The million dollar woman?

December 22nd, 2004 at 8:47 am by David Farrar

Reinventing TVNZ suggests Judy Bailey is actually getting around $1 million a year in terms of total package, not $800,000.

When the Government was whacking the Board with wet bus tickets, did they even ask how much the package actually was?

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19 Responses to “The million dollar woman?”

  1. Adolf Fiinkensein Says:

    Do TVNZ use the same payroll system as Waipareira Trust?

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  2. Just your ordinary run-of-the-mill antidisestablishmentarianist Says:

    Exactly, and what would happen to Judy if SHE accidentally forgot to declare it.

    Sorry, didn’t mean to pick on you Judy. Actually, what would happen if any other New Zealander accidentally forgot to declare it.

    Now of course, we will be watching Mr David Butler very closely. I wonder how long his interest in this can be stalled? I’d suggest his involvement is already considerably overdue.

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  3. dan Says:

    Ha – listening to you on bfm right now, bro.

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  4. nigel Says:

    TVNZ reaps what it sows, you give someone in that position a 1 year contract, how surprising is it that you end up paying top dollar.
    What surprises me most is that it is ok for Jonah Lomu to earn millions, but people are so shocked that TV presenters earn big money, they are just as crucial to the team making the news broadcast as a top rugby player to that team & as such I believe deserve the money they earn.

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  5. Adolf Fiinkensein Says:

    The comments on Reinventing TVNZ a funnier than the channel’s contrived humour.

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  6. llew Says:

    Well… if Judy could score 3 tries in a match against the English rugby team I for one would be happy for her salary to top 2 million.

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  7. baxter Says:

    Part of her duties when she arrives in her limo at 3pm is to help the reporters who get the stories she reads the intro for. I wonder if they are in for similar percentage wage increases.

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  8. Charles Says:

    Apparently working in TVNZ news is a little like winning the lottery. Old John Hawkesberry’s $6m handshake/buyout and now Jude’s wopper.

    It amazes me that such a simple and undemanding job can command such an enormous amount of money. My God, the woman was overpaid at her previous salary. All she does is come in to work for a few hours a day and read what someone else has written off a teleprompter.

    Good to see NZ’s culture of personal and corporate greed has taken root really well. How slavishly we copy the American lifestyle. What a pity that those doing jobs that actually earn this country money and that keep business and the economy functioning are not so well paid.

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  9. Nigel Says:

    Charles, if it was overpaid Kerry Packer would not pay those numbers & he does, same goes for US corporate TV owners. There are good reasons for the money.

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  10. Reid Says:

    There are good reasons for the money only because it appears that people “invite” the news reader into their living rooms and the personality to be “invited” back night after night is what they pay for. She’s the “mother of the nation” according to some. Overseas they’re paid millions. Why do mag sales go up when Princess Di [insert fav celeb] is on the cover? Same stupid reason. I don’t personally participate in such vapid pastimes and I imagine most readers of this forum don’t either. But millions do. That’s the problem.

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  11. Nigel Says:

    It’s also actually not that easy to do & alot harder to do consistently ( not to mention boring ).
    But what shifts them from high to really high income is eventually they are beneficiaries of a human desire for consistency, which makes them valuable by virtue primarily of having been around for a while & performing at a consistently high level, not that different to most brands really :) .

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  12. tim barclay Says:

    Judy is an established brand who had audience appeal and hence advertsing reventue. It is a credit to her years of total professionalism to her job. Well done. However I fear the spiteful ones (not least people on the blog) will resent her money and will tune to the other channel, so the payment to retain her may involve some loss in audience.

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  13. gardy Says:

    Tim and Nigel…take a step back and read what you have written….”judy is an established brand” “the mother of the nation”…ffs, she is a human being not a brand and as such is expendable like everyone else (just ask the Hawkesbys, Mike Hosking,Richard Long, Bill McCarthy, etc etc).
    No newsreader, and lets remember thats what she is, is worth that much. The show will go on.

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  14. tim barclay Says:

    The show will go on but they risk losing audience share to the very telegenic duo on TV3. Though the ugly comments from people with green eyes will mean that Judy has probably lost some audience share already. I do admire her skill and professionalism and I am sure it is far harder than it looks. She is a star and in this dreary country we do not have many stars.

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  15. Kimble Says:

    gardy, time to join the real world mate. Expendable just like everybody else? How much do you earn? Is it enough? Should I have a say in how much you earn? Is it your job to decide who is expendable?

    How much anyone gets paid is exactly how much someone is willing to pay them. How much they are worth to that payer is usually more than they will be paid. This is the problem with a state broadcaster and proof that Government involvement in pretty much anything is going to be inefficient.

    If TVNZ was privately owned, noone would care or even have a right to know, how much people were being paid. Because it is and we do, downward pressure will be put on salaries. Essentially, TVNZ’s flexibility and responsiveness to the market is being retarded. They are getting mixed messages, “Heres a charter, follow it”, “Maintain market share”, “A profit would be nice”.

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  16. tim barclay Says:

    I agree Kimble. The Government wants the profit so they can spend the dividend on hip-hop tours and other useless projects but they have this prejudice against the successful who lay all the golden eggs. Perhaps they should all turn gay and have a civil union the Government would like that.

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  17. insider Says:

    I suspect a lot of the reason for the money is because TVNZ have invested so much in telling us how great she is, they can’t afford not to support their own marketing hype.

    We get the news we deserve. If we are stupid enough to watch the news because Judy reads it, we can hardly be outraged that she is paid for her success.

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  18. Bob Howard Says:

    I don’t care what Judy Bailey earns. She is a successful person and good on her. What I heard when it was announced were the screams of the envy socialist brigade. Helen’s reaction seemed to be designed to impress her supporters. TVNZ management might be criticised for paying too much but that is not her fault.

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  19. Adolf Fiinkensein Says:

    Bob H, you aint heard nuthin until you go and have a look at the Reinventing TVNZ site. They make vitriole look like lemonade.

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