ThreeNews

''ThreeNews'' is a New Zealand television news bulletin produced by Stuff, airing on channel Three since 6 July 2024. It is the successor to '' Newshub Live at 6pm'', which ended the day prior.

Format

''ThreeNews'' is broadcast for 60 minutes on weekdays and 30 minutes on weekends. Notable presenters include weeknight news presenter Samantha Hayes, weekend news presenter Laura Tupou, sports presenter Ollie Ritchie and weather presenter Heather Keats.

History

Background

The recession of the 2020s and the decline in advertising caused a drop in ''Newshub'''s revenue. Consequently, several ''Newshub'' bulletins and the current affairs programme ''The Project'' had to be shut down. After making a proposal in February 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery decided in April that it would end production of ''Newshub'', which would result in almost 300 job losses.

Succeeding ''Newshub''

In April 2024, Stuff announced that they will replace ''Newshub'''s spot for the 6 pm news bulletin on Three. The name ''ThreeNews'' was unveiled the following month, which reflects the channel the programme is run on, and is a reference to ''Newshub''’s previous name, ''3 News''. On 14 April 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery filed a trademark claim for the names ''ThreeNews'' and ''Three News'' while Stuff filed a trademark with the New Zealand Intellectual Properties Office.

Several of the top journalists from ''Newshub'' will be employed at ''ThreeNews'', including newsreader Samantha Hayes, Laura Tupou, Ollie Ritchie and Heather Keats. The news bulletin launched on 6 July 2024.

On 26 July, the weather segment of ThreeNews' bulletin was briefly interrupted by "technical difficulties," which Warner Bros Discovery attributed to human error.

Reception

ThreeNews debuted to strong ratings for its inaugural Saturday and Sunday shows on 6-7 July 2024. Audience measuring tool Nielsen found that 340,000 people in the 5+ audience had watched the inaugural Saturday half hour bulletin, an 89% increase from Newshub's last Saturday night bulleting on 29 June 2024 and a 32% increase on the same weekend in July 2023. The 6 July news bulletin also 19.3% in the target 25-54 year old demographic, a 3.5% increase on the average rating for the Newshub bulletin over the last quarter. The 7 July news bulletin attracted 300,000 5+ viewers and 18.6% of the 25-25 year old demographic market share. During its launch, Tara Ward of '' The Spinoff'' observed that ThreeNews took a more in-depth, investigatory approach to news coverage than its predecessor Newshub's 6pm news bulletin, which had primarily focused on big headlines, sports and the weather.

By early August 2024, ThreeNews had been losing ratings, primarily during the 2024 Summer Olympics, which had been carried by competing broadcaster TVNZ. The ratings of the ThreeNews bulletin fell sharply compared to what it was at the beginning, with rival 1 News rising in the process.

References

External links

{{New Zealand television news
2024 New Zealand television series debuts
2020s New Zealand television series
2024 establishments in New Zealand
New Zealand English-language television shows
New Zealand television news shows
Stuff (company)
Three (TV channel) original programming