It was an emotional start to the AM show on Three this morning after yesterday's announcement of a proposal to shut down the channel’s news operations by June.
Newshub’s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, said it was no longer feasible to continue producing in-house news due to a lack of advertising revenue.
The closure would affect all of Three’s news output, including Newshub, AM, a planned Ryan Bridge show at 7pm and Paddy Gower Has Issues.
This morning, AM opened with a teary-eyed Melissa Chan-Green as she struggled to address the show's audience.
“I can’t explain how wonderful it is to have your company this morning.
“You’ve likely seen the news by now that our company has proposed to shut down Newshub from June,” she said, reaching to hold co-host Lloyd Burr’s hand.
“Some people have been asking if that affects AM too, and AM and Newshub are one and the same – we are all part of the same family.”
She joked: “I hope you can hear me with this voice.”
Burr then spoke, saying it’s “been a whopping 24 hours for us here [and in] the whole building to be honest.”
“It’s been pretty tough,” he said.
“But we’ll get through it, you’re gonna get through it with us, and we’re gonna get through this”.
Before teasing what they would be talking about on this morning’s show, Chan-Green said: “I’ve been so lucky to work here for the last 17 years.
“It’s got me through some pretty dark times, and I’m so lucky to work with all of you.”
She also thanked the Newshub team, who returned to work and produced a bulletin following the shock news.
“We care about what we do,” she said.
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