Newshub


Newshub is a New Zealand news service that operated from 1989 to 2024 and served as the local news division of Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand until its closure. The division, known as 3 News until 2016, had produced news bulletins and current affairs programming for the television channel Three from its inception. It also operated a news website and on radio stations run by MediaWorks between 2016 and 2021.
The Newshub brand was launched in February 2016 as part of the division's transition to digital journalism. MediaWorks sold Three and Newshub to US multimedia company Discovery, Inc., with the acquisition completed in December 2020.
On 28 February 2024, it was announced that Newshub would shut down on 5 July 2024. On 10 April 2024, the closure was confirmed by Warner Bros. Discovery, with Newshub winding down on 5 July 2024. Media company Stuff was commissioned to produce a new nightly bulletin, named ThreeNews.

History

''3 News''

The TV3 6pm news bulletin was known as 3 News or 3 News at 6pm up until 31 January 2016. 3 News was originally known as 3 National News and first went on air on Monday 27 November 1989 when TV3 began broadcasting, which made it the first serious challenger to TVNZ. For the first year of broadcast, 3 National News was a thirty-minute bulletin screening at 6:30 pm, which the same time slot as Holmes on TV1. The original bulletin was presented by former BCNZ and TVNZ anchor Philip Sherry, joined by sportscaster Greg Clark and weathercaster Belinda Todd.
In 1991 TV3 extended 3 National News to a 1-hour bulletin starting at 6 pm, this occurred during the Gulf War but TV3 continued to screen a 1-hour bulletin following the war. TV3 used their 1-hour news bulletin of 3 National News as a selling point over One Network News which was still a 30-minute bulletin followed by the Holmes show, One Network News did not become a 1-hour bulletin until 1995.
During the nine years that the bulletin was known as 3 National News it had three different hosts. Original presenter Philip Sherry was replaced by Joanna Paul in mid-1990; Paul had previously been the presenter of the launch news update and weekend bulletins. When Paul opted not to renew her contract with the network, TV3 hired former TVNZ newsreader and It's in the Bag game show host, John Hawkesby.
During the 1990s, Canadian media conglomerate CanWest acquired ownership of TV3 and 3 National News.
On 16 February 1998, TV3 revamped its presentation, shortening the show's name to 3 News and adding another presenter. They initially planned for Hawkesby and ex-TVNZ journalist Carol Hirschfeld to co-present. The planned Hawkesby-Hirschfeld team never eventuated, with John Campbell taking the male presenter role when Hawkesby walked out of TV3 to host One News. TV3 later sued TVNZ for "interfering with the relationship" between Hawkesby and TV3. The two parties settled out of court at the end of 2000 for an undisclosed amount.
In March 2005, Hirschfeld and Campbell left their presenting positions to collaborate on current affairs show Campbell Live. They were replaced by Hilary Barry and Mike McRoberts. The same year, 3 News won the Best News Award at the Qantas Television Awards. In 2005, TV3's parent company Mediaworks New Zealand launched Radio Live.
A standalone website launched in 2006. Before then, news items were posted to TV3's main website. When the new website started, it emphasised the use of video.
In 2007, the Australian capital investment firm Ironbridge Capital acquired TV3 and established MediaWorks New Zealand, which became 3 News' parent company. A new 3 News studio set began use on 15 September 2008, this coincided with an updated graphics package using the 2005 – 2008 graphics as its base. On 4 July 2011, 3 News revamped its presentation package starting with the early morning show of the time Firstline, to have the "floating tiles" look, which was in use up till the launch of Newshub on 1 February 2016.
In November 2012, 3 News won the Best News award at the 2012 New Zealand Television Awards.
On 27 January 2014, 3 News refreshed its split screen graphic, finance graphics and full frame graphics. At the same time, 3 News also updated their printed fake newsroom backdrop which they used while they temporarily broadcast from a green/blue screen set.
In 2014, MediaWorks recruited broadcaster Paul Henry to TV3 as part of its plan to replace Nightline, the channel's late-night programme. Henry later hosted TV3's new breakfast programme.
In early April 2015, it was announced that 3 News' Sunday bulletin would be reduced to half an hour and would be followed by a shortened version of the network's midweek current affairs programme 3rd Degree, which was later renamed "3D". The first of these shortened Sunday bulletins was broadcast on 24 May 2015.
In April 2015, MediaWorks announced a review of Campbell Live due to declining ratings. In June 2015, "Campbell Live" was replaced with a new programme called "The Story."
On 19 December 2015, Studio 1 was decommissioned temporarily to prepare the studio for the launch of Newshub. During the refit of Studio 1, they broadcast from a green screen studio placed in the Paul Henry show set during the summer off-air time.
The last 3 News broadcast occurred on 31 January 2016 before the news brand renamed to Newshub. The new look Studio 1 launched on 1 February 2016 designed by Jago Design, who also designed Studio 3, which is used for Paul Henry.

MediaWorks

MediaWorks launched Newshub on 1 February 2016 as a multi-platform news service to replace the former 3 News service on its television channel Three and the Radio Live news service. Newshub was envisioned as an integrated television, online and radio newsroom.
In March 2016, a Newshub journalist broke embargo and leaked sensitive information about a 25 basis point cut by the Reserve Bank to the Official Cash Rate. Newshub's parent company MediaWorks conducted their own investigation on the leak, and followed up with an apology from CEO Mark Weldon, although Weldon stopped short of naming the journalist involved. As a result of the loss of trust with the media, the Reserve Bank has elected to discontinue the media lockup prior to future releases of the OCR. In addition, the Reserve Bank banned MediaWorks journalists from all its future press conferences.

Discovery, 2020–2022

On 7 September 2020, MediaWorks sold Newshub and its television arm to US multimedia company Discovery, Inc. At the time, Newshub was expected to continue providing bulletins to MediaWorks Radio, as well as producing the joint TV/radio programme The AM Show. The acquisition of MediaWorks' television arm was finalised on 1 December 2020, with the subsidiary being rebranded as Discovery New Zealand. Following Discovery's acquisition, Newshub re-launched its midday news bulletin, reformatted its morning show "AM" and launched an 8:00 PM news bulletin.
In mid-May 2021, Newshub closed its Dunedin office as part of parent company Discovery's restructuring of its business operations in Australia and New Zealand. The Dunedin newsroom consisted of reporter Dave Goosselink and camera operator Grant Findlay. Following the closure of the Dunedin office, the network's South Island operations consist of its Christchurch-based bureau as well as freelancers.
In early October 2021, Discovery NZ announced plans to launch a new Newshub Live at 8 pm bulletin in March 2022 on its upcoming TV channel eden. Around the same time, it was announced that former owner Mediaworks would end its content supply agreement with Newshub, and establish its own radio newsroom employing over 20 news and sports journalists, editors and correspondents.

Warner Bros. Discovery and closure, 2023–2024

Following Discovery's merger with WarnerMedia to former Warner Bros. Discovery in April 2022, the new entity acquired Discovery's New Zealand assets including Newshub and Three.
By 2023, a recession and declining advertising revenue led Newshub to implement cuts. In August 2023, Newshub discontinued its 5:30 am and 12 pm news bulletins. In October 2023, Newshub ended its 7pm current affairs programme The Project, which led to the loss of 24 jobs. The company later scrapped plans for a replacement current affairs show helmed by AM presenter Ryan Bridge. That same month, Senior news head Sara Bristow was replaced by interim news head Richard Sutherland. Newshub also instituted a "sinking lid" policy limiting new hires.
On 28 February 2024, parent company Warner Bros. Discovery announced a proposal to close Newshub on 30 June that year. The head of Warner Bros. Discovery Asia-Pacific, James Gibbons, stated "We simply cannot afford to produce news in-house". The proposed closure is expected to lead to the loss of about 200 jobs including journalists, producers, editors, camera operators and associated staff. Several days before the announcement, Warner Bros proposed merging the news gathering divisions of 1News and Newshub, which was rejected by TVNZ.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon said that government intervention would be "highly unlikely". ACT leader David Seymour said that the closure announcement was a "sad day for New Zealand's democracy which requires a competitive media market so that people can get a wide range of views about what's happening in their country." Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters described it as "disaster for country's democracy". Journalist Peter Bale said that there was a "hideous inevitability" about the closure, believing that Warner Bros "most certainly doesn't care about the news market in New Zealand".
On 10 April 2024, the Newshub closure was confirmed by Warner Bros. Discovery, leading to up to 300 job losses, with Newshub airing its final bulletin and winding down on 5 July 2024. On 10 May, the National Business Review confirmed that McRoberts would be taking up position as Te Ao Māori Editor, focusing on stories about Māori economic development in New Zealand. On 13 May, The New Zealand Herald confirmed it had recruited Newshub journalist Michael Morrah into its editorial team with a focus on producing online news video content.