{"id":604796,"date":"2026-09-19T00:30:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-19T00:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/604796\/"},"modified":"2026-09-19T00:30:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-19T00:30:10","slug":"media-insider-rnz-host-susie-ferguson-on-leave-amid-turbulent-period-for-saturday-morning-show","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/604796\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Insider: RNZ host Susie Ferguson on leave amid turbulent period for Saturday Morning show"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forbes was based in Auckland and Ferguson is in Wellington.<\/p>\n

It was initially expected that the pair would continue to host the show for at least several weeks, until the new host was found.<\/p>\n

But Forbes announced on air on August 22 that she was leaving immediately<\/a> \u2013 the day after being given four weeks\u2019 notice. A source said at the time that Forbes\u2019 sudden move had caught RNZ management \u201coff guard\u201d. <\/p>\n

RNZ did not answer questions on that specific assertion at the time, but said Ferguson would continue to host the show \u201dwhile a new host is recruited\u201d.<\/p>\n

Ferguson was in the Saturday Morning seat on Saturday, August 29, but not in the three weeks since.<\/p>\n

Wide-ranging broadcaster Patrick Gower hosted the show on September 5, and Nights host Emile Donovan did the job on September 12. Gower was back in the seat for today\u2019s show.<\/p>\n

A source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said RNZ had expected Ferguson to keep holding the reins \u2013 and that this was unrealistic.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a team that have all lost their jobs, and so it\u2019s just really pretty miserable.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to the hosts losing their roles, the show\u2019s production team is being cut from five roles to three. RNZ is also establishing a new executive producer role in Auckland.<\/p>\n

The claim of a miserable atmosphere \u2013 and questions about Ferguson\u2019s absence \u2013 were put to RNZ on Friday.<\/p>\n

A spokeswoman replied with: \u201cThe appointment process for the Saturday Morning presenter is ongoing. With Saturday Morning, guest hosts will be presenting the show while Susie takes a period of leave.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MihingarangiMihingarangi Forbes, right, began co-hosting RNZ Saturday Morning with Susie Ferguson in August 2024. Photo montage \/ RNZ<\/p>\n

Ferguson is one of RNZ\u2019s most celebrated broadcasters, having presented the flagship Morning Report show for eight years. <\/p>\n

She stepped away from that role in 2022 to be a senior journalist and special presenter for RNZ, before becoming Saturday Morning host, replacing Kim Hill, in early 2024. Forbes became her co-host in August that year.<\/p>\n

Media Insider revealed in June<\/a> that RNZ had met Saturday Morning staff, including Ferguson and Forbes, to outline proposed changes. Sources say staff were shocked.<\/p>\n

As Media Insider reported, the changes have been partly driven by challenging ratings in recent times, although the latest GFK survey, released last month, was more encouraging with the show\u2019s listeners up 5900 to 175,000.<\/p>\n

Four names appear to be possible replacements, according to sources \u2013 Gower and Donovan, as Media Insider has previously reported, as well as Kate Roger and Melissa Chan-Green.<\/p>\n

One source said RNZ was \u201call about numbers and they\u2019ve got to bring numbers up\u201d. <\/p>\n

They suspected RNZ might prefer a television name to be the new Saturday Morning host. But while Gower, Roger and Chan-Green were all strong screen broadcasters, radio was a different medium.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe problem is that it\u2019s a risky strategy because you\u2019re going to potentially lose the core audience. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019d be very smart to have a balance, to go for an Emile Donovan, who can do heft and depth and also really beautifully craft a structured show.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like the difference between opera and a musical. They\u2019re both their own thing, but it\u2019s all about the voice, all about the voice and the listening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Forbes was based in Auckland and Ferguson is in Wellington. It was initially expected that the pair would…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":604797,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[534,28195,4500,10666,11557,5820,2082,12022,2936,12514,1073,156506,1304,111,139,69,90,5353,45,32234,1534,1305,50359,213,117722,35636],"class_list":["post-604796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-amid","tag-atmosphere","tag-changes","tag-cuts","tag-describes","tag-ferguson","tag-for","tag-host","tag-insider","tag-leave","tag-media","tag-miserable","tag-morning","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-on","tag-period","tag-rnz","tag-rnzs","tag-saturday","tag-show","tag-source","tag-sports","tag-susie","tag-turbulent"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=604796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/604796\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/604797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=604796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=604796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=604796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}