Shortland Street cast and crew jobs under review amid ‘disruptive and upsetting’ staff change proposal

Shortland Street cast and crew members have been informed of proposed changes to staffing on the hit television show.

Shortland Street cast and crew members are facing proposed changes to staffing on the long-running New Zealand medical drama.

On Tuesday, TVNZ confirmed via a statement that South Pacific Pictures (SPP), who produce the soap opera, “has entered into consultation with individuals who are part of the Shortland Street production and on permanent employment contracts”.

The broadcaster said the proposed staffing changes come after recent changes to the format of the TV show. Shortland Street had aired five episodes a week, Monday through Friday, since 1992, but returned to screens in 2025 on a reduced schedule, airing Monday through Wednesday.

“We’ve made changes to Shortland Street’s format to enable the show to continue in 2025. This includes reshaping the series into a three-episode-a-week format. The result is a shorter production period and the need for South Pacific Pictures to now make changes to cast and crew on permanent employment terms in line with this.” the statement said.

A TVNZ spokesperson declined to clarify the scope of the proposed changes, and who they impacted, saying: “given an employment process is under way, out of respect for individuals' privacy we won’t be commenting further. We would like to acknowledge the impact these changes have on people and how disruptive and upsetting it might be for some of the SPP team”.

When approached for comment on the matter and asked if proposed cuts made solely at the discretion on South Pacific Pictures or at the behest of TVNZ, a South Pacific Pictures publicity manager redirected questions to TVNZ.

When changes to the episode format of Shortland Street were announced last year, TVNZ’s chief executive Jodi O’Donnell said a pivot to “fewer, higher-impact episodes” would hopefully appeal to younger audiences.

“The TV environment is changing fast and we’re moving with our viewers,” O’Donnell said.

Shortland Street cast member Michael Galvin (Dr Chris Warner) checks Paul Goldsmith's blood pressure.

Last year the Government handed the show a lifeline, making changes to allow a 40% screen production rebate to apply to Shortland Street. At the time it was reported the show cost TVNZ in the region of $20 million to produce each year.

Feedback on the changes has been mixed. Analysing the revived format last week, Tara Ward of The Spinoff pointed out that Shortland Street was the top scripted show on TVNZ+ for February and the second-most-watched show on TVNZ2 in the year to date, however in the first three weeks of 2025, the show reached 11,000 fewer accounts on TVNZ+, dropping from 106,000 accounts for the same period in 2024 to 95,000 accounts.

TVNZ told the Herald that Shortland Street remains a key title in its content line-up and it was “already in discussions with SPP on plans for a potential 2026 season”.

The hit TV show, which has been in production since 1992, is one of New Zealand’s most-watched and highest-rated shows. Over 8000 episodes have been produced since its inception, making it the longest-running drama in the country.

In February the show returned to air in the United Kingdom for the first time in 15 years, picked up by on-demand streaming service STV Player.