Tova O’brien announced as Newshub political editor,

Lisa Owen and Ryan Bridge to host Radiolive Drive

At a customer and media event in Auckland this afternoon, Newshub announced Tova O’Brien as its new Political Editor.

Tova has been with the Newshub team since 2007 and has been the European Correspondent for over two years, reporting on breaking international news including the UK elections and the Grenfell Tower disaster. She will be commencing the role in April. Tova is excited to return to New Zealand, and the press gallery.

"I'm utterly delighted to be returning to the press gallery as Newshub's Political Editor and know full-well the responsibility that comes with the role. Ours is the best political team in the country and Newshub's legacy of exceptional, ground-breaking Political Editors has always been an inspiration."

Hal Crawford, MediaWorks’ Chief News Officer, said Tova has the skills and experience to make the role her own.

“Tova is an exceptional news talent, filing on every major story in Europe over the past two years. I’m looking forward to her bringing that insight and presence back to Wellington for Newshub.”

Newshub will announce its new European Correspondent in due course. Former Political Editor Patrick Gower is taking up the role of National Correspondent from April 2018.

MediaWorks also announced that Newshub journalists Lisa Owen and Ryan Bridge will be the new hosts of RadioLIVE Drive from early March.

Host of Newshub Nation Lisa Owen has also worked as a correspondent and investigative journalist throughout her career and is thrilled to return to radio.

“I am pretty excited about getting back to my radio roots; the immediacy of it and the instant reaction you get back from listeners. Oh and I can't wait to wind Ryan up!”

Newshub journalist Ryan Bridge currently hosts ‘Your Sunday with Ryan Bridge’ on RadioLIVE. Ryan is looking forward to the move to Drive.

“I can't wait to crack into it. I love radio - it's live, it's fast-paced, it's relentless and quite a personal medium. Lisa's a legend and we're going to give this our all.”

A replacement for Ryan’s Sunday programme will be announced in due course.

Hal Crawford believes Lisa and Ryan will be an excellent fit for RadioLive Drive.

“These two seasoned journalists bring a depth of news knowledge and warmth to our afternoon schedule on RadioLIVE. We are planning this show carefully, bringing the full force of the Newshub and RadioLIVE newsrooms together - I can't wait."

Hal continues: “2018 is a huge year for Newshub across all platforms - Radio, TV and Digital. Paddy Gower is back as our National Correspondent from April, and we’re also launching The Spinoff TV* and Newshub Investigates. These innovative properties will engage younger audiences with the Newshub brand and its content.”

The SpinOff TV features a mix of YouTubers, stand-up comics and online reporters talking about what’s making headlines in New Zealand. Fresh daily content will be available on Newshub and The SpinOff, with weekly ‘best-of’ episodes coming to Three in June.

The SpinOff founder Duncan Greive has spent so long talking about TV, he can hardly believe he’s about to be part of it.

“I’m really proud of the amazing team who’ve grown The Spinoff from a TV blog that no one had ever heard of, to a multimedia news and opinion website with a fully fledged TV show,” says Duncan.

“The Spinoff TV will be exactly what you’d imagine it will be”, he continues, “all of the chaos, humour and prickliness of The Spinoff - just on TV”.

Newshub Investigates is a weekly podcast that will investigate some of New Zealand’s most intriguing and significant stories, beginning in March with a wrongful conviction of murder.

Further MediaWorks content announcements will be made later today.

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