TVNZ presenters: Simon Dallow, Hilary Barry, Jenny-May Clarkson - where do broadcaster cuts leave high-profile journalists?

Hilary Barry (from left), co-host Seven Sharp, Simon Dallow, presenter 1News at 6pm, Jenny May Coffin, Breakfast presenter, John Campbell, TVNZ chief correspondent. Photo / TVNZ

TVNZ confirmed today up to 68 roles are facing cuts “to ensure TVNZ remains sustainable”. While it remains unknown how the cuts will affect the teams and shows run by the state broadcaster, the announcement may impact some of New Zealand’s most high-profile and award-winning journalists - including Hilary Barry, Simon Dallow, John Campbell and Jenny-May Clarkson. With the decision coming days after the announcement of Newshub’s closure, it leaves many wondering about the state of local media.

TVNZ has confirmed up to 68 jobs are facing cuts in the coming months, with the consultation stage beginning tomorrow.

The news comes amid news of the state broadcaster’s interim operating loss of $4.6 million for the past six months of 2023.

It has not yet been revealed how the cuts will impact shows such as 1News, Seven Sharp and Sunday, but comes amid speculation the 6pm news could be shortened to the length of 30 minutes from one hour.

Elsewhere, reports suggested merges could take place in certain teams like Sunday and Fair Go.

With the company home to some of New Zealand’s most well-known and respected journalists and presenters, the changes to TVNZ could see yet another devastating blow to local media just one week after the announcement of Newshub’s proposed closure.

The Herald looks at TVNZ’s most popular shows following news of job cuts:

1News

1News at 6pm newsreader Simon Dallow presents a story on TVNZ's proposed news cuts.

The weeknight bulletin is currently anchored by Simon Dallow, with weekend bulletins anchored by Melissa Stokes. Sports news is presented by Hayley Holt or Andrew Saville, with the weather segment fronted by Daniel Corbett. The live broadcast has an array of back-up anchors and presenters including Wendy Petrie, John Campbell, Jack Tame and many more well-respected industry figures.

The bulletin has received multiple award nominations and wins across the years including their New Zealand TV Award nominations last year for Best News Coverage on the Auckland flooding and Cyclone Gabrielle, the latter of which they won. 1News reporter Thomas Mead also took out the win for Reporter of the Year.

1News moved to a single presenter format, in line with TVNZ’s other news shows Te Karere and 1News at Midday, in August 2020 following a Covid-19 restructure. Veteran journalist Petrie was co-anchoring the show with Dallow up until that point.

Breakfast

Chris Chang, Anna Burns-Francis, Jenny-May Clarkson and Daniel Faitaua. Photo / Instagram @breakfaston1

Hosted by Chris Chang, Jenny-May Clarkson, Daniel Faitaua and Anna Burns-Francis, the morning show airs from 6am every weekday keeping New Zealanders in the know about the latest breaking, sports, weather and entertainment news.

On January 26, upon both the show and competitor AM‘s return from Christmas break, ratings revealed Breakfast reached 216,000 viewers and AM reached 192,000 in the broad demographic of viewers aged 5 and over.

It was a drop in audience from the year prior which saw Breakfast reach 272,400 people upon their return, however, the drop could largely have been due to January 26 being Auckland Anniversary day.

Seven Sharp

Hilary Barry and Jeremy Wells from Seven Sharp. Photo / TVNZ

Fronted by award-winning journalist Hilary Barry and presenter Jeremy Wells, the 30-minute current affairs show screens every weeknight at 7pm.

Providing Kiwis with a nightly dose of laughs and sharing the lighter side of the news, the co-hosts were nominated for Best Presenter - Entertainment at the 2020 New Zealand Television Awards and it was revealed in a TVNZ showcase in December last year that the show was one of the broadcaster’s most popular.

Celebrating 1000 episodes in June 2022, Wells and Barry spoke to the Herald at the time, claiming the fun of the show is that “you never quite know what to expect each day”. Wells continued: “Whatever’s happening in New Zealand, there’s Seven Sharp - the little caboose on the back with some cameras and some microphones, a couple of satellites pushing it out to New Zealand. So with Hilary and I, that’s what’s been happening for a thousand episodes, the little campervan that could.”

The show continued to run throughout the pandemic with Barry saying staying on air felt like “holding people’s hands” through a difficult time.

Q+A

Jack Tame on Q+A. Photo / TVNZ

Fronted by award-winning journalist Jack Tame, the show takes a deeper look at today’s news aiming to answer the questions that Kiwis care about. Much like Seven Sharp, the show was named one of the broadcaster’s most popular last year.

Largely focused on politics, economics and global events, the show airs every Sunday morning and sees leading industry figures talk to Tame about topical matters. The show was a must-watch throughout the 2023 election which saw Christopher Luxon and the National Party elected to Government and included many heated exchanges between Tame and leading politicians, including New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

Fair Go

Pippa Wetzell and the Fair Go reporters.

Hosted by Pippa Wetzell, the Monday night show focuses on consumer rights, ensuring they stand up for the underdogs. Some stories the show has covered include a 90-year-old man whose bank told him to get a new phone so he could access their app. Another story revealed just how easy it was for children and teenagers to purchase vapes online.

The 30-minute show is New Zealand’s second longest-running local programme behind Country Calendar.

Last month Media Insider revealed Hadyn Jones resigned from Fair Go. The move initially raised questions as Jones told viewers at the end of 2023 that he was travelling with his family, once marketing for the 2024 show started being released without Jones’ name or image attached, it was clear the star wasn’t returning and he soon confirmed the news to fans in an Instagram post stating he “wanted a change”.

Sunday

Miriama Kamo hosts the TVNZ show, Sunday.

The popular current affairs show has held a longstanding spot on the broadcaster’s network. Having first hit screens in 2002, the show replaced 60 Minutes in the 7.30pm Sunday night slot, it was moved to a 7pm slot in 2012 and was cut down to 30 minutes. A 2014 review had Sunday return to an hour-long episode per week.

Covering an array of stories, including the abduction and escape story of Alex Batty, the show features stories from local and international correspondents including Mava Moayyed and Mark Crysell and is hosted by award-winning journalist, Miriama Kamo.

Sunday won a New Zealand Television Award last year for Best Current Affairs Programme. It was up against Newsroom Investigates, Paddy Gower Has Issues and Te Ao with Moana.

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.