6 Mar 2024

Broadcasting Minister Melissa Lee responds to Newshub shut down

From Checkpoint, 4:32 pm on 6 March 2024

A week after the pending demise of Newshub and the loss of 300 jobs was made public, the Broadcasting Minister is finally fronting up for a live interview.

Warner Brothers Discovery, which owns Newshub, plans to axe all local news and current affairs programs by June 30th.

Network bosses told staff, advertising revenues have dissolved more quickly than expected, meaning the channels current business model is not financially sustainable.

That same week, web news service Stuff also made staff redundant.

Meanwhile, TVNZ lost almost 17 million dollars in the 6 months to December.

Its CEO has signalled strongly that cuts are coming.

Media and communications Minister Melissa Lee speaks to Lisa Owen.