Breakfast hosts' futures up in air

Hilary Barry and Marcus Lush will be wondering what their futures will be, with the announcement of a new Paul Henry breakfast show. Photo / file

Paul Henry’s new show will mean changes in early slots

Jobs on Paul Henry's new breakfast show, destined to take the early morning slot on TV3 and RadioLive next year, are expected to be finalised in the next fortnight.

The announcement of the cross-platform show on Monday from MediaWorks, owner of TV3 and RadioLive, has triggered a series of individual meetings in the company with affected staff.

Big broadcast names like Hilary Barry and Marcus Lush will be contemplating what is next as their early morning jobs come under scrutiny for the new show - which sees Firstline, Breakfast with Marcus Lush and Hilary Barry as well as The Paul Henry Show dissolved.

Henry, who will go up against Mike Hosking at ZB and TVNZ Breakfast presenters Rawdon Christie and Ali Pugh, said no staff announcements would be made until the show format had been "fine-tuned".

Henry, who was forced from TVNZ Breakfast in 2010 after mocking the name of a Delhi politician and questioning whether then Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand was a New Zealander, never expected to return to early-morning presenting.

"I didn't think I'd ever be working in that slot again, let alone in New Zealand," he told The Diary.

Meanwhile, social media has been ablaze with comments from the public.

Lush has had a lot of support on Twitter, with fans telling of their upset about losing him to Henry. One fan wrote: "Can't believe that you won't be my commute buddy. Are the bosses crazy? Won't be listening. Off to library for an audiobook."

Another fan was more blunt, saying: "What sort of knuckle draggers would replace Marcus Lush with Paul Henry in anything?"

Sacha McNeil
• Daughter of retired journalist Bob McNeil.
• Has been a journalist for about 15 years, working for TVNZ and TV3.
• Was a presenter for late-night news show Nightline before its cancellation last year.
• Has been presenting TV3's Firstline breakfast show with business journalist Michael Wilson.
• This will be the second time her job has been affected by a change involving Paul Henry.

Michael Wilson
• Considered to be one of the country's top financial news commentators.
• Has been a journalist since the 1980s.
• Has worked for news agencies including TV3, TVNZ, Radio NZ and the National Business Review.
• Firstline co-presenter in last year.

Janika ter Ellen
• Studied political science and media studies at Victoria University.
• Was a reporter for 3News, Firstline and Nightline for three years.
• Was named as presenter for the new Paul Henry Show in December.

Hilary Barry
• Took over as co-anchor for TV3's 6pm weekday news bulletin in 2005
• Joined the channel in 1993 from Radio New Zealand
• Started on RadioLive's breakfast show in 2009
• Has won several radio and TV presenting awards, including best news or current affairs presenter at the 2011 Aotearoa Film and TV awards.

Marcus Lush
• Began hosting RadioLive breakfast in 2005.
• Presented a number of television shows including Off the Rails, South and North.
• Has hosted ZM's breakfast show.
• Also appeared on TV2's Newsnight with Alison Mau and Simon Dallow.