Media Insider: TVNZ delivers six-month $2.4m profit and a dividend - but major TVNZ+ investment will impact the next six months
TVNZ chief executive Jodi O'Donnell. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
TVNZ has delivered an economically important half-year profit and a politically important dividend for its Government owners, but it says a strategically important upgrade of TVNZ+ means it will fall into an expected loss for its full financial year.
The state-owned broadcaster has announced a $2.4 million net after-tax profit for the six months to December 31 - and a $1.6m dividend.
The result includes a $28.5m impairment - an assessment that was made on December 31 “due to the continuing deteriorating market conditions, ongoing impacts of disruption on the media market and the corresponding decline in revenues”.
TVNZ is a Crown-owned entity - it is not funded by the taxpayer, with almost all of its revenue coming from advertising.
However, its financial performance has been under heavy scrutiny from the Government, following several years in which it did not pay a dividend. It returned to paying a dividend last year - a 3.1m payment.
TVNZ announced today that its revenue for the six months to December 31 was $134m - down 12% on the same period last year.
The broadcaster said this reflected “the broader economic environment and continued market disruption from international tech platforms on the advertising market”.
“TVNZ offset the impact through investment in premium digital advertising products and disciplined cost management, with underlying costs improving 10.8% year-on-year. The result includes a net positive non-cash benefit of $0.6m related to the FY25 and HY26 impairments.”
Chief executive Jodi O’Donnell described the result as “solid”, ahead of a “defining” 2026 calendar year.
The result showed “resilience and a sharp focus on the core business through a difficult advertising cycle”.
She said she was “cautiously optimistic” about the current second half of the company’s financial year. She said TV revenue had started to see “quite a bit of improvement”.
Nevertheless, and as the company had flagged earlier, its major investment in new digital technology would impact its bottom-line result, with the company set to announce a full-year loss.
She would not say what that full-year loss was expected to be.
“We’re not going to release that information at this stage because there’s still quite a lot of nuance, given we’ve got a lot of work to deliver over the next four months.
“It will be a relatively sizable loss, but one that, like I said, is very well planned.
“We’re clear around what we’re delivering for that value, so it’s an investment that will set us up long term.”
That investment in TVNZ+ is critical for the company in opening up new revenue streams with subscription television - its foray into a brave new world begins in June, with the football World Cup.
TVNZ says the new super-powered TVNZ+ will launch in April, and its World Cup tournament subscription package will be announced in May. TVNZ has rights to all 104 games - 22 of them, including All Whites matches, will still be screened free-to-air.
The new TVNZ+ technology also allows TVNZ to build in greater personalisation of content for viewers - critical in building engagement and therefore advertising revenue.
O’Donnell said digital advertising now accounted for more than 30% of the company’s advertising revenue.
Tova O’Brien start date, TVNZ+ relaunch
O’Donnell earlier told Media Insider that new Breakfast co-host Tova O’Brien would start her role on Monday, March 30, and a super-powered TVNZ+ will relaunch in April.
While TVNZ+ viewers are unlikely to notice too much change immediately, the platform’s new backend technology is a critical component in TVNZ’s five-year digital strategy, with stronger personalisation of content for individual viewers, and greater engagement and revenue opportunities for TVNZ.
One of the biggest changes will be TVNZ’s capacity to offer subscription television through the new platform – that is, pay TV for major events.
That will start in earnest in June, with the football World Cup - TVNZ has the exclusive New Zealand rights for all 104 matches.
O’Donnell said once the new TVNZ+ platform had launched in April, the company would announce and launch its World Cup subscription package in May.
The tournament offers TVNZ the opportunity of two major revenue streams – 22 games, including all All Whites games, will be screened live and free, an important menu of content for advertisers.
TVNZ says it has sold all of its commercial packages for the tournament.
For true football fanatics, all 104 games will be offered in a tournament pass package – another important revenue stream, although TVNZ has yet to announce the price.
Some media observers are picking a price of about $50 for the six-week event.
Meanwhile, O’Brien’s arrival as Breakfast co-host on March 30 comes two weeks before senior TVNZ correspondent John Campbell starts as co-host of RNZ Morning Report, heralding a new era of competition in morning broadcast media.
At NZME, Ryan Bridge’s NZ Herald video show is now available on Three Now and will soon be available on Three’s terrestrial channel. Mike Hosking, meanwhile, reigns as the king of breakfast radio at Newstalk ZB.
Will TVNZ snap up HBO Max content?
Jodi O’Donnell has hinted TVNZ might yet do a deal with Warner Bros Discovery for co-exclusive rights to HBO Max content such as The Pitt and The White Lotus.
Sky TV has suffered a big blow in losing exclusive rights to HBO Max from its Neon platform from the middle of the year.
Warner Bros Discovery says it’s planning to launch a direct-to-consumer HBO Max service in New Zealand, as it has done in dozens of other countries.
Sky walked away from a potential co-exclusive deal.
That leaves the way clear for TVNZ to potentially jump into bed for those co-exclusive rights.
Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand’s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.