Staff at TVNZ are saddened and angered by plans to cancel current affairs programmes Sunday and Fair Go, alongside two daily news bulletins, should proposals tabled today go ahead.
Up to 68 roles are on the line as part of wider cuts at TVNZ.
Half of the job losses were believed to be in the newsroom. Job losses were also being proposed with TVNZ's youth news service Re: and news video content producers.
Daily news bulletins, aside from 1News at Six, would be shelved under the plan.
TVNZ chief executive Jodi O'Donnell said the proposal to cut the programmes came from a need for the commercially-funded company to remain sustainable.
She told 1News she understood staff at the organisation were "angry". O'Donnell also addressed ongoing leaks to other media about the broadcaster's proposals.
TVNZ executive editor Phil O'Sullivan told 1News the shows being proposed for cancellation have been a "really important part of the fabric of New Zealand".
Fair Go executive producer Nicola Russell said her team was "devastated to learn today of the plan to axe the show".
"For 47 years, we've been battling for New Zealanders and we are not ready for that to end. Our next challenge is working out how to keep going for you."
In a statement, the Sunday team said:
"The Sunday team was called into a 9am meeting today, and were told that our final broadcast date is to be in early May.
"All our roles are to be disestablished. We are devastated at this proposal.
"Against a backdrop of sector wide cuts, journalism is in crisis.
"This is not just about job losses, which are difficult, but about what we believe is the sustained degradation of the Fourth Estate in NZ.
"A healthy democracy relies on the ability of experienced journalists to decipher, in-depth, the state of our country, our identity, and to hold power to account.
"We are deeply concerned about what these cuts mean, especially in a time when we are facing so many unprecedented local and global challenges.
"Sunday has been an agenda-setting and multi award-winning programme for over 22 years, a show on which many of our country's finest journalists have worked.
"We are proud that our mahi saves lives, changes laws, uncovers corruption and celebrates the best of Aotearoa.
"We are a current affairs programme, the last of its kind. While there has been much discussion about the costs of longform storytelling and how sustainable the craft is, Sunday retains a massive audience as one of the top 5 TV programmes in the country and is a significant contributor to our 1News website and to TVNZ+.
"We are grateful for the outpouring of love and support from so many, for us and our programme. Sunday is a committed and professional team and we will keep telling our country's stories for as long as we can."
Current affairs shows still profitable — TVNZ
Speaking to 1News, O'Donnell was asked about the mood of the organisation following staff meetings, including an all-hands meeting with newsroom staff earlier this afternoon.
"I felt very sad in that meeting," she said.
"I appreciate that everybody is really angry within the organisation. They're upset. They've heard this news today for the first time. I feel very sad."
TVNZ news and current affairs executive editor Phil O’Sullivan said the effects of the proposals had been "brutal" on journalists involved.
"There's some really good people down there [in the newsroom] who are going to lose their jobs — lots of them. Not one of them would we want to lose — not one."
O'Sullivan confirmed that Fair Go and Sunday, proposed for cuts, remained profitable. But, he said that profitability had been declining.
"They are profitable currently, but they are profitable in the linear broadcast space, and that's where we're seeing the money come out of the market at the moment," he said.
"The yields on those shows have gone down a lot in the last year."
Asked whether he supported the proposals, O'Sullivan said: "I work on the executive at TVNZ and we work together as a team. These are really, really tough decisions. I've lost a lot of nights of sleep over these decisions.
"But do I think they're the right ones — if we had to keep TVNZ viable as a business in the future? Yeah, I do."
'Makes me angry' - CEO on proposal leaks
O'Donnell said: "We've been looking at lots of lots of options over the last seven months. Since the start of this financial year, we've had to look at all of our content costs across the board. Our marketing costs, our operating costs, and we've done everything that we can, as the market has been really challenged with revenue.
"We're now at a position where the revenue is significantly less than what we thought it would be. And so we need to address costs further."
The chief executive said she would not make a different decision if she came from a news background. "Absolutely not.
"Nothing gives me any joy in this day or this conversation with our people."
She said she was irate at ongoing leaks to the media about the proposals.
"That actually makes me angry. That upsets me that our people have heard it from other media organisations."
She said TVNZ was competing with global giants Netflix and Google — adding that it "can't monetise" current affairs reporting shows such as Fair Go, on platforms like YouTube.
"You're effectively gifting our content to these global trillion-dollar tech organisations. And that's the challenge that local publishers are really faced with."
The organisation continued to grapple with a transition to digital revenue.
Both O'Donnell and O'Sullivan emphasised the changes outlined to staff today remained proposals and staff would have time to provide feedback.
The proposals were required under employment law.
Broadcaster battles falling revenue
The broadcaster has been saying for weeks it would need to cut costs as it responds to falling revenue. The 68 jobs were nearly 10% of its workforce.
Media studies professor Peter Thompson said the move leaves a "gaping hole" in New Zealand's news landscape. (Source: Breakfast)
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark called the axing of Sunday "disgraceful".
"Disgraceful that the premier #NZ Sunday night current affairs show is being canned by TVNZ along with the long running Fair Go consumer affairs programme," she wrote on X.
"Is this like serving up the Washington Monument for sacrifice hoping for rescue? How about management costs? Large building?"
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