TVNZ's total revenue falls 13.5 percent as ad revenue shrinks

Photo: RNZ / Michelle Tiang

TVNZ's just released interim financial results show that its total revenue has fallen 13.5 percent from last year to $155.9 million.

It says it is facing a "challenging trading environment" and a "significant reduction in television advertising revenue".

Chief executive Jodi O'Donnell has flagged further cost cutting in the announcement of the broadcaster's interim six month results.

It has announced an operating loss of around $4.6m as well as an impairment charge of $12m leading to a net loss of $16m.

O'Donnell said TVNZ expected the "challenging economic conditions we faced in the first half of the financial year to continue into the second half of the year. We will need to make further changes to our cost base to navigate through this uncertainty.

"While we hope to see some improvement in the advertising sector in late 2024, we anticipate market disruption from global streaming services and social media platforms to continue, and this means standing still is not an option. Ultimately, we need to get our organisation into the right shape and the right size to compete in a digital world."

The results come after a shock proposal by Newshub to close its newsroom on 30 June.

Warner Bros Discovery ANZ senior vice president head of networks Glen Kyne said the company had to keep looking at ways of reducing costs.

"We've now reached a stage where any further reduction in costs means proposing major changes. This is why we are proposing to shut down the newsroom. This would mean stopping all news production including the Newshub website from June 30," he said in the statement.

The company made a $34.8 million loss in New Zealand for the 2022 financial year.

More to come....

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