Broadcasting Minister fronts for first live interview since Newshub closure call
Wednesday, 6 March 2024
A week after news broke about Newshub’s possible demise and the loss of up to 300 jobs, Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee has given her first live interview – but wouldn’t discuss possible cuts at TVNZ.
In an interview with RNZ’s Checkpoint, when asked about further potential redundancies at New Zealand media companies, including TVNZ which recently reported a $16.8m half year loss, Lee said it was not for her to announce them.
Stuff has reported some staff in TVNZ’s newsroom have been told to expect an email on Thursday about the future of its news operation.
When questioned if jobs would be affected, TVNZ said it had been “upfront with TVNZers that we will need to reduce our headcount to meet the immediate revenue challenges facing the business”.
Lee told RNZ how people consumed media had changed and people had ”many different options”.
The demise of linear TV had long been signalled, she said, how soon this would happen depended on how quickly the audiences dropped out.
“It’s been signalled for a long time that it will eventually end.”
She noted advertising had also “dropped tremendously” and broadcasters would also have to figure out how to entice them back.
With media having warned her that they were on the brink without action like the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill, Lee said she “could have killed” the Bill when she came to Government, but felt it was important to let the public and the sector have their say.
“I wish I could go faster, but there is a select committee process.
“This is not something that has cropped up in the last three months. This is something that has been happening gradually and quickly for quite a few years now.”
Lee described the Newshub announcement last week as “shocking”.
When she first learned there was going to be an announcement, she initially thought it would be that they were transitioning to streaming services rather than traditional broadcasting services.
“I’m gutted for them. It would have been shocking for them to hear the announcement that potentially their livelihood is hugely impacted. Its’ a sad day when you lose a major news channel that lots of people love.”
However, it was a “commercial” decision by Warner Brothers Discovery, Lee told RNZ.
She was hopeful about murmurs that Sky Television could look to produce New Zealand news and said she would encourage this.