted by the previous Labour government.

The bill was designed to force Google and Meta to help fund the media to the tune of tens of millions of dollars a year by requiring they sign licences for content shared through their platforms on terms that could ultimately be set by a regulator.

Media Minister Paul Goldsmith was ready to take recommendations to Cabinet on Monday, sources say, though he would not confirm that last week.

O’Donnell said TVNZ remained very supportive of the bill, which she described as being similar to a levy on digital advertising.

A levy would ensure media businesses could be sustainable as advertising revenue shifted, she said.

TVNZ also supported “anti-siphoning” regulations that would prevent pay TV providers, in practice Sky TV, from hoovering up all broadcasting rights to sports content, and lifting restrictions on broadcasters carrying advertising on Sunday mornings, she said.

O’Donnell said she had been discussing the advantages of New Zealand following Australia in introducing regulations that would require television manufacturers pre-install local broadcasters’ apps and ensure they are prominent on their TVs’ menus.

Foreign streaming-television services could pay TV manufacturers to promote their apps, and a so-called “prominence rule” would be “part of a combination of things that would absolutely contribute to a more sustainable funding model” for TVNZ, she said.

The Australian Government released a bill in November that is designed to ensure the apps of free-to-air services Seven, Nine, Ten, SBS and ABC are easy to find on smart TVs.

That bill also includes an “anti-siphoning” provision to effectively force pay-TV firms to ensure some major sports events are available free-to-air.