Newshub presenter shock: Samantha Hayes, Mike McRoberts and staff learn of closure

Warner Bros Discovery confirmed this morning that Newshub is shutting down, extending the date from the end of June to July 5. The closure will affect some of New Zealand’s most high-profile and award-winning journalists - including Ryan Bridge, Samantha Hayes, Mike McRoberts and Patrick Gower - who are not only household names but highly respected within the industry. The decision leaves many wondering about the state of local news media.

The closure of Newshub - including its website - and other production cuts at Three were confirmed today, reports Shayne Currie, the New Zealand Herald’s Media Insider. Owners Warner Bros. Discovery met with staff to break the news, revealing that there was no planned deal “at this stage” with third parties. Two hundred journalists, producers, editors, camera operators and associated staff will lose their jobs, and dozens of other Warner Bros. Discovery NZ staff will be made redundant.

News of the proposal first broke on February 28 that Newshub, one of New Zealand’s biggest news providers, would shut down at the end of June. The announcement came during a meeting held by the brand’s parent company, Warner Bros Discovery, leaving staff “devastated”.

Despite stating they will look to co-fund local news, it was revealed in the meeting that the restructuring could affect 75 per cent of staff at Three and would encompass the advertising, marketing and sales departments as well as the newsroom.

Following a five-week consultation period, Warner Bros. Discovery confirmed its decision today, and Newshub itself reported around 200 staff will lose their jobs.

It was “a really sad day”, said Newshub anchors Hayes and McRoberts afterwards. “We all loved doing the news and all the Newshub staff would love to keep doing that,” Hayes told the Herald. “I really feel for everyone today, past and present who have given so much for 35 years to the news service,” McRoberts said. Investigative reporter Michael Morrah also spoke to media, saying the decision was “a huge blow for democracy”, while senior news correspondent Amanda Gillies wiped away tears.

The final Newshub 6pm bulletin is scheduled for Friday, July 5.

With the company home to some of New Zealand’s most well-known and respected journalists and presenters, the closure of Newshub is set to be a devastating blow to local media.

Patrick Gower

Paddy Gower. Photo / Warner Bros. Discovery

Award-winning journalist Gower has worked with Warner Bros Discovery for many years now, filling many different roles, including being Newshub’s political editor for six years.

After stepping down from the role at the end of 2017, he worked as a national correspondent for the news outlet before focusing his energy on a hard-hitting, and popular, documentary series, Patrick Gower: On...

The series was aimed at addressing social issues and helping Kiwis. Some of the topics he has covered include Patrick Gower: On Booze, Patrick Gower: On P and Patrick Gower: On All The Drugs.

In 2023, he released his self-titled weekly current affairs show, Paddy Gower Has Issues, which saw him win Best Presenter: News and Current Affairs for his work across Newshub Live at 6pm, Paddy Gower Has Issues, AM, The Project NZ and Paddy Gower On... at the 2023 NZTV Awards.

Elsewhere in 2020, he won a Voyager award for best individual investigation following his “confronting and painstaking” investigation into white supremacy after the 2019 Christchurch terror attack.

It’s understood Gower’s show Paddy Gower Has Issues will close under the proposal, but that his documentaries may survive with any approved NZ on Air funding.

“We’re losing something amazing today. 250 people amazing people, doing amazing stuff,” Gower told media after today’s meeting. “They’re good friends of mine, but they’re also friends of all Kiwis.”

Ryan Bridge

Mike McRoberts and Ryan Bridge leave a meeting where Newshub employees were told of the impending closure of the business in June. Photo / Dean Purcell

Bridge is a well-known face in the journalism industry, covering many important stories such as climate change and Colombian trade deals. For the past two years, he has been nominated at the NZ TV Awards for Best Presenter - News and Current Affairs (2022) and TV Personality of the Year (2023).

It was announced last year, following the discontinuation of The Project, that the former AM co-host Bridge, 36, would take over the 7pm slot with a new show. Questions were raised earlier this year after Warner Bros Discovery failed to provide an exact start date for the production.

Inside sources told the Herald it should have been on air by now before adding that it was scheduled to start in April and - as late as last week - June.

Upon leaving the February meeting , Bridge told journalists they were all thinking of their colleagues.

It’s not known if he was at today’s meeting. The future of the show remains unclear.

Samantha Hayes

Samantha Hayes. Photo / The Australian Women's Weekly

Hayes - the face of Newshub Live at 6pm alongside Mike McRoberts - is a highly respected journalist in the industry, having spent more than 10 years working her way up the ranks.

Fronting a range of shows during her career to date, including Newshub Late, 3rd Degree, Nightline and Firstline, the 39-year-old has proved she can do it all. Covering difficult stories on both the Mongrel Mob and Black Power gangs, she documented her time in Antarctica’s mountains at -30C, co-hosted Newshub’s US Election Special: America Decides in 2016 and 2020, as well as more light-hearted stories such as joining Kiwi star Lorde in the music studio.

Today’s news comes after a bumpy 12 months for the co-anchor, who recently announced she has separated from her partner, Jeroen Blaauw. Speaking to Woman’s Weekly in January, she told the outlet that the dust is only just beginning to settle.

It remains unclear what the closure of Newshub means for Hayes.

“Don’t make us cry,” Hayes told media following the grim meeting today. “We all loved doing the news and all the Newshub staff would love to keep doing that.”

She said they would be wrapping their arms around their colleagues - nearly 300 people will lose their jobs - and wanted to “celebrate what we have done and enjoy the last bulletins.”

Mike McRoberts

Veteran broadcaster and journalist Mike McRoberts. Photo / NZME

McRoberts currently co-anchors Newshub Live at 6pm with Hayes, however his career spans decades and includes many awards including six NZ TV Awards, mostly for Best Presenter - News and Current Affairs.

The 58-year-old has had a vast career covering almost all topics including sports, Māori affairs, current affairs and news presenting. John Campbell and Hilary Barry are just some of the huge names the presenter has worked alongside during his career.

McRoberts is known as a determined and passionate journalist in the game, often securing huge scoops - including an interview with warlord Harold Keke in a banana boat in the Soloman Islands just three weeks before the warlord gave himself up. Elsewhere, he has put his life in danger for the sake of a story. An example of this was following the 9/11 attacks when he was on the ground in Peshawar, Pakistan, as bombs fell and riots began. Thankfully, he and his team got out unharmed.

It remains unclear what the closure of Newshub means for McRoberts. However, upon leaving the meeting, he described the news as “heartbreaking”.

Melissa Chan-Green

Nicky Styris (from left), Melissa Chan-Green and Lloyd Burr on the first day as co-hosts. Photo / @melchangreen

Chan-Green won a Voyager award in 2019 for Best Coverage of a Major News Event: Newshub - Royal Tour and has since gone on to become a respected name in New Zealand journalism.

Prior to becoming a regular co-host on Three’s AM, the 40-year-old mother of two had earned her keep in the industry by travelling all around the world to tell stories. As well as covering the Arab Spring uprisings and the funeral of Nelson Mandela, Chan-Green has taken great interest in royal news and has dabbled in sports reporting, covering multiple Olympic and Commonwealth Games and Rugby World Cups.

Oriini Kaipara

Oriini Kaipara has garnered global attention for making history with her moko kauae. Photo / Discovery

Oriini Kaipara made headlines worldwide after becoming the first female to anchor a mainstream TV programme with a moko kauae (a traditional chin tattoo worn by Māori women).

She was already headed to the New Zealand Olympic Committee in a new role as pouwhiringa Māori cultural lead, helping guide the organisation, teams and athletes with her specialist reo, tikanga and wairua skills but is currently off air after hitting her head on concrete, resulting in a concussion late last year.

The Newshub Live at 11.30am and Newshub Live at 4.30pm presenter has spent her career revitalisating te reo and Māori customs.

In 2021, she made the move from TVNZ to Newshub.

Kaipara, 40, who is of Ngāti Awa, Ngāti Tūwharetoa, Ngāti Rangitihi and Ngāi Tūhoe descent, has had an impressive journalism career of nearly two decades, with years of experience reporting on Māori affairs. In 2018, she won a Voyager award for Māori Affairs Reporter of the Year and was nominated for Best Presenter: News And Current Affairs at the NZTV Awards in 2022.

Lillie Rohan is an Auckland-based reporter covering lifestyle and entertainment stories who joined the Herald in 2020. She specialises in all things relationships and dating, Kiwi celebs we can’t help but love and TV shows you simply cannot miss out on.