Television news in New Zealand started in 1960 with the introduction of television. These bulletins were broadcast from New Zealand's four main cities (Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin) operating independently of each other due to technical constraints. The Wahine disaster in April 1968 highlighted the need for a nationwide news network; footage shot in Wellington could not be broadcast in other centres around the country at the same time, and the extra-tropical cyclone which contributed to the disaster also grounded air traffic preventing the film being flown to other centres.
In October 1969 the nationwide TV network was completed. The first network news broadcast was live on 3 November 1969 at 7:35pm, read by Dougal Stevenson. This bulletin was possible due to microwave links being established between the four main centres; the programme was called the NZBC Network News. Initially, it was read by Philip Sherry, Dougal Stevenson or Bill Toft on a rotating roster.
TVNZ era (1980–present)
TV One and South Pacific Television were amalgamated into Television New Zealand on 16 February 1980 and its main evening news continued to broadcast at 6:30 pm on TV One. From 31 March 1980, four regional news programmes were broadcast – one in each of the four main regions: Top Half (Auckland and the upper North Island), Today Tonight (Wellington and the lower North Island and originally the upper South Island), The Mainland Touch (Christchurch, Canterbury and later the upper South Island) and 7:30 South (Dunedin, Otago and Southland). Initially, these programmes aired at 7:30 pm and ran for half an hour in duration.
In February 1982, the main bulletin was revamped and broadcast from 6:30-7:30 pm; the one-hour package incorporated the day's national and international news, regional news programmes and the weather forecast. At the same time, Dunedin's 7:30 South was rebranded as The South Tonight and TVNZ introduced a feature segment called Nationwide; it contained regional items of national interest, as well as "sidebars" – items which, for example, focused on the human interest element of an event outlined in the network news.
In late 1983, Nationwide was dropped, with the main bulletin extended to fill the time and give greater sports news coverage.
During the mid-1980s, Philip Sherry and Tom Bradley shared the role of newsreader on a rotating roster with Richard Long and Tony Ciprian alternately presenting sports news. Weather was presented on alternate nights by Veronica Allum and Sue Scott.
The main bulletin was revamped in November 1986 and renamed as the Network News, with Judy Bailey and Neil Billington initially co-presenting in a double-headed format and replacing Philip Sherry. Tom Bradley moved to weekends, where he alternated with Angela D'Audney as weekend anchor.
In February 1988, sports anchor Richard Long took over from Neil Billington as co-anchor of the Network News, the beginning of a partnership that would continue for much of the next 15 years. Tony Ciprian moved to the new commercial network TV3, the network's first sports producer. He was with 3 News for almost 20 years.
In July 1988, the Network News was moved to 6 pm and renamed as the Network News at Six but the weekend bulletin remained at 6:30 pm (as the Network News and Sport). The moving of the Network News to 6 pm also marked the introduction of computer-generated weather graphics and the arrival of Jim Hickey and Penelope Barr, who replaced Veronica Allum and Sue Scott as weather presenters.
On 3 April 1989 TVNZ launched a new nightly current affairs programme, Holmes , which was presented by Paul Holmes. Holmes began screening at 6:30 pm. At the same time, the duration of the Network News at Six was reduced back to 30 minutes and the regional news programmes were transferred to around 5:45 pm on TV2. The year saw the introduction of TVNZ's first foreign correspondents – Liam Jeory in London and Susan Wood in Sydney.
In October 1989, the weekend Network News and Sport was moved from 6:30 pm to 6 pm.
In November 1989, the Network News was relaunched as One Network News; its renaming due to competition from new broadcasting station TV3's news programme 3 National News.
In December 1989, both Top Half and Today Tonight were axed by TVNZ but The Mainland Touch and The South Tonight continued for another year and screened on TV One at 5:45 pm as a lead-in to One Network News at 6 pm, with support from NZ On Air. The Christchurch and Dunedin based regional news programmes were axed at the end of 1990.
In February 1995, the main bulletin was again extended from 30 minutes to a full hour, screening from the now familiar 6 pm timeslot, followed by Holmes at 7 pm. The change coincided with the unveiling of a new studio set which was used until 2003. On 2 January 1995, the main One Network News bulletin was delayed for 10 minutes after protesters occupied the studio and protested about the Māori language bulletin Te Karere which was off air over the Christmas and New Year period. [6]
July 1997 saw the replacement of weekend news presenters Angela D'Audney and Tom Bradley with husband and wife Simon Dallow and Alison Mau. Bradley resigned, but D'Audney stayed as a backup presenter for other bulletins until her death in 2002.
On 11 August 1997, the early morning Telstra Business and Breakfast shows were first aired; Telstra Business was hosted by Michael Wilson; Breakfast hosted by Susan Wood and Mike Hosking.
In 1998, TVNZ signed 3 National News anchor John Hawkesby to replace Richard Long from the start of 1999. But when Haweskby began presenting One Network News at 6 pm alongside Judy Bailey, there was a public outcry over the separation of Bailey and Long, that lead to Long reinstated as co-anchor at 6 pm three weeks later. Hawkes'bay later took TVNZ to court, a dispute that he subsequently won.
The programme was renamed again on 31 December 1999 to One News.
On 19 March 2000, TVNZ launched its first digital initiative nzoom.co.nz. [7] Staffed by 20 journalists, nzoom included news, sports, entertainment and home and garden sections, in additional to being a web portal. The website was closed in 2003, and replaced by a more basic offering that was designed to extend television programming. [8] At the time of its closure, it ranked second amongst local online news providers - behind the New Zealand Herald and ahead of Stuff. [9]
2003 saw a major shake up of TVNZ's news and current affairs programming with entering head Bill Ralston making sweeping changes to the formats of many programmes. A new state-of-the-art studio came into use for One News programmes, but many presenters were culled. The changes saw the end of Long and Bailey's 15-year partnership; from January 2004, the main 6 pm bulletin reverted to a single-headed broadcast with Judy Bailey as anchor. Jim Hickey, TVNZ's most popular weather presenter, and sports presenter April Bruce (née Ieremia) also left in 2003. [10] [11] Hickey returned to One News in 2007. [12]
Close Up was launched in November 2004, when Paul Holmes, host of the Holmes programme, resigned following failed contract negotiations. Close Up followed the same format as Holmes, but was hosted by Susan Wood until her sudden resignation in 2006. Mark Sainsbury became the main host following her resignation.
In October 2005, TVNZ announced that it would not be renewing long-standing flagship broadcaster Judy Bailey's contract; some observers believe this was a direct reaction to the programme's market share decline in Auckland to 3 News . An emotional Bailey signed off for the final time at the end of the 6 pm One News bulletin on 23 December 2005. She was TVNZ's longest serving newsreader and had been reporting and presenting with both NZBC and TVNZ for 34 years. When the 6 pm edition of One News returned after the Christmas break of 2005–2006, it reverted to double-headed presentation with Wendy Petrie and Simon Dallow taking over from Bailey. The weekend 6 pm bulletin remained single-headed until September 2008, when popular presenter Peter Williams joined Bernadine Oliver-Kerby as co-anchor.
In December 2008, One News relaunched online news product under the TVNZ.co.nz domain. The broadcaster said it was "upping the ante" for digital offerings. [13] [14] [15]
Sir Paul Holmes returned to TVNZ as the host on the new political programme Q+A in 2009. He hosted the programme until late 2012, when illness prevented him from continuing his duties. He died on 1 February 2013.
On 3 November 2009, TVNZ celebrated One News' 40th birthday with some archival footage available on their website. Later that year, Jennie Goodwin, David Beatson, Dougal Stevenson and Lindsay Perigo returned to read one Breakfast news segment each.
A Saturday edition of Breakfast, called Saturday Breakfast, was broadcast from 3 September 2011, hosted by Rawdon Christie and Toni Street, and ran until the end of 2012, when it and One News at 4:30 were cancelled for financial reasons. [16]
In September 2012 an announcement was made that TVNZ would discontinue Close Up at the end of 2012. The final Close Up programme screened on 30 November 2012 and in early 2013, an announcement was made of the replacement show, named Seven Sharp . The first show screened on 4 February 2013. [17] [18]
Former BBC meteorologist Daniel Corbett joined the weather team in September 2014. In December 2014, Jim Hickey left his position as head weather forecaster. Nearly a year later Karen Olsen left the weathercaster position, making her final broadcast on 16 November 2015. [19]
In July 2015, TVNZ rebranded its news website to One News Now, focused specifically on breaking news and video content. The change was expected to double the website's number of video views. [20] Some changes were criticised for an apparent pivot towards "clickbait". [21] In May 2016, TVNZ began syndicating news video with Stuff. [22]
One News programmes were renamed 1News in 2016, when TV One was renamed TVNZ 1. [23]
During the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand as part of cost-cutting measures, 1News reverted to a single news presenter for its 6 pm bulletin. Simon Dallow remained as the sole newsreader while Wendy Petrie lost her role. Petrie would remain at TVNZ as a backup presenter across other 1News programmes. [24]
In late July 2023, 1News revamped its intro and banner, by changing the colour from blue to black, and moving the name and job to the left side.
In early March 2024, TVNZ proposed ending several television programmes including "1News at Midday" and "1News Tonight" due to a decline in advertisement revenue and competition from digital competitors such as Netflix and YouTube. In addition, TVNZ has proposed 68 job cuts, amounting to about 9 percent of its staff. [25] [26] On 9 April, TVNZ confirmed that 1News' Midday and late night bulletins would be axed by mid-May 2024. [27] Midday broadcast its final bulletin on Friday 3 May 2024, hosted by Indira Stewart. [28] [29]
On 7 October 2024, TVNZ's management proposed closing down 1News' website by February 2025 as part of a NZ$30 million cost-saving measure. [30] On 29 October, TVNZ abandoned plans to shut down its 1News website but proposed expanding the news content of its TVNZ+ streaming service. [31]
