TV3 owner not in great shape itself

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

After three years as owner of TV3, Warner Bros. Discovery is keen to cut its losses by axing costly news and current affairs broadcasting in a challenged advertising market. New Zealand is on the verge of falling back to one mainstream free-to-air television news service, and a state-owned one at that. The implications for New Zealand journalism, our media environment and our democracy are dire.

For those who don’t share those concerns, programmes like The Block NZ, Married at First Sight NZ and The Traitors NZ are at risk too as, while popular, they are funded by the broadcaster and it has indicated that won’t happen in future. Expect Australian versions instead.

The Government doesn’t want to make any kind of intervention and it’s probably right not to, although it hasn’t made that case very well.

Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee said there was still Sky News (Sky News Australia, that is) and claimed “plurality is not an issue, because the way that people consume media has actually changed” . . . notwithstanding the fact a chunk of local news content consumed online is produced by TV3.

Much has also been made of the fact this multinational media and entertainment conglomerate is worth US$20 billion. Note here that when Discovery merged with Warner Bros in April 2022 it was worth more than US$60bn. It hit a record low last week after reporting disappointing earnings, driven by larger than expected losses from Warner Bros’ streaming and studio divisions.

Here in New Zealand its business  made a $34.8 million loss in the 2022 financial year, from $159m of revenue.

When Discovery purchased Mediaworks TV in December 2020, for $20m, the contract said it would financially assist the television business for at least one year. It knew it was taking on a challenge.

Newsroom co-founder and former head of TV3 news Mark Jennings told RNZ yesterday the key to Newshub’s survival lay with its current owner, but staff should pitch massive cost cuts — including reducing the 6pm bulletin to 30 minutes with one presenter, and getting rid of foreign correspondents.

“Chop out all the big-ticket items and then go to the big advertising agencies and the big companies in New Zealand and ask them to support Newshub with a bigger share of the advertising.

“Many of them would do it because they don’t want TVNZ to monopolise that very important viewing sector and potentially jack the prices up.”

Interestingly, Jennings said terrestrial television had about 10 years until it was turned off, and broadcasters needed to innovate.

Maybe Newshub staff should be pitching a cut-back news service more widely than just to the current owner.