TV Presenters Hayley Holt and Anna Burns-Francis to leave TVNZ

Wednesday, 4 December 2024, 8:28 pm
Article: RNZ

TVNZ have confirmed sports presenter Hayley Holt and Breakfast presenter Anna Burns-Francis have both chosen to move on from their roles, amid the company's restructure.

The state broadcaster announced last month that it plans to axe 50 roles in order to save $30 million.

The proposal included reducing the number of presenters on Breakfast from four to two, and reducing the number of sports presenters for the 6pm bulletin.

"With the changes announced for a new-look Breakfast team, Anna Burns-Francis has advised TVNZ that she will not be applying for a position," executive editor, Phil O'Sullivan said.

"Anna is an exceptional presenter and interviewer who fitted seamlessly into the role two years ago and was as popular with our audiences as she was among the team."

Burns-Francis has worked at TVNZ since 2016, including more than two years as the US Correspondent, during the Covid pandemic.

O'Sullivan also thanked Holt for her work across 1News at Six, as well as with the Breakfast team.

"She is a true professional who has brought enthusiasm and an energy to our coverage, and it will be very hard to see Hayley go. We wish her all the very best," he said.

O'Sullivan said TVNZ will not be announcing the Breakfast lineup today.

It comes after TVNZ staff heard more details on Wednesday of the company's outsourcing decisions, as part of the its aim to transform to a digital first media entity.

Staff were told not all the roles, in the departments affected by outsourcing, would be proposed to be disestablished.

"In the outsoursing model, we expect some existing and/or new roles would be needed at TVNZ," it said.

The presentation also included staff feedback to the proposed outsourcing.

Many expressed concern that the move could reduce the quality of TVNZ's output.

Questions were also asked about whether outsourcing will be cost effective or efficient in the long term.

Other feedback include concerns about the loss of talent, the loss of local knowledge and the long term impacts on stafff morale and the company's culture.

In October, the state-broadcaster told staff it was planning to outsource content workflow and technology capabilities from the 2026 financial year onwards.

It has decided to outsource media operations, content operations and software engineering.

However, it no longer plans to outsource its service centre, technology operations, broadcast applications, infrastructure, networks and security.

This comes on top of the company's plan to axe 50 roles in order to save 30 million dollars.

In a message to staff earlier this month, TVNZ chief executive Jodi O'Donnell said the proposal to disestablish 90 roles and create 41 new roles will result in 50 job losses.

"As I've shared, tomorrow we'll begin stage two of our strategic change consultation process. All meeting invitations have been sent to TVNZers proposed to be impacted. In advance of these meetings, I wanted to share some information with you to give you further context around the changes we're proposing to make," O'Donnell said.

"We're committed to running a transparent process, and I would like to share with you the proposed TVNZ-wide impact of what is being presented tomorrow."

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