Dallow and Mau may quit NZ

Simon Dallow and Alison Mau. File picture

TVNZ newsreader Simon Dallow has not yet signed up as Judy Bailey's replacement because he is considering a job in Australia, his wife Alison Mau has revealed.

Dallow has been offered a contract to be half of a two-anchor team for TV One's 6pm news with colleague Wendy Petrie.

Petrie has already accepted the job to take over from Bailey, whose contract expires at the end of the year.

The former TV3 newsreader is due to have her second child this month, but will be back on screen in January.

But Dallow is yet to accept the position.

Prime network presenter Mau told the Herald on Sunday yesterday the reason her husband had not yet signed was that she and Dallow went to Sydney last week after being contacted by a major Australian network.

"We went over on Wednesday and came back Thursday. They wanted to see us both, but I can't tell you anything more. It's something we're seriously considering."

Mau said negotiations between TVNZ and her husband had not gone smoothly - something the former TVNZ Breakfast host said "does not surprise me at all".

"It hasn't been easy ... It's been a very interesting week."

Mau said she had yet to consider the implications as far as her position at Prime went. Prime is facing uncertainty, with Sky TV bidding to buy the network and chief executive Chris Taylor resigning to take a position at Australia's Channel Nine.

TVNZ has yet to officially confirm details of the Dallow-Petrie newsreading team, but an announcement is expected this week.

Details of the employment packages have not been revealed, but it is understood that their combined pay packets come to about half of the $800,000 salary Bailey received for her last year in the role.

High-placed sources within TVNZ said yesterday that Dallow had also requested a degree of editorial control of the OneNews format as a condition of accepting the newsreading position.

However, news boss Bill Ralston denied that yesterday.

Dallow did not return calls, but a close friend said Dallow merely wanted to have some input into the programme at a senior level.

The issue has upset some news staff at TVNZ, concerned such a deal might allow the former Agenda presenter to control the order and style of news items.

A senior source in TVNZ, who did not want to be named, said Dallow was well-liked in the organisation, but his desire to have a hand in the substantive news issues was causing concern.

"Simon is not a journalist. He's never trained as such or anything. He is not [late ABC anchor] Peter Jennings. Newsreaders should just read news," he said.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY