Three owner Warner Bros. Discovery proposes second restructure in two years

The media giant has revealed changes are underway in its TV advertising and sponsorship sector. Photo / File

The owner of Three is proposing to restructure parts of its New Zealand business and the Herald understands that jobs are on the line.

Warner Bros. Discovery advised staff yesterday that some advertising and sponsorship sectors of the business would be affected by the proposed changes, a source told the Herald.

A spokesperson for the media giant confirmed the proposal, telling the Herald: "This reorganisation reflects the needs of our newly combined Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ business".

"Communicating with our people remains our priority."

A source who works with Warner Bros. Discovery told the Herald that they believed 80-100 people were notified of the proposed changes, which would lead to the loss of some roles.

Discovery wouldn't provide the exact number of roles that would be restructured, but the Herald understands the number to be around 10.

And it's not the first time the company has undergone a reshuffle in recent years. In April 2021, dozens of jobs went on the line as the business was restructured across New Zealand and Australia.

Significant cuts in the promo, sales and marketing departments were proposed.

Warner Bros. Discovery runs channels Three and Bravo, streaming service ThreeNow, and multi-platform news and current affairs service Newshub, as well as Three+1, Bravo+1, eden and Rush in the local market. The Nasdaq-listed company bought the assets from struggling MediaWorks in July 2020.

It also runs free-to-air channels HGTV, Eden and Rush.

At the time, a spokesperson confirmed changes were in the works.

"We are working to determine the structure, skills and capabilities needed to achieve our goals, as we integrate the Three and Top TV businesses into Discovery and create one organisation across Australia and New Zealand."

In the past year, Warner Bros. Discovery launched a new-look morning show and a host of new programming offers to rival the other major network TVNZ.

TVNZ went through its own in-company turmoil this year when new Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria resigned after only a month in the role.

It came after allegations he had behaved inappropriately towards multiple women during his time at TVNZ and in his former role at Al Jazeera.

He was hired in April to replace departing Breakfast host John Campbell.