TVNZ has banned Mike Hosking from covering stories about SkyCity Entertainment on Close Up after he acknowledged he had a celebrity deal with the casino company.
Hosking fills in for Mark Sainsbury on the prime-time current affairs show every second Friday, on top of his role as the breakfast-show host on Newstalk ZB.
Hosking could not be reached for comment yesterday, but TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said that after a report in the Herald on Sunday last weekend about celebrity deals at SkyCity, an executive had spoken to him. It was decided that because of Hosking's relationship with the casino, there could be a perceived conflict of interest. Hence he would no longer handle items about SkyCity.
TVNZ learned of the celebrity deal through the newspaper story.
Ms Richards said Hosking had indicated he had not declared the deal because he was at TVNZ for only about four hours a fortnight.
"He said nobody had asked him about it, but we pointed out that declaring issues was one of the terms of his contract," she said.
He had told TVNZ he sometimes worked as a master of ceremonies for the casino company. Ms Richards said TVNZ did not know the terms of the arrangements or payments.
However, it is understood his remuneration from SkyCity amounts to thousands of dollars.
Ms Richards said the Close Up restriction applied to items about the SkyCity corporate entity and not issues such as problem gambling, which Hosking would still be permitted to cover.
Newstalk ZB has taken a different approach, and Hosking is permitted to talk about SkyCity when he is on air.
The Radio Network's general manager of talk radio, Dallas Gurney, said Hosking was a contractor and had declared a relationship with SkyCity from the start.
"The policy is that if the topic of SkyCity came up on air, he would make a full declaration of his interest. We are aware of any external potential conflicts, and if they occurred, Hosking would tell listeners."
