Radio broadcaster MediaWorks will launch a new talk radio network in early 2022 and it has hired Newshub political editor Tova O’Brien for a new show which will shake up the morning news scene.
A Newshub image to illustrate its political editor telling the PM she's got hate speech proposals wrong. Photo: screenshot / Newshub
MediaWorks says a new talk radio ‘brand’ will launch in 2022. It is likely to replace the troubled Magic Talk network which has failed to make headway in the commercial radio market since it replaced its forerunner Radio Live.
The creation of a morning news show hosted by Tova O’Brien will add to early risers’ existing choices between RNZ’s Morning Report, Newstalk ZB’s Mike Hosking Breakfast, TVNZ’s Breakfast and The AM Show on Three.
Tova O'Brien Photo: supplied / MediaWorks
Newshub staff have been told Tova O’Brien will finish up as political editor in late January after 14 years at Newshub and predecessor 3News before returning to her former employer. It is understood her new role at MediaWorks will not be political editor.
Some politicians may breathe a sigh of relief, as Newshub's political team under her leadership has taken an aggressive approach to significant political stories and scoops based on strategic political leaks.
MediaWorks’ moves are a consequence of its split with TV channel Three, following its sale to the global broadcast company Discovery earlier this year.
MediaWorks has relied on Newshub’s journalists for news content until now - and Three’s AM Show was simulcast on Magic Talk.
But Discovery has been cutting jobs in news at its headquarters and elsewhere recently. In May a restructuring of South Island news-gathering closed the Dunedin bureau which had reported the region since TV3 launched in 1990.
MediaWorks appointed Dallas Gurney, a former editor-in-chief and general manager of Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport, as its Director of News and Talk in September.
MediaWorks says it is now establishing its own newsroom “with wider support from a number of content partners as it looks to strengthen its news and talk offering.”
It is reportedly now hiring up to 20 journalists and in a statement MediaWorks said it was seeking “wider support from a number of content partners.”