New Zealand’s media landscape is about to get another shake-up.
On the menu are a drawn-out employment legal dispute, the sale of one of the country’s top media companies, and RNZ plans to cut roles.
NZ Herald’s Media Insider and editor-at-large Shayne Currie told The Front Page that RNZ is looking to cut around 10% of its workforce.
“RNZ at the moment, the public broadcaster, is fully funded by the Government and doesn’t rely on any commercial money.
“It has around 342 fulltime employees, and it’s looking at role reductions of between 25 and 30 roles. This information has been relayed to staff across the board in an email from its chief executive Paul Thompson on Friday morning.
“They have said they will look in the first instance at voluntary redundancies, so people are welcome to put their hands up if they feel the need. But, otherwise, these cuts will take place over the next 10 months,” he said.
Currie said there’s no indication of exactly what departments these roles will be cut from.
“It’s pretty strange for it to come out in an email on a Friday morning to all staff. I suspect, but do not yet know, that this will be across the board. So, all parts of RNZ will be impacted, and that’s across the country.
“RNZ’s just made its big move into a brand-new sparkling Auckland newsroom and offices on the sixth and seventh floors of the TVNZ building.
“So, I guess all that excitement of moving into brand-new studios, a great new work environment, unfortunately is dampened by this announcement,” he said.
On the other hand, Mediaworks’ new Australian owner has spoken to Media Insider, saying its priority is growth rather than cost-cutting.
Sports Entertainment Group chief executive Craig Hutchison has said that the acquisition was the biggest in SEG’s history.
“For so long there were questions about Mediaworks’ future in New Zealand,” said Currie.
“Its financial performance over many years was pretty dire. Having said that, in the last couple of years it has been on a turnaround journey under a relatively new chief executive, Wendy Palmer.
“It’s been acquired by Sports Entertainment Group, which is a very strong Australian regional operator, has a lot of sports radio stations, and operates a lot of sports shows across digital platforms. It’s publicly listed, but its major shareholder is a guy called Craig Hutchinson.
“A pretty colourful character. He’s also got radio in his blood. And they were originally in New Zealand; they owned the Senz sports network, which ultimately became Sport Nation.
“They sold that to TAB and Entain a few years ago. We thought that might be the end of Sports Entertainment Group in terms of their New Zealand investments. But they’re back, and back in a big way.
“Hutchinson’s hugely excited about this investment ... And in fact, after 20 years of private equity ownership of MediaWorks, I think what we will now see is some investment into that business,” Currie said.
Meanwhile, a drawn-out employment legal dispute between TVNZ and a former high-profile Breakfast host is set to come to a head in court, more than four years after he left the show.
A two-week hearing is set down in the Employment Court to hear the claims and counterclaims between Kamahl Santamaria and TVNZ.
He co-hosted the show just 16 times before exiting in 2022.
Read more about the legal dispute in Shayne’s Media Insider column.
Listen to the full episode to hear more about:
- Broader media landscape
- Upcoming financial results
- Kamahl Santamaria v TVNZ
- Who is Sports Entertainment Group?
The Front Page is a daily news podcast from the New Zealand Herald , available to listen to every weekday from 5pm. The podcast is presented by Chelsea Daniels, an Auckland-based journalist with a background in world news and crime/justice reporting who joined NZME in 2016.
You can follow the podcast at iHeartRadio , Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.
