TVNZ staff face two-week wait for axe to fall

Television New Zealand staff targeted for redundancy may have to wait up to two weeks before finding out whether they are out of a job.

TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards last night told the Herald those whose jobs were likely to be "impacted" by cutbacks had been told, and a "consultation" period of up to two weeks would begin.

Ms Richards refused to name individual employees facing redundancy.

The network this week announced 90 jobs were being culled, part of the state broadcaster's attempt to save $25 million after lower-than-expected advertising revenue.

About 17 staff are expected to go from the station's news department, nationally, with about 11 of those expected to be producers and journalists.

Ms Richards said that at the end of the consultation period - generally about a fortnight - staff would have the opportunity to meet department heads again for discussions.

A final decision would be made after those meetings.

TVNZ had learned from past experience that circumstances had the potential to change "quite substantially" during the consultation period and individual employees could find their jobs remained safe, she said.

"The process is not a fixed thing, and we do have to be careful that it's not seen to be set in concrete, because it's not."

The TVNZ job losses have prompted accusations from Labour that the Government is deliberately gutting the state broadcaster to prepare it for sale.

Prime Minister John Key said the job cuts were illustrative of the current problems faced by media companies worldwide.

But Labour's broadcasting spokesman, Brendon Burns, said it was driven in part by the Government demanding a dividend from TVNZ.

"The Government's agenda is now unmasked," he said.

"We have seen the first step towards gutting TVNZ and selling it off to the private sector."

The job losses come from most areas including news and current affairs, finance and legal, marketing, sports, broadcast services and corporate affairs.

Emerging business - online and licensing - will escape the freeze.

- ADDITIONAL REPORTING: NZPA