Hosts of a popular New Zealand news and breakfast show broke down in tears while announcing their jobs are among hundreds on the firing line.>>>READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
AM hosts Melissa Chan-Green, 40, and Lloyd Burr, 36, started tearing up on Thursday as they announced their show could be on the chopping block in June.
Warner Bros. Discovery announced it had released a proposal to shut down its New Zealand television company Three, which would lead to the closure of Newshub, AM, a planned Ryan Bridge show at 7pm and Paddy Gower Has Issues.
Some 300 staff are expected to lose their jobs as a result.
An emotional Chan-Green held Burr’s hand as she addressed viewers.
‘You’ve likely seen the news by now that our company proposes to shut down Newshub from June,’ she said.
‘Some people have been asking does that affect AM too, and AM and Newshub are one and the same.
‘We’re all part of the same family – I hope you can hear me in this voice. So yes: that does mean the end of AM too.’
AM, is on air five days a week from 6am – 9am and broadcast from Auckland.
Burr – who only got the hosting seat earlier this year – struggled to hold back his tears telling his co-host: ‘You’re making us tear up as well’.
‘It has been a whopping 24 hours for us here, and the whole building to be honest,’ he said.
‘It’s been pretty tough. But we’ll get through it.’
Burr told the viewers they were in it together.
‘We’ll get through it and you’re going to get through it with us and you’re going to help us get through this,’ he said.
‘But we’re going to be with you until the end of June. It depends on how the proposals go, but we’ll be with you ’til then.’
Chan-Green has hosted AM since 2022 but has worked for Newshub and TV3 for 17 years.
The host told Daily Mail Australia they are all ‘finding the news really tough’.
‘But I am so proud of our team pulling together and putting out a show,’ she said.
‘We will continue doing this for as long as we are on air.
‘Thank you to my family, old friends and new, colleagues from across the media, and all of our viewers for your messages of support.’
Newshub employees were told the upsetting news in an all-staff meeting on Wednesday morning.
In what is a massive blow to the country’s media industry, Three is New Zealand’s only rival to public broadcaster TVNZ.
Three was acquired by American powerhouse Discovery in 2020, which merged with Warner Bros. in 2022.
The NZ arm of Warner Bros. Discovery’s operations posted a $NZ34.8 million ($A32.8 million) loss last year.
Warner Bros released a statement saying they had started consulting with staff on a proposal.
‘New local programming would only be in collaboration with local funding bodies and other partners,’ the company said.
A Warner Bros. Australia New Zealand spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia: ‘This is still a proposal and no decision has been made.’
The final decision won’t be made until April, with consultations on the closure beginning in March.
Three is still planning to produce local television content, as well as broadcast shows such as Married At First Sight Australia and The Block Australia.>>>READ FULL ARTICLE HERE
