Well, this sucks.
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Bad news for journalism in NZ. Combined with job cuts at TVNZ, are we looking at 100-200 people given the chop? I doubt RNZ, Stuff and New Zealand Herald can absorb all of them.
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All hands meeting has officially wrapped up.
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Full statement, as reported on Stuff
Warner Bros. Discovery confirms new business model for free-to-air business in New Zealand
Warner Bros. Discovery today announced a new business model for its free-to-air operations in New Zealand. The restructure means the closure of all Newshub’s multi-platform news operations and output, including the Newshub website, AM, and the 6pm TV bulletin. Three and ThreeNow will stay a key part of Warner Bros. Discovery’s local offerings. The content will be a mix of local programming in conjunction with funding partners, acquisitions across drama, comedy, sport, reality and factual, and key titles from WBD’s extensive library. Bravo, Eden, Rush and HGTV will remain as they are. The new structure will see the business reduced by 294 roles to 120.
James Gibbons, President, Asia-Pacific, Warner Bros. Discovery says the restructure process has not been easy, but is necessary for the viability and success of Warner Bros. Discovery’s ongoing presence in New Zealand.
“When we announced the proposed restructure six weeks ago, we explained that there was nothing anyone in our New Zealand networks business could have done better – it was a combination of very strong economic headwinds both in New Zealand and the global market. As we said at the time, the downturn has been severe, and the bounce-back has not materialised
as expected.”“Just recently, it was revealed that in 2023 alone, $74 million disappeared from broadcast TV advertising in New Zealand. Apart from 2009, the year following the Global Financial Crisis, this was the single largest year-on-year drop in thirty years – a 14.3 per cent drop.
“Every business in its own market has to be financially sustainable, and we simply could not continue in our current form.”
Following close consideration of feedback from the people of Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ, some changes have been made to the new structure of the business that differed from the original proposal. These include reporting lines, different roles, new roles and changes in workflows and processes. Ultimately, approximately 10 more roles have been included in the
final organisation structure than originally proposed.“We committed to listening to our people and we have done that. While we were not able to accommodate everyone’s suggestions, we carefully reviewed and considered each and every piece of feedback we received. I want to thank everyone who engaged in good faith and I want them to know they were heard.”
“The new model is how we see Warner Bros. Discovery continuing to be a strong and long-term part of the media ecosystem in New Zealand. It will be a smaller operation, but we’re confident it will be a viable – and importantly, sustainable – business model in the New Zealand landscape.”
Glen Kyne, Senior Vice President, Head of Networks, Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ, said the confirmation of the new structure is a difficult day for everyone who works for WBD ANZ and the country.
“With the massive reduction in broadcast TV advertising revenue, our free-to-air and news operations were simply too expensive to run as they were. We are deeply aware of the effect this is likely to have on the plurality of media voices in New Zealand. Having just one TV news operation in New Zealand – that is state-owned – will be an ongoing issue until it is solved. But as we noted on the day, it is simply impossible to continue operating in our current form.
“As we said from the beginning, our door has been open to listening to all internal and external feedback and ideas, and we will continue to do so. However, as of now, no deal regarding news output has been made.”
“Warner Bros. Discovery is committed to maintaining a strong footprint in New Zealand presence, albeit with a different operating model and lower cost base.
“We also know that our archive has great historical significance and needs to be preserved. It is our intention to engage Nga Taonga to explore how that can happen. We envisage this will take some time to work through.”
Those who have been impacted will have their final day on July 5, that will also be the final day for the Newshub bulletin. The first day of the new Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ business model will be on July 6.
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174 jobs is a lot.
EDIT: The Guardian Australia says the job losses would be around 300.
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All well and good WBD, but you’re cutting loose the anchor of the evening. Newshub is the only reason I watch +HR=E on a daily basis. As just another channel, what are it’s chances long-term? Probably nil. I dare say +HR=E Now won’t fare much better.
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TV3 will close down transmission at the end of the year. Heard it here first.
WBD to effectively pull out of New Zealand entirely.
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If this is indeed the case, why not just sell TV3?
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I’d imagine most likely they’d start switching to a digital-first model in about a year or two, but WBD’s invested too much time, money and goodwill (or what’s left of it now anyway after all this) in Three and co at this point to do something as drastic as a complete shutdown that quickly.
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What you’ve said, could potentially happen.
Remember when Three was put up for sale when Mediaworks announced it would completely ditch TV and focus on radio and outdoor advertising in late 2019 meaning that Three would be in limbo in shutting down, that could have included Newshub’s demise too; then Discovery brought the network in 2020 and now merged with Warner Bros.
Unfortunate we are entering a new digitally aged world, but not only that. NZ journalism will be a massive loss and they won’t go and tell the story. It’s heartbreaking, but hopefully there’s some lifeline there before July 5th.
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Could TV3 be the first of many networks and stations to go this way.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the course of 10 years.
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I guess the question is - what is there to sell? 3 Freeview channels (with the clock ticking on linear transmission) and a still rather clunky ThreeNow that doesn’t have a huge imprint in the VOD marketplace? Is that an interesting proposition for anyone to buy - when international buyers could just roll out their own streaming platforms here if they haven’t already (Paramount for example) rather than buy existing assets.
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The consultation process did what it was supposed to do for WBD, fulfil an obligation and end up with the outcome they were aiming for in the first place. I don’t think any staff would be surprised with the decision sadly.
The 6pm bulletin really is the anchor of the night for them and has been for years so I think it will be hard for them to attract more eyeballs to their content but broadcast television isn’t a growth industry so WBD have carefully calculated where the future for them is. It will be interesting to see what external offers will come from this, as long as WBD isn’t paying for it they will be happy with any offers.
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Newshub Coverage
TVNZ Coverage
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It doesn’t cost much to sell ads and run a playout server from LA.
Costs nothing to produce shows since you already own content, but you can make money from the ads. Only other cost is really the transmission fees.
That’s the plan now for TV3, Eden, Rush, HGTV, etc.
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Source?
What a fucking waste, just sell the joint
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So much for all this, hey? What a load of hot air… kinda cruel (intentionally or not) to publish this the day before closure was confirmed.
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I wouldn’t rule out a Stuff News at 6/Sky News at 6 deal just yet.
But they needed to give Newshub staff some closure and some sort of new news programming is not going to save all of those jobs.
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Very fair point. I think I misinterpreted this news as meaning there definitely won’t be any sort of reprieve. I hope I’m wrong and you’re right!
Interesting. The date I heard was winter 2025.
Officials said that Warner Bros Discovery estimated that the “hard date” for ceasing digital terrestrial television (DTT) broadcasts — which are the most popular way for New Zealanders to watch free-to-air television — was “mid-2025”.
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