Redundancies on the cards at TVNZ

TVNZ's Kevin Kenrick. Photo / Supplied

TVNZ chief executive Kevin Kenrick says the broadcaster must make changes to be more cost effective - and that means fewer staff.

"We are reviewing all parts of the business," he said. "For a sustainable business going forward, it will mean less staff."

Kenrick cited the changes happening in the media landscape and said the restructure was a way to prepare for the future.

"We're at the early stages now," he said. "But we will be making some changes in the next three to six months."

In December the Herald reported that the state broadcaster TVNZ spent more than $2 million in the past two financial years on "early termination" payments to top presenters and other newsroom staff. At the time, the business warned staff it needs to make radical changes to remain profitable.

Last year, several high-profile presenters departed, including weather presenter Karen Olsen, weekend newsreader Bernadine Oliver-Kerby, Fair Go's Gordon Harcourt and Breakfast hosts Rawdon Christie and Nadine Chalmers-Ross.

Staff were warned the company is forecast to become unprofitable within two years unless major changes are made.

In August, TVNZ reported a net profit after tax of $12.7m for the financial year ending June 2016, down from $28.1m the previous year.

Chief executive Kevin Kenrick confirmed in December that staff had been spoken to about the need to create "a more sustainable future" for TVNZ.

In a statement, he said: "The current free-to-air model is not sustainable in the long term... This is a [free-to-air] industry wide challenge - TV Works [TV3] and Prime do not make money but are subsidised by their parent company's radio and pay TV operations."

TV audience is fragmenting as an increasing number of people use on-demand streaming services such as Netflix and Lightbox.

TVNZ net profit after tax:

2016

: $12.7m

2015

: $28.1m

2014

: $14.2m

2013

: $14.4m

2012

: $14.2m