Today FM is facing closure as Tova O’Brien and Duncan Garner expressed their concern about the future of the new talk radio station, taking the extraordinary step of speaking on air about their fears. “We’re scared. We’re optimistic, and we’ve got to hold out hope here, but we’re scared and we want to be honest with you as we don’t know what’s going to happen,” O’Brien told listeners, in an audio clip that has since been posted on the station’s website. “We’re exposed, we don’t have a line of defence anymore, the company is bleeding cash.†During his show this morning, Garner brought the entire newsroom into his show alongside O’Brien. “We’ve been on the air for a year; we were told we had the support of everyone, from the chief executive through to the board, through to the executive. “We’re all gonna lose our jobs, and the station is gonna go off the air.” He described the scene, saying employees were in a bad way, crying and “shell-shocked”. In a statement, interim Mediaworks chief executive said the station had been taken off air while there is consultation about its future. “This is a difficult time for the team and our priority is supporting them as we work through this process.” In a tweet this morning, Tom Day, producer of the Tova show, said Mediaworks has made a proposal to shut down Today FM, and have given employees until the end of this afternoon to make submissions. The Mediaworks board have made a proposal to shut down Today FM. They have given us only until the end of this afternoon to make submissions. I have no words Speaking to media after the meeting, Day said: “They want to keep parts of digital with the business and they want to keep parts of news. “We’re gutted, we’re disappointed. I love our amazing team, so many people do such great work at Today FM,” he added. “It was a big shock but also it wasn’t a surprise… We passionately believe that we have done incredible work and so we’re just frustrated that the board doesn’t believe that, and I think they’ve got it blatantly wrong.” “Since then, we haven’t been able to get the same level of assurance from the board, from our acting CEO, about what the future of Today FM looks like,†O’Brien said. I am gutted. @TodayFM_nz was what gave hope to so many people. I love our team It comes after Sky NZ yesterday confirmed it was axing 170 jobs as it outsources some customer service, technology and content operations. AUT’s head of radio Matt Mollgaard told Breakfast that Today FM’s challenges weren’t unique – but he wouldn’t predict the death of radio. AUT’s head of radio Matt Mollgaard told Breakfast that Today FM’s challenges weren’t unique – but he wouldn’t predict the death of radio.
