Ali Ikram on Campbell Live's farewell: Today will be tough

John Campbell will farewell TV viewers tonight. Photo / Jason Oxenham

Campbell Live team member Ali Ikram has written of his sorrow the show will come to an end tonight - and of his admiration for host John Campbell.

In a blog post published on Ruminator.co.nz, Ikram said those on the team had not "quite confronted the reality that this is indeed the last programme we will make together as a team".

The show was placed under review by owner Mediaworks, prompting widespread criticism. In the weeks its fate was pondered, viewers sent ratings surging and raised the prospect its popularity might bring a stay of execution.

In the end, nothing was enough and the company announced it would be replaced with a four-day-a-week show which would not include Campbell.

Ikram - who is a TV3 stalwart - offered thanks to the viewers who had stuck with the show over its 10-year existence.

"Being under review was gruelling. It meant we essentially became an independent republic within Mediaworks smack bang in the middle of prime time.

"Every morning the ratings would come out. To us nothing short of being number one was good enough and there we were, day-after-day. On these mornings, there would be a brief celebration, hugs all round and then the team would gather themselves again to once more try to 'knock it out of the park'."

He said the outpouring from the public included a march on TV3.

"It was surreal. This great wave of love lapped up onto the steps of Flower St. We went out on that afternoon to dip our feet in it - and returned to work warmed by the knowledge it was there. None of us will forget that."

Ikram heaped praise on Campbell, saying he was "the most complete broadcaster the country has produced; the best interviewer, the best storyteller, the best presenter, the best journalist on TV".

He said Campbell Live had taken the "tougher path" in television to "challenge viewers to question their assumptions and to challenge the powerful".

"So thank you, John, for early in your career committing to showing the country in all of its shades of grey, but still with great verve and optimism for the future."

He said the unfailingly courteous Campbell had shown him that "kindness has power".

"It's not money, it's not a clenched fist, it's not an earthquake or a force of nature. But it has its own quiet influence, that if applied consistently day-upon-day, can do great things.

"If we allow ourselves to see our fate as being connected to that of the person next to us we do not just make our community better, we make ourselves better."