Fair Go, one of New Zealand’s best-known and longest-running TV series, is joining Sunday and two of TVNZ’s daily news bulletins in being dumped from local screens within months.
Consumer affairs show Fair Go has been showing on TVNZ since 1977.
Over 47 years, its line-up of hosts is a who’s who of famous broadcasters including Brian Edwards, Philip Alpers, Kerre Woodham, Carol Hirschfeld, Gordon Harcourt and its longest-serving host, Kevin Milne.
The show’s investigative reporting has been famed for exposing countless rip-off merchants and dodgy businesses over its years on air.
The Sunday current affairs show is also understood to be winding up by May, while the Midday and Tonight news bulletins are also reportedly being axed.
The cancellations are part of widespread job cuts as TVNZ battles a big drop in traditional TV advertising revenue as audiences move to digital platforms.
Up to 68 jobs, including about 35 in news and current affairs, are being axed.
The Newsroom website’s editor Tim Murphy tweeted that about 20 jobs would be lost once Sunday closed in May, while seven to eight jobs would be lost at Fair Go.
After a meeting with Sunday staff on Friday morning, TVNZ confirmed “a proposal has been presented which could result in the cancellation of Sunday”.
The news has left TVNZ staff in tears at its Auckland offices this morning.
An all-staff meeting is scheduled for 1pm today to hear plans for the future of its news coverage.
Sunday, with current host Miriama Kamo, has been airing at 7.30pm every Sunday since March 2002.
Its focus has been delving into news subjects “that matter to you”, according to its tagline.
Speaking to RNZ on Thursday, Kamo said the planned cuts were “devastating”.
”It’s devastating not just for our business, it’s devastating for... what it means for our wider society. Of course, we saw Newshub go and that has really, I believe, dire implications for our democracy.
”When we start cutting into news programmes at our state broadcaster then that really speaks to how dire things are and I am very, very concerned about what the landscape looks like going forward.”
Newshub Wellington bureau chief Caitlyn Cherry has tweeted: “RIP Television news and current affairs”.
Former Prime Minister Helen Clark has called the cuts “disgraceful”.
“Disgraceful that the premier #NZ Sunday night current affairs show is being canned by TVNZ along with the long-running Fair Go consumer affairs programme,” Clark tweeted.
“Is this like serving up the Washington Monument for sacrifice hoping for rescue? How about management costs? Large building?”
A TVNZ spokeswoman responded to Clark’s comments, saying TVNZ’s cost base is higher than its revenue, forcing it to make challenging decisions.
“We’ve exhausted all opportunities to reduce costs without impacting what we deliver for viewers,” the spokeswoman said.
“We have already reduced TVNZ’s executive team by a third and general management by a similar proportion.
“We’ve reduced our entertainment content and marketing budgets and removed discretionary spend.”
The spokeswoman said TVNZ still aims to screen the country’s most-watched news and current affairs as it looks to shift to a digital-first model.