The state broadcaster's head, Rick Ellis, last night suggested Henry's future was far from certain, despite his earlier stand that Henry's job was not on the line.
"I think that as the week has progressed and the complaints have continued to roll into the company, you've really got to reassess things each day and I'll be reflecting over the weekend and again on Monday as to where we go from here."
The bleak signal for Henry came after Maori Affairs Minister Pita Sharples said in an interview with current affairs show Marae Investigates that Henry should go.
The interview will screen tomorrow.
Mr Sharples is the second senior minister to cast doubt over Henry's position as Breakfast co-host; Stephen Joyce earlier suggested he was becoming a liability.
And it comes against a backdrop of intensifying diplomatic fall-out in India where Henry's outburst have been criticised by the Government.
Asked if he personally thought Henry was racist, Mr Ellis said: "I'm not sure I'm going to answer that question because I don't want to be drawn into this whole debate about whether Paul Henry is racist or not.
"Certainly, the comments that he's made have clearly been of a racist nature and they could only be interpreted that way ... as a person, deep down I think he's a very decent human being."
The fallout from Henry's questioning of whether the Governor-General Sir Anand Satyanand was "even a New Zealander" and whether the next governor-general would "look and sound like a New Zealander" has included hundreds of complaints to the broadcaster.
The issue has escalated over Henry's earlier mockery of an Indian minister's name.
Senior TVNZ management have also faced criticism throughout the week about whether their lax management of Henry led to the situation.
Mr Ellis said he had already taken steps to "tighten up or rearticulate" editorial guidelines. In a "tough week" the controversy "has been a wake-up call.
"From time to time you do need to revisit the discipline around the implementation of editorial policies and that's what we're going to do."
New Zealand's High Commission in Delhi Rupert Holborow has had to apologise for Henry's "racist, insensitive, inappropriate and vulgar" mocking of Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit's name after India issued him with a demarche - a formal protest.
India's High Commissioner in New Zealand has also now written to broadcasting minister Jonathan Coleman to protest about it.
Foreign Minister Murray McCully yesterday described Henry's comments as "gratuitous and insulting" when responding to the diplomatic action taken by India. Mr Coleman also said he was not surprised people found the comments "offensive and inappropriate".
However, Mr Key has so far downplayed it, referring to it as "poorly designed humour" and "something that may have started as humour". He said every country with freedom of speech would have people who pushed boundaries and "exercise humour even if it's poorly based humour".
He also indicated India had overreacted, saying sometimes people from other countries made harsh comments about New Zealand "which we don't reflect back to that country. We accept they've come from the individual in question".
He did not intend to make contact personally with the Indian Government, saying the New Zealand High Commissioner's apology was in effect an apology from himself.
Labour leader Phil Goff said Mr Key could not afford to try to deflect the situation by downplaying it.
"He has to say this is totally unacceptable and offensive. We are right in the middle of trade negotiations with India."
Media in India have widely covered the issue, including reporting Indian ministers boycotted a dinner with Governor-General Anand Satyanand.
The clip in question was widely played on YouTube in the wake of Mr Henry's comments about the Governor-General. In it Henry laughed at Ms Dikshit's name. He made the remarks after footage of the conditions at the Games Village - including faeces smeared in hand basins - in the lead-up to the Games.
