TVNZ bosses talk to staff about changes

Jonathan Coleman. Photo / Dean Purcell

TVNZ bosses are travelling to Wellington this week to tell staff about cost reduction plans and possible radical change affecting all state-owned media organisations.

The move follows reports that TVNZ could be restructured to provide separate commercial and public service broadcasting roles.

Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman has asked TVNZ chairman Sir John Anderson to look at splitting its commercial and public broadcasting function and how it would be possible to fund public broadcasting funding options.

Dr Coleman said yesterday decisions would be made later in the year on the direction of public broadcasting, but he preferred to see TVNZ 7, and possibly TVNZ 6, turned into specialist public service-style channels.

Such a transformation would give viewers a clear choice of tuning into either the "nakedly commercial stuff", or broadcasting aimed at providing quality content, he said.

The Culture and Heritage Ministry and Treasury's Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit have been asked to consult TVNZ over the proposal.

Dr Coleman said no more money would be made available to fund state broadcasting, but it was hoped profits could be lifted and, ideally, money could be channelled to the public service broadcasting arm.

The Government is scrapping TVNZ's charter, which tried to lay out its public service obligations, and Dr Coleman wants to make decisions on public broadcasting soon.

He also said it could be worth exploring the use of shared news gathering resources between Radio New Zealand, TVNZ 7 and possibly Maori TV.

TVNZ bosses are talking to staff about how they can lift profit by $30 million to $40 million a year after reporting its after-tax profit for the six months to December had more than halved and predicting a loss for the year.

Besides the usual job losses there has been speculation that TVNZ could halve its flagship 6pm news hour.

The state-owned enterprise reported its after-tax profit for the half year to December 31 was $8.9 million, compared with $18.3 million for the six months to December 2008 and $21.6 million for the same period to December 2007.

Advertising revenue fell by 12.7 per cent to $22.2 million for the six months to December 31, and total operating revenue was down 16.6 per cent to $186.9 million.

Its earnings before interest and tax were down to $14.2 million, compared with $27.7 million for the first six months of the previous year.

- NZPA