RNZ will move into TVNZ’s headquarters in central Auckland later next year, in a deal that could and should pave the way for more collaboration between the two public broadcasters.
The move – which will see some 150 RNZ staff shift into
Media Insider: RNZ to move in with TVNZ in Auckland in 2025
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TVNZ's headquarters in central Auckland. Photo / Chris Skelton
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The move will spark speculation about how closely the two companies can and should be working together, following the failed merger plans under the previous Labour Government.
While the news operations will stay separate for now, the co-location should give executives an opportunity to see where and how they can collaborate on breaking news stories and deeper investigations. There might also be an opportunity for, eventually, combined backroom operations.
The TVNZ spokeswoman said the two broadcasters already collaborated on some content-sharing.
“There may be more that we can do together with proximity, however we are not looking to combine our newsrooms or combine any back office functions. This is a tenancy, and RNZ and TVNZ will operate as two separate organisations, just like other businesses who might be in the same office building do.
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“We’re looking forward to welcoming our friends at RNZ into the building next year.”
RNZ staff are currently housed in a building in Cook St that is well past its use-by date for the broadcaster’s purposes. Its lease on the building expires on April 30 next year.
RNZ chief executive Paul Thompson said today: “The TVNZ building meets several of our requirements including size, location, security and ability to make use of the building’s existing media production and some broadcasting infrastructure.
“We are really excited to be moving in from late 2025 and the opportunities the move will bring for our people to deliver more to New Zealand audiences.”
TVNZ – whose overall staff numbers have dropped from more than 700 to fewer than 600 in the past two years – has the space in Victoria St, especially with its flexible working arrangements and people working from home.
It has been planning to lease up to three floors of the building.
The TVNZ spokeswoman said: “TVNZ is somewhat unusual in that we own our Auckland building. We’re a smaller organisation than the one that moved in over three decades ago, TVNZers have also embraced flexible working, so we don’t have the same space requirements we once did.
“We signalled our intention to bring a tenant into our building earlier this year and recently, Auckland-based TVNZers have consolidated across four floors of our building in anticipation of this happening.”
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At a select committee hearing in Parliament yesterday, Labour MP and former Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson asked TVNZ chair Alastair Carruthers and chief executive Jodi O’Donnell whether there had been any discussion about moving TVNZ out of Victoria St.
“Straight to valuation principles, the most valuable thing on our balance sheet is our building,” said Carruthers.
″So we look very closely – and have been – at what we could do with that. There are several options: you could sell it and lease it back. Over time that actually costs you more.
“We could move somewhere else and there were people offering us greenfield sites, but I don’t think any of you would have enjoyed commuting to them because they’re not in the centre of town. Frankly, once the [central] rail route is open for both commuters, workers and for guests, we’re in the right place.”
He said staff numbers under the new-look TVNZ board had fallen about 30%.
“That actually frees up three floors in our current space. We will have an announcement quite soon about subtenants coming into a couple of floors and we’re in the market for the other one.
“So we intend to have a fully utilised space. By the time [you put in] the cost of new studios, new transmission corridors, all the satellite stuff we’ve got on our roof ... it’s not as simple as a lift and shift.
“But we’ve kicked all of that around and landed on the basis that we want to sweat the asset better as if we are a proper commercial landlord in the centre of town.”
An RNZ spokeswoman said last June of the broadcaster’s Cook St premises: “The office does not meet the modern standards we expect for our staff, guests or for a multi-platform media business, therefore renewing the lease at that location for a long period of time is not an option.
“If we do not find a suitable location before 30 April 2025, we will consider renewing the lease at the current site, but only for a temporary period.”
The spokeswoman confirmed in June that the broadcaster would need offices to accommodate more than 150 staff and a range of studios.
“We already collaborate with TVNZ in a range of areas, including sharing content and co-locating offices, for example, we share a building in Christchurch,” she said.
Media Insider understood at the time that RNZ had been seeking some sort of lease deal, but that TVNZ planned to charge a normal commercial rate − this might have been a sticking point, although neither party was commenting earlier this year. Any hurdles have obviously now been overcome.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.
