Numbers are curious figures: They can be up or down, big or small, true or misleading, good news or bad, welcome or unwelcome.
In the past week or so New Zealand’s media had been enveloped in something of a numerical avalanche about itself, And what was good news for some was decidedly the opposite for others.
But, first, let me get something else off my chest.
Buckle up because 2025 is going to be a rough ride for news media.
It has started inauspiciously with NZME’s announcement of 38 job losses at the New Zealand Herald and NewstalkZB, the full impact of which has yet to be seen. That followed the closure of 11 of the company’s community newspapers at the end of last year, plus the loss of 11 roles in its regional newsrooms last July.
We began the year with the effects of TVNZ’s cuts, announced last November, starting to appear. Familiar faces on its sports team reappeared on Sky and Trackside over the summer break, and yesterday Breakfast was back with a reduced lineup but no reduction in forgettable chitchat. The state-owned broadcaster has lost almost 130 staff since 2023. The latest tranche took out 50 jobs and adverse effects on its newsgathering are inevitable.
In December Whakaata Māori cut 27 roles and ended its news programme. Jobs have also gone at Stuff, although musical chairs have made it difficult to determine exactly how many have gone. Earlier, of course, TV3’s American owners walked away from their responsibility to provide its own news service.
The local media equivalent of China Watchers will be keeping a close eye on who takes the job of chief executive at Stuff.
The position becomes vacant with the move by Laura Maxwell to take over News Corp’s Queensland operations.
The role of CEO in a one of our main media companies is significant in its own right but the next appointment could well have additional impact.
It may point to the future direction in which owner Sinead Boucher wishes to see the company go.
If the appointment is internal, the signal it sends will likely be ‘steady as she goes’. However, the identity of an external appointment could give clues to a strategic shift.
Stuff’s ultimate owner is Kenepuru Holdings, whose sole shareholder is Boucher. As a private company, Stuff does not have the same disclosure requirements as a listed company like NZME. Hence, we only know about Stuff’s plans if Boucher chooses to make a public comment.
However, if the new CEO is an external appointment, that person’s background may be a strong indicator of where Boucher wishes to take the company. Depending on that background, it may also indicate where the owner’s thinking may be going in terms of capital structure and business sectors. Continue reading “More to a name than meets the eye”→
When Newshub met its end last Friday night I was left with a niggling question: If Newshub been owned by local interests rather than an American corporation, would it have been summarily executed?
You see, I have a theory that local ownership exposes proprietors to pressures that are not felt by directors and executives sitting thousands of kilometres away.
If owners walk the same streets as the people they serve, they are confronted and held to account. Even the most isolated find themselves being questioned by the members of the social sets in which they move. They are forced to consider the impacts and consequences of their decisions.
Anonymous overseas executives and directors do not see the results of their abstract decision-making, apart (perhaps) from a small blip on the next set of financials.
TV3 has been losing about $35 million a year and, although no owner wants to see continued deficits, the amount ($21.5 million in US dollars) is not much more than a rounding number for WBD, which last year earned revenue of $US41.3 billion from its worldwide operations. That was roughly what this entire country earned from its goods exports.
There is little doubt that Newshub was costing TV3 too much money and something had to change, but was total closure of the news division the only option? At the time of its announcement, WBD said “there was nothing anyone in our New Zealand network business could have done better”. Maybe not, but could they have done things differently? Continue reading “What if Newshub’s owners had been walking our streets?”→
