Stuff
Duncan Garner and Tova O’Brien announced the news Today FM closed on Thursday morning, with O’Brien saying “they fed us”.
The MediaWorks board has broken its silence on his closing of Today FMa swipe at the “disappointing” finale broadcast of Tova O’Brien And Duncan Garner.
O’Brien and Garner were live on the airwaves of Today FM Thursday morning when it became clear the talk radio station was closing after only a year of operation.
“They fed us,” O’Brien said on live broadcast. “This is treason,” Garner said.
The MediaWorks board responded in a statement Monday, saying it was unfortunate that the termination process was played out in the media before staff were notified.
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“It is clear that emotions were running high on Thursday and part of the Today FM team took the news on air ahead of the scheduled announcement and meetings with the team.
“This was disappointing and certainly not what was planned.”
Council of three of MediaWorks said the Today FM team worked extremely hard in 2022 and the board did not want to diminish their efforts.
The statement also reaffirmed why Today FM was shutting down – it was losing too much money.
The interim CEO was heard saying the same thing last week in a leaked recording and a leaked document also exposed the station’s financial problems.
Jason Dorday/Stuff
Today FM producer Tom Day is talking to the media.
“The board’s view was that Today FM was not commercially sustainable and that it was in the interest of MediaWorks as a whole to close the station,” the statement said.
The board said the station’s revenues did not offset operating costs.
The outlook for the channel was “challenging” as viewership trends underperformed and moved downward, the statement said.
MediaWorks would now focus on its music radio stations and billboards, it said.
Jason Dorday/Stuff
Host Mark Richardson came to the MediaWorks office Thursday morning after the announcement.
Stuff the board also asked about the possibility of a trial afterwards one labor lawyer said staff needed more time for the filing process they were offered around the station’s closure.
“As this is an ongoing labor matter and the MediaWorks team is going through the process, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this stage.
“However, I can confirm that MediaWorks will honor all of its contractual obligations,” the board said.
Audio was leaked to it Stuff from interim CEO Wendy Palmer during the Thursday morning meeting with all stations, who responded to O’Brien about whether MediaWorks would be sold.
Chris McKeen/Stuff
Tova O’Brien was Today FM’s breakfast host, but couldn’t get the ratings high enough for the MediaWorks owners fast enough.
“They’re bankers aren’t they…I think that’s going to be their plan. They’re not here forever. Okay, they’ve come to buy an asset and then sell it,” Palmer said of the board of management. motivation.
a leaked 16-page document revealed that 30 hosts and production staff were proposed to dissolve their roles.
It also revealed that a review would begin for the 20 staff who work at the station’s news operation.
The rationale for closure, according to the document, was that MediaWorks could retain 75% of Today FM’s revenue with significant cost savings, if other MediaWorks stations used the existing frequencies.
The leaked document also revealed that less than one business day was scheduled for staff to submit the proposal to close the station.
On Friday, MediaWorks returned on Today FM’s termination broadcast after it said a new station would be launched on Today FM’s old frequencies, clarifying that the frequencies would be used by already established stations.