TVNZ has reported a significant loss of $28.5 million for the financial year, blaming the weak economy, shifts in the media landscape, and a tough advertising market for the downturn.

The broadcaster’s annual financial results, announced today, confirm the early warning it gave about its financial struggles three months ago.

The company’s net loss after tax was $85 million for the year ending in June, including a non-cash impairment of $62.1 million. TVNZ’s revenue dropped by $38.8 million over the year, prompting the company to cut spending by $9.9 million and tap into $7.4 million of its cash reserves.

CEO Jodi O’Donnell said “despite this, and our careful management of costs, our financial performance reflects a constrained economy, market disruption, and a difficult advertising market,” she said. “It has been an extremely challenging period for ad-funded broadcasters globally, including TVNZ, but we are confident in our turnaround plan and digital strategy.”

O’Donnell said TVNZ has enough cash to support its digital strategy for the next three years, which includes building a robust technology platform to help return the company to profitability.

Although TVNZ will not pay a dividend to the Government this year, O’Donnell said there are signs of improvement. “

We are cautiously planning for a stabilising of the economy and expect challenging market conditions to continue until the end of the calendar year,” she said.

O’Donnell said the company is working on solutions to address a $30 million challenge expected in the next financial year.

“We need to stabilise losses quickly and continue with a multi-year programme to strengthen our streaming technology. We have a clear commercial mandate and will deliver on this and innovate at pace to be a more sustainable media business,” she said.