Paul Henry has shared his thoughts on TVNZ's Breakfast. Photo / Michael Craig
Paul Henry has shared his thoughts on TVNZ's Breakfast. Photo / Michael Craig
Paul Henry isn’t too impressed with the current state of TVNZ’s Breakfast - but his main issue seems to be with the set decoration.
In a wide-ranging interview with The Spinoff’s Stewart Sowman-Lund to promote his new gin brand The Henry, the former TV and radio personality slammed the morning show he formerly appeared on for seven years.
Henry said the show was “pretty bad now”.
“F***ing hell, I don’t want to be one of those people who just sits at home complaining, but when they first decided to come back with that laptop set, [what] did they think?”
Henry also doesn’t care for TVNZ’s use of a virtual reality studio for the breakfast show, saying, “Did they think that people wanted to spend breakfast with people who were clearly in Changi bloody airport, or the Hanging Gardens of f***ing Babylon?
“Does anyone watch that and think, ‘Oh, s***, they’ve spent a bit of money on that’.”
Henry also shared his thoughts on TVNZ’s evening offering Seven Sharp.
“What is that backdrop? And also, the most inappropriate coffee table. It defies belief. Clearly they have the ability to create any kind of backdrop they want!”
During Henry’s time at Breakfast, which started in 2004, the show saw ratings rise rapidly - a 2008 press release declared, “TVNZ’s popular early morning current affairs programme, Breakfast, has had a terrific start to 2008, growing its core audience of 25- to 54-year-old viewers by 29% … compared with the same four weeks last year”.
Paul Henry has shared his thoughts on the new-look Breakfast set, currently occupied by hosts Jenny-May Clarkson, Matty McLean and Indira Stewart. Photo / TVNZ
The controversial broadcaster also shared his thoughts on the Government’s plans for a merger between media companies RNZ and TVNZ.
“There is zero chance that they will save one dollar. There is 100 per cent chance it will cost more,” Henry said.
“There is zero chance we will have a better service, 100 per cent chance the service will be reduced in a confusing cacophony of bull***. In my mind, in my fairly large mind, I can see no good reason for doing it.”
