TVNZ newsreader Simon Dallow is preparing to step down.
Simon Dallow has been presenting the 6pm news for almost 20 years, but changes are afoot; North & South’s struggle to resurrect a printed magazine; The Amazing Race comes to NZ, as a new screen industry group is set up; Opinion: Broadcasting Standards Authority goes rogue – why?
One of New Zealand broadcasting’s most familiar and trusted names, Simon Dallow, is understood to be preparing to step down as TVNZ’s prime-time newsreader.
Well-placed sources have confirmed Dallow is planning his 6pm swansong, with the likelihood he will soon sign off from the bulletin for a final time, making way for a new face on the weekday bulletin at some stage in 2026. Whether that’s early or later in the year remains to be seen.
Sources say TVNZ is preparing a carefully choreographed announcement in the coming weeks – a mark of respect for a newsreader who it considers a major factor in consistently strong ratings for its flagship bulletin.
The carefully laid out plans also play to the critical importance of a transition to a new weekday presenter, with chief executive Jodi O’Donnell and her board likely to be fully engaged.
That future transition may come sooner rather than later.
It is understood Dallow – who has been fronting the 6pm news since 2006 – will likely remain connected to TVNZ, possibly in a role still attached to the bulletin he has fronted for two decades.
While a redefined role at the state broadcaster has not been confirmed – publicly, at least – a possible option might be a regular interview segment or correspondent role.
One senior media industry source pointed out Dallow’s experience and skills as an interviewer, suggesting he could also be a candidate to replace Corin Dann as a new RNZ Morning Report co-host.
However, it is understood that a new TVNZ role will give Dallow, who turned 60 last year, more time for personal travel. He has had a great taste of that in recent weeks, with a holiday to Europe with his partner.
Dallow’s two adult children now live in Australia, and he has made no secret, to family and friends, of his desire to see them more and to travel more generally.
“We have no presenting changes to announce for 1News at Six," a TVNZ spokeswoman told Media Insider yesterday.
"Simon Dallow continues to play a pivotal role in the ongoing success of our flagship bulletin. Our newsroom is fortunate to have a strong pool of presenting talent, meaning we’re well-positioned to support any future transitions."
Dallow has done a masterful job, steering the 1News bulletin through the biggest news events of the past 20 years, and during some turbulent times in the television and media industry.
As Media Insider reported earlier this year, he can rightfully claim a place in New Zealand television’s newsreading hall of fame, alongside names such as Judy Bailey and Philip Sherry.
With the experienced newsman understood to be preparing his swansong, the path is clear for a new face on the 6pm bulletin.
TVNZ’s new chief news and content officer Nadia Tolich only started at the broadcaster this week and will play a pivotal role in helping guide the transition between Dallow and a new newsreader.
The move is likely to have chief executive Jodi O’Donnell’s influence all over it; the TVNZ board will also be taking a close interest.
So who’s in line?
Melissa Stokes has grown in stature and experience and is a clear frontrunner to take over from Dallow. At a time when TVNZ is focused on retaining its audiences and trust levels, Stokes seems a sure bet.
But there are others who could be in the mix.
For example, Hilary Barry, who fronted TV3’s 6pm news for many years, is a remote possibility – could she come off TVNZ’s Seven Sharp couch?
Other likely candidates are Q+A host Jack Tame – who’s consistently proven himself the best TV interviewer in the land in recent years – and fill-in newsreader Daniel Faitaua.
On the other hand, Dallow’s departure gives TVNZ a once-in-a-generation opportunity to really shake things up. The most likely outside candidates would be Three News newsreader Samantha Hayes and NBR senior journalist Mike McRoberts.
There is one other person who should not be discounted. Dallow’s former 6pm co-host, Wendy Petrie, continues to feature regularly as a fill-in newsreader and has lost none of her presence or professionalism since moving from her full-time hours.
It has been a difficult time in some corners of the magazine world, notably at Metro magazine, where four full-time staff are departing, including editor Henry Oliver.
It appears business is no less easy at Metro’s former sister publication, North & South, now separately owned by School Rd Publishing.
“I’m not really ready to talk about it,” said School Rd Publishing owner Greg Partington, when asked specifically if well-signalled plans to resurrect North & South magazine next month have been delayed, or even shelved.
“You know what it’s like – we’ve got to get revenue to pay for the journalists to pay for the stories and everything like that. I’m just not satisfied that the revenues are there.
“We’ve come up with some new ideas in the last couple of days and we’re doing everything we can. The most important thing is that it’s a business proposition first and foremost, as well as a reader proposition.”
Asked if North & South would continue in digital form, as it has done with its smart-looking website, Partington said: “Absolutely ... we just posted some new stories about an hour ago.”
But Media Insider understands from industry sources that even the website is under scrutiny.
Respected editor Sarah Daniell – the magazine’s only full-time staff member – declined to comment, referring Media Insider to Partington.
Asked if the print plans were on hold, Partington said, “I wouldn’t say that. I hope not, but I’ve just got to figure out how to convince the advertisers that print and North & South are a viable combination. It’s not easy out there. If it’s a month late, it’s a month late.
“Our intention is to do everything we can to make it profitable.”
He said the planned magazine was “quite a way” off making a profit right now; digital was a “little easier”.
He said he hoped to retain Daniell. “As I said to Sarah about half an hour ago, I’ve tremendous admiration for her writing skills. But it needs to be profitable, otherwise it’s a different proposition.
“We’re doing everything we can to sell the digital and the print up front. I haven’t given up yet, and I won’t give up.”
North & South was established by Robyn Langwell and Warwick Roger in 1986. After owner Bauer Media walked away from its New Zealand operation in 2020, the magazine was purchased by German couple Konstantin Richter and Verena Friederike Hasel.
School Rd Publishing then acquired the magazine in 2023. It was announced in November last year that the printed format was being halted, with every intention to bring it back in 2025.
“On the back of flat advertising sales and increasing pressure from advertisers, we have decided it’s time to get serious about the digital offering for North & South. There is a lot of equity in the North & South masthead, but it is without a digital platform in a digital world," a School Rd Publishing representative said last year.
The phenomenally popular American reality TV series The Amazing Race is back filming in New Zealand - with some All Black star power attached.
Competitors were filmed this week completing tasks in central Christchurch - the hit show pits 11 teams of two against one another, as they compete for $US1 million in locations around the world. It is in its 39th season.
There were some familiar faces on hand in Christchurch this week, including longtime Amazing Race host, Kiwi Phil Keoghan, and All Blacks captain Scott Barrett.
Christchurch City Council told The Press that the council had approved a one-day film permit for the production.
Keoghan, who was born in Canterbury, has previously trumpeted New Zealand as a destination for international travellers.
“We obviously have a wonderful environment that we live in and we have sold New Zealand for a long time based on its landscapes,” he told the Herald in 2017.
“But to me there’s something missing when you’re just focused on selling a country because it’s aesthetically beautiful.
“I’m not saying that we don’t live in a beautiful place, but ultimately what I’ve learned is what distinguishes the travel experience is not what you’re looking at, but who you’re looking at it with, who you’re sharing that experience with.
“We have a particular personality in New Zealand based around resourcefulness, ingenuity, give-it-a-go. There’s a humbleness to us, there’s a laidback aspect to our personality.
“We’re a warm people, inviting. A dry sense of humour.”
News of The Amazing Race’s arrival in Christchurch comes as a new organisation launches to advocate for New Zealand’s international screen sector.
Screen NZ International has been set up to ensure New Zealand is a “globally competitive, sustainable and future-focused screen destination of choice”.
“International screen production has been a critical contributor to New Zealand’s economy and global brand for decades, contributing billions in export earnings, jobs, and innovation, yet it remains one of our country’s untold stories,” said Screen NZ International executive chair Mel Turner.
“What has been missing until now is a permanent organisation formed by industry, dedicated solely to supporting and advocating for the international screen business.”
The organisation plans to work alongside government, agencies, and other industry partners to strengthen New Zealand’s global competitiveness.
“By advocating for competitive incentives, building lasting relationships with international clients, providing credible research and insights, and promoting New Zealand’s screen excellence both locally and globally, SNZI will help secure a consistent pipeline of international production investment.”
The organisation cited specific examples of the economic benefit of international shows that were produced here, including Netflix’s Sweet Tooth: NZ$6.91 was generated in GDP for every NZ$1 rebated, with more than 1180 jobs and 950 New Zealand businesses directly benefiting, according to a study.
The organisation said it aimed to ensure the sector’s contribution to exports, jobs, innovation and tourism was fully recognised as a $1.5 billion per annum industry.
“International screen production dollars are effectively export dollars, with direct foreign investment entering the New Zealand economy and benefiting a wide range of industries beyond the screen sector,” said SNZI executive vice-chair Harry Harrison.
“According to the Government’s Budget 2025 documents, $1.5b in rebates over 10 years generated $7.5b in economic activity for New Zealand – that’s a fivefold return to the wider economy.”
It should and could have been a week where the Government claimed a small, well-overdue victory for the media sector.
After an excruciatingly long and unnecessarily delayed parliamentary process, it finally passed a 73-word piece of legislation that lifts a ban on Sunday morning television advertising and other TV and radio ads on public holidays.
Any public relations warm fuzzies for the Government were quickly replaced, however, with the Broadcasting Standards Authority’s move, on the same day, to claim jurisdiction over Sean Plunket’s The Platform.
The BSA has gone rogue, in my view. But behind it all, a deliberate strategy may be emerging.
Media Insider can reveal the BSA gave Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith’s office an early heads-up – under the Government’s no-surprises policy – that they were sending their draft jurisdiction decision to Plunket.
Clearly, they knew this was a significant event that would generate headlines, despite a hamfisted attempt at trying to keep it below the radar – for example, sending Plunket a “not-for-publication” draft decision. Good luck with that.
Goldsmith has washed his hands of the matter for now, saying it’s an operational matter.
But it’s these sorts of niggly issues that will trip up a Government politically; National’s coalition partners – NZ First and Act – seemed somewhat blindsided and are now making hay, flying the freedom-of-speech flag. They looked purposeful in their response and anger.
Goldsmith could have pointed to the Government’s proposed media regulations overhaul and injected renewed energy and prioritisation to that piece of work, with the united support of the coalition.
The BSA has been at pains this week to say it believes it’s on the right side of existing legislation, and that it has jurisdiction over The Platform.
But that assertion has been contested and rubbished by a range of legal, political and media sources this week, and clearly the argument is now heading for the courts. Taxpayer money and reputations will be at stake.
In strongly defending its move, the BSA has called for the regulatory framework to be sorted out and therein lies a clue as to why all this might have exploded.
“Our view remains that online broadcasting that resembles a traditional TV or radio station falls within our existing jurisdiction under the Broadcasting Act,” BSA chief executive Stacey Wood told Media Insider.
“We would welcome the chance to have the courts confirm the application of the act to media of this type.
“However, legal action costs both sides time and money.
“The best and clearest solution lies in legislative reform of media regulation, which the BSA has called for for over 15 years. Several proposals have come and gone over the years, but we still hope to see a legislative solution that delivers modern, platform-neutral and system-level regulation of professional media.”
Whatever you think of Plunket – and there are many people who find his opinions horrific – the BSA’s move has far wider implications and repercussions than just his online site.
While lawyer Steven Price and left-wing blogger Martyn Bradbury were opining that this was a storm in a teacup this week, the feedback I’ve received from many in media and political circles is opposite.
“I regrettably side with Sean,” one influential left-wing commentator told me this week. “This is an insane overreach.”
By issuing its “not-for-publication” draft decision – how on Earth it thought it could get away with citing confidentiality to an outspoken commentator involving a matter of huge public interest and importance is baffling – the BSA has opened itself up here to a hornet’s nest with major questions over whether it has the resources to cope, let alone the legislative right.
The BSA now exposes itself to receiving and having to adjudicate complaints about content on Facebook (Meta), YouTube, as well as a range of other social media sites and online-only platforms that produce opinions from across the political spectrum.
The process is now ripe for hijacking by political operatives and others, threatening to swamp an organisation that simply would not have the resources to cope.
As Wood told Mike Hosking yesterday, the organisation has only eight staff. And it has to consider every complaint it receives.
The Government had already this year announced a media reforms package. One of the five key planks was a proposed overhaul of the broadcasting standards regime, including the Broadcasting Standards Authority, with “platform-neutral and system-level regulation of professional media”.
Many of those reforms, including the proposed media regulation changes, have stalled.
There has been very little consensus around the Cabinet table for various media industry changes – for example, Act hates the Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill but was fine with lifting the ban on Sunday morning TV advertising; NZ First took the opposite view on both issues.
Asked specifically in September about the media reforms, including the idea of a new media regulator, Goldsmith replied: “We’re still considering options and will make announcements in due course.”
There is no doubt that media regulation needs to be tidied up – social media is a wild west, and there are inconsistencies across the industry more generally.
But there’s a right way and a wrong way to sort the mess out.
On the face of it, the BSA has elected the wrong way – but it might also be a deliberate strategy to force the Government’s hand on legislative changes.
Our diligent NZ Herald sports department was scanning Norwegian news websites on Wednesday, checking out how they covered the All Whites’ 1-1 draw with Norway.
Imagine their surprise when they threw the homepage of Aftenposten (Aftenpoften) into Google Translate.
The main headline on a comment piece about a climate policy debate read: “This is f***ing useless”. (My asterisks added)
That’s telling it like it is.
Winston Peters will don a black tie and follow in the footsteps of David Lange, Willie Jackson and David Seymour as the latest New Zealand politician to take part in the Oxford Union debate.
The NZ First leader is on the affirmative team for the moot: “This House believes the courts now undermine democracy”.
Among others speaking are former Poland president Andrzej Duda and former Arkansas governor Asa Hutchinson.
The debate will take place next Thursday night in Britain (Friday morning NZT).
“You can rest assured he is well motivated, given the topic,” said a spokesman.
In addition to the UK, Peters is visiting Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden.
As RNZ starts recruitment for a new Morning Report host (to replace Corin Dann, who’s been appointed RNZ business editor), one outside chance appears to have ruled herself out.
Charlotte Cook announced this week that she was departing from her role as the host of RNZ’s hour-long Midday Report.
She is staying with the public broadcaster, however.
“I’m delighted to be appointed as the brand new ‘field correspondent’ at RNZ.”
She said her news presenting role had been an honour.
“I have loved my years at Midday Report, arguably the best gig in the presenting game, but I’m so looking forward to taking these skills into my new role.
“You haven’t heard the last from me, I’ll be coming to a story near you. I’ll be working closely with all news programmes focusing on national news stories.”
RNZ said it was recruiting for a replacement for Cook.
RNZ news boss Mark Stevens continues to successfully plunder his former Stuff newsroom, with RNZ poaching one of Stuff’s most experienced newshounds.
“Unfortunately, I come bearing sad news – Edward Gay has decided to move on after seven years with Stuff,” Stuff “In-depth” editor Blair Ensor told staff in an internal email.
“He’s accepted a role as RNZ’s Auckland bureau chief. Eddie is a highly respected, principled journalist with an extraordinary depth of knowledge and a formidable contact book.
“Fondly known as ‘Justice Gay’ for his in-depth understanding of the justice system, he’s produced work that has given voice to survivors, exposed systemic failings, and shaped some of our most powerful journalism.”
Ensor said Gay, who leaves Stuff on November 18, would be greatly missed.
Stuff’s In-depth team is also losing another big journalistic talent, Steve Kilgallon.
“Unfortunately, I come bearing more sad news – Steve Kilgallon has resigned from the In-depth team. The good news is he’s staying within the Stuff family, having accepted a position as The Post’s Auckland editor,” wrote Ensor in another internal email also leaked to Media Insider.
Media Insider understands at least one other person in the team has been considering their future.
Ensor successfully poached two senior NZ Herald reporters recently – Nicholas Jones and Isaac Davison.
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.