Changes expected for 1 News

Who will stay and who will go at 1 News after last month’s budget-cutting announcement from TVNZ boss Kevin Kenrick? Spy is told the newsroom is buzzing with speculation.

The first stage in the new structure was to be confirmed mid-April and an announcement is still pending. A number of journalists’ jobs throughout the country are in doubt, however a “new blood” programme, called Re:News — an alternative news voice for younger New Zealanders has been announced.

So what about the 1 News anchors? Kenrick has said TVNZ presenters would not be affected by the first stage of cuts, but that has not stopped all sorts of gossip doing the rounds, especially around the 6pm weekday news team of Simon Dallow and Wendy Petrie. One source told Spy to expect big changes by Christmas.

There’s also talk TVNZ will go back to having just one newsreader to save money. Petrie, 44, and Dallow, 52, have been a pair since 2005, and reportedly earn around $400,000 each.

Fuel was added to this theory when the Weekend Herald recently reported Dallow’s new working relationship with the National Business Review.

1 News went solo with the weekend bulletins last year, making Bernadine Oliver-Kerby redundant. That left Peter Williams to work alone in the slot.

So will Petrie or Dallow read the news alone or will Hilary Barry make the much-speculated shift to the 6pm slot from Breakfast?

Watch this space.

This article was first published on spy.co.nz and is republished here with permission.