TVNZ’s chief executive Simon Power has resigned and will leave in June after just 15 months in the role - during which a new public media entity to replace TVNZ was scrapped. He’s the second media boss in a month to quit after his MediaWorks counterpart Cam Wallace left in March.
TVNZ CEO Simon Power addressing Parliament's EDSI committee last Thursday on the ANZPM legislation. Photo: Screenshot / EDSI Committee Facebook
Simon Power was a minister in the National-led government which repealed the TVNZ Charter in 2011 and soon after discontinued the funding of TVNZ’s non-commercial digital channels established by Labour.
At that time, Kevin Kenrick had just taken over at the state-owned broadcaster - and he went on to become the country’s longest-serving major media boss.
He championed a digital and online strategy based around the streaming service TVNZ on Demand (now TVNZ +) whilst retaining dominance in free-to-air viewership and attracting more $300 million of revenue a year. Kenrick also persuaded the government to allow TVNZ to invest in content and technology rather than pay dividends to the Crown.
But from 2020 onwards, there was one big problem - the government’s plan to replace TVNZ and RNZ with a new not-for-profit Public Media Entity.
It wasn’t a plan Kenrick wanted to be part of (though he never said so out loud in public) and he resigned last year after almost a decade in charge.
When Simon Power succeeded him in early 2022, it was a job - and a pay-packet - that would cease to exist if things went to the government’s plan.
“At my core I’m a public policy geek and the opportunity to work on such an interesting piece of policy was too good not to take,” Simon Power told Mediawatch last year.
“I have a deep love of news and current affairs. I spend lots of time understanding how our journalists and newsgatherers work and I’m finding that part of the business fascinating,” he said.
In mid-2022, the minister of broadcasting also criticised TVNZ’s top brass - including Power - for dragging the chain on the so called ‘media merger.'
Power denied that TVNZ was stalling, or even hoping a change of government in 2023 might scupper the plan.
“We're not even contemplating that. We understand who our shareholders are and that (they) wish to progress with the merger. As I've said publicly many times, TVNZ is very supportive and very enthusiastic about the opportunity,” Power told Mediawatch at the time.
Merger bits the dust, changes the mission
When asked by Mediawatch if he wanted to lead the new public media entity scheduled to be formed in March, he would only say he was focused on meeting the deadline for its creation.
When the government dumped the merger plan recently - after months of criticism from other political parties and other media companies - that left Power clear to pursue a fully-commercial design for TVNZ.
Power also told Mediawatch in October 2022: “I love the ‘NZ Inc’ opportunity that TVNZ presents. I like commercial models. I’ve been working in banking and I’ve been a minister of commerce before that.”
But today TVNZ’s statement announcing his departure quotes him as saying: “It feels like the right time to finish.”
The road ahead may have been rocky.
In February TVNZ reported reduced half-year profits and predicted “a softer domestic advertising market for the rest of the year.”
It wasn’t alone. Commercial media companies are all warning of a slump in ad revenue if the economy goes into recession and inflation remains high and costs continue to rise.
MediaWorks cited “a significant revenue block” as a reason for closing Today FM last week - and it announced 70 job cuts in last January
What did Power achieve?
TVNZ pointed to the of acquisition of new sports rights, record-breaking audiences for news and a good score in AUT’s latest annual survey of trust in news published on Tuesday, the same day he quit.
In May 2022, Power ordered a review into TVNZ's hiring process, following the abrupt departure of Breakfast host Kamahl Santamaria and later, the resignation of the head of news Paul Yurisich, who recruited him.
The review covered TVNZ's recruitment practices and processes, as well as the specific recruitment of Santamaria. TVNZ also reviewed HR policies and internal workplace complaints processes and amended TVNZ's 'Speak Up' policy.
Power also defended some surprising programming decisions.
TVNZ turned down the chance to broadcast Queen Elizabeth’s Memorial service last September.
At the same time, TVNZ screened FBoy Island, a reality show that pitted “stunning Kiwi women searching for the guy of their dreams” up against men looking for sex but not a relationship.
One contestant had appeared in court charged with suffocating a woman after luring her home for sex. He was found not guilty but the judge said targeting the vulnerable woman was “deeply inappropriate”.
“It's part of a broader strategy for rangatahi which includes documentaries, factual programming and scripted programming,” Power told Mediawatch.
“I accept the title is provocative, but the show is essentially looking to create some very important conversations - and it may just help equip younger people with tools to navigate a new era of online dating,” Power said (though most people’s online dates aren’t arranged by TV producers actively looking for FBoys on tropical islands).
