The Diary: Sky falls on Prime news staff

Prime News has been dissolved and all 15 staff made redundant. Their final day at work is February 28 - but their future is not so clear.

MediaWorks will take over the production of the Sky TV network's news bulletin. From March, the MediaWorks news division will produce Prime News - First at 5.30 at its Auckland Flower St Studios, where 3 News is also produced.

MediaWorks will act as an independent production company, using its bigger newsroom resources to create the 5.30pm news show, which, for the past eight years, has run on the smell of an oily rag (understood to be around $1 million a year).

The Diary has learned that MediaWorks stepped in to the deal after the collapse of negotiations between John Fellet's Sky New Zealand and Sky News Australia, run by Angelos Frangopolous, which manages the New Zealand news operation.

MediaWorks will take on production costs, not charging Sky NZ for the news programme, in exchange for advertising revenue.

Frangopolous jetted into Auckland on Tuesday for a secret meeting with staff to tell them they will be out of a job. It turned heated.

Prime News journalists, producers, camera operators and editors are now left contemplating their future.

Alistair Wilkinson, a former TV3 reporter, now news director at Sky NZ, wouldn't clarify the situation yesterday, or say whether he might boomerang back to Flower St.

"I'm not commenting publicly at this point," he said. "My focus is on supporting my colleagues through this time."

Prime News presenter Charlotte Bellis said all staff had been made redundant - "there's no carry-over to TV3".

"MediaWorks has bought the 5.30pm slot and will produce a 30-minute news service, which means the existing staff have all been made redundant," she wrote on Facebook.

"It's sad to say goodbye to such a quality group of people and to a show that has taught me so much.

"Our last day is the 28th of February. I'm a firm believer that everything will work out for the best and trust MediaWorks will do a great job producing the show. Here's to new adventures."

MediaWorks spokeswoman Rachel Lorimer said the company would be hiring all new staff except for the newsreader, who would be supplied by Sky.

That newsreader is believed to be incumbent Eric Young.

"We will be recruiting slowly," said Lorimer. "There is a lot of work going on, and I imagine there will be people on that show who may want to apply for a position."

Lawless snags role in Salem

Lucy Lawless stars as a German witch in Salem. Photo / Brett Phibbs

Lucy Lawless has scored a recurring guest role on the American TV thriller Salem, The Hollywood Reporter posted.

The Kiwi actress will play German witch Countess Marburg in season two of the historical drama set in colonial Massachusetts.

She joins actors Cara Santana and Stuart Townsend.

Last month, she played an evil queen in a Californian pantomime.

Shane West plays the male lead. Photo / Supplied

Marlin on the menu at Jones barbie

Photo / NZME.

Move over Martha, Shane Jones is the host with the most. The keen fisherman is hosting a barbecue for Waitangi Day, complete with a live band, and he's invited MPs to pitch their tents on his Northland lawn.

Jones, a former Labour MP and chairman of the Waitangi Fisheries Commission, and current ambassador for Pacific Economic Development, has quite the spread planned. There will be fritters, ika-mata (raw fish) and gallons of red wine, he says. And fish, lots of smoked fish.

He landed a 305.9kg blue marlin earlier this month and the beast has been in the smoker.

"My son has been renovating the deck to cope with the weight of the marlin," he laughed. There'll be plenty to feed the 100 guests expected, including MPs from Labour, National and NZF who are in the Parliamentary rugby team.