Campbell Live to end this Friday

John Campbell. Photo / Jason Oxenham

MediaWorks has confirmed that Campbell Live will end this Friday, and that it will be John Campbell's last day on air.

On the 3News website, Group Head of News, Mark Jennings said TV3 would broadcast a special final episode on Friday to "see John off in style".

According to TV3's online TV Guide, Road Cops - a reality television programme - will screen on Monday June 1 at 7pm.

A MediaWorks spokeswoman said Road Cops was playing in the time slot because Monday was a public holiday.

She would not be drawn on what would play from Tuesday.

Fans of the show and broadcasters were quick to react to the news, with many saying they planned to boycott TV3.

On the 3 News Facebook page, below a link to the news story about the last show, Jacqui Radford said MediaWorks are "fools".

"This Friday will no doubt one of the darkest days in the history of New Zealand television," said Jimmy Ryan.

John Robb said it would be "goodbye to TV3 for me after that" and another user described it as "the day that people will turn away from TV3".

"Don't say that we didn't tell you, TV3. This is on you," he said.

A big thanks to the Campbell Live Army who took us on the most amazing ride over the last few weeks. We owe u big time. If u see us say hi!

— Ali Ikram (@AliIkram) May 22, 2015

Earlier this week, the show thanked fans while boasting of its ratings success during "the toughest week of our lives".

Mediaworks announced a shake-up of TV3's 7pm show last week: it will be screening four nights a week with two hosts, with the changes taking place in around six weeks.

The news came after a six-week review period that saw ratings climb and fans take to the streets to protest against the possible cancellation of Campbell Live.

Friday night's show was TV3's highest-rating show that night, earning 330,830 viewers. Campbell Live averaged 294,056 over the week, Throng.co.nz reported.

Staff took to social media to thank fans for their support - and boast of their ratings success

Producer Pip Keane also called it "the toughest week of our lives".

In its announcement of the changes, TV3 said the recent ratings improvements were unsustainable long-term.

Sources say the changes mean Campbell Live's cast will be cut from 22 to 16. Rachel Smalley and Paul Henry are among the names rumoured to be in the running for co-hosting duties.