Lucy Kraimer
WELLINGTON (Reuters) – New Zealand media site Stuff Group said on Tuesday it had signed a deal with Warner Bros Discovery (NASDAQ:) to provide New Zealand’s Warner Bros Discovery TV channel with a daily news program at 6 p.m.
The move ends weeks of concern that New Zealand would be left with only one English-language television news provider.
Warner Bros Discovery, which owns Newshub, which airs on Channel Three, said in February it plans to close its newsroom from July to cut costs. The result would be that government-owned but editorially independent TVNZ would become the dominant broadcast news producer in the New Zealand market.
In an article on its news site, Stuff said that from July 6, Stuff will produce an hour-long daily news show from Monday to Friday, with a 30-minute program on weekends.
Glen Kyne, senior vice president of Warner Bros Discovery Japan, Australia and New Zealand, said in an article on Stuff.co.nz that Warner Bros Discovery received a number of offers to create a news segment for the television site and chose Stuff.
“We were keenly aware of the chilling effect the closure of Newshub would have on media pluralism and we are delighted that New Zealanders will be able to choose what news they watch at 6pm,” he said.
Stuff owner and publisher Sinead Boucher said Stuff’s proposition to Warner Bros Discovery was to provide high-quality news content.
Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Boucher bought Stuff Group in 2020 from Australian broadcaster Nine Entertainment Co Holdings Ltd for NZ$1 to bring the New Zealand organization back under New Zealand ownership. Stuff Group publishes several newspapers including the Post, Press and Waikato Times.