Two high-profile presenters are departing TVNZ.
It’s understood both Breakfast co-host Anna Burns-Francis and sport presenter Hayley Holt are leaving as the state broadcaster looks to slash its show presenters.
A source close to Burns-Francis confirmed to the Herald she was leaving, and it was her choice.
A separate source has also confirmed Holt will leave the state broadcaster.
”I honestly had a great time at TVNZ, but the new role just wasn’t for me,” Burns-Francis told Stuff.
“I wish them all the best.”
TVNZ executive editor Phil O’Sullivan confirmed both Holt and Burns-Francis were leaving the organisation.
“With the changes announced for a new-look Breakfast team, Anna Burns-Francis has advised TVNZ that she will not be applying for a position. Anna is an exceptional presenter and interviewer who fitted seamlessly into the role two years ago and was as popular with our audiences as she was among the team.”
He said Burns-Francis had worked at TVNZ since 2016, including more than two years as the US correspondent, during the Covid pandemic.
“She says she loved working with her colleagues at Breakfast and looks forward to seeing the next iteration of the show. We thank Anna for everything she brought to the show and to our wider news operation. We wish her every success in her future endeavours.”
O’Sullivan said the Breakfast line-up for 2025 was not ready to be announced, but an announcement was expected soon.
“Hayley Holt has also confirmed that she will be leaving TVNZ. I’d like to thank Hayley for her work across 1News at Six as well as with our Breakfast team. She is a true professional who has brought enthusiasm and an energy to our coverage, and it will be very hard to see Hayley go. We wish her all the very best.”
O’Sullivan said Andrew Saville would continue in his role as sports presenter on weekdays, and a rotating team of reporters would appear across the weekends.
TVNZ last week confirmed its plans to axe as many as 50 roles, with a confidential document revealing the level of concern among news staff, some of them now out of a job or competing with colleagues for newly created positions.
The cuts affect every TVNZ division including sales, marketing, leadership and – in the news and current affairs team – several high-profile presenters and reporters, camera operators and other staff.
That included confirmation that the existing Breakfast presenting team would be reduced to two roles – last week there were three (Jenny-May Clarkson, Chris Chang, and Burns-Francis) with a back-up (Daniel Faitaua).
The number of sport presenting roles on the 6pm news would also be dropped from two (Andrew Saville and Holt) to one.
A contestable process has started for some newly created newsroom positions, with confirmation of successful applicants by December 13.
”We’re resigned to the fact that there may now be a Hunger Games process, but there may not. Because people might just walk away,” one source said.
TVNZ had earlier said it was planning to disestablish 90.5 roles in the entire business and introduce 41 new roles for a net loss of 49.5 jobs. It wouldn’t reveal last week how those numbers had been tweaked.
The changes are all part of an effort by the state broadcaster to try to find $30 million in annual savings (or revenue) and to fast-track TVNZ into a digital-first future where TVNZ+ becomes its critical platform for viewership and distribution.
TVNZ’s advertising revenue has fallen off a cliff in the past 18 months and the broadcaster finds itself fighting a rear-guard action in having to rapidly rebuild its business model based on audience and advertiser demand.
TVNZ staff and individuals were called to a series of meetings last week to learn their fate following earlier proposals and a November 7-20 consultation period.
While a handful of news staff have had their roles saved, most of the earlier proposals are going ahead.
Burns-Francis joined the Breakfast team at the beginning of 2023 after a long stint as a US correspondent for 1News.
During an interview last year, she revealed it had been “a big learning curve” adapting to her new role as a morning TV host, following years of working alone as a foreign correspondent.
She told an RNZ podcast last May, “To come back and be in this big production where someone does your hair and makeup and there are four other people that you have to talk to every day and bounce off and share ideas with, it’s very different.”
In May, Burns-Francis and her husband Simon Gordon welcomed a baby girl into their family. Holt, also previously a Breakfast co-host, formerly presented for Sports Cafe and Crowd Goes Wild. She left Breakfast in 2020 and moved into the role of sports presenter alongside Andrew Saville on 1News at 6pm.
Sign up to The Daily H, a free newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
US calls for leader-level peace talks, apprentice numbers drop, and Wellington fights public bullying in new campaign.
