TVNZ insiders Mark Sainsbury and Paul Henry have emerged as the top contenders to permanently front daily current affairs show Close Up, after former host Susan Wood resigned on Monday amid a cancer scare.
Sainsbury and Henry are sharing Close Up hosting duties until a permanent arrangement isin place for next year.
Commentators all but ruled out a return to TV One's 7pm slot by veteran broadcaster Paul Holmes, who quit the network for a job at Prime Television in 2004.
Sainsbury, who joined TVNZ in 1981, said he was interested in the position but had not had time to process Wood's sudden departure.
"It's one of the great jobs and they don't come around that often. And we weren't expecting it to come around right now."
Sainsbury was named best news or current affairs presenter at last year's Qantas TV Awards for his work on the show.
Henry, who is co-host of Breakfast, would not comment on the speculation.
New Zealand Broadcasting School head Paul Norris said good interviewing skills were key to the job.
"I would place a lot of emphasis on their ability to interview," said Norris.
He said the host would need to be comfortable with a range of styles as the programme covered harder, political stories through to lighter news.
The host would also need to couple preparation for stories with a good general knowledge, he said.
"That goes to the heart of credibility and authority. Those are two important characteristics that any presenter of news and current affairs has to have."
TVNZ hoped to have the Close Up position filled for the first episode of next year on January 22.
