Samantha Hayes has been hired by digital media and newspaper company Stuff to be the main presenter for its new 6pm bulletin on Three.
The programme will replace Newshub, which is being shut down by Three and Newshub's owners, Warner Bros. Discovery.
Hayes has co-hosted the Newshub Live at 6pm bulletin with Mike McRoberts since 2016.
Several other Newshub presenters and reporters will move over to the new product, including Ollie Ritchie, Laura Tupou and Heather Keats.
Newshub Political Editor Jenna Lynch will also join the new programme, along with reporters Juliet Speedy and Zane Small.
Hayes says she is delighted to be joining Stuff.
"I'm thrilled to be starting a new chapter of my career with Stuff, after nearly two decades at Three. It's an honour to be anchoring this new iteration of the 6pm news and I'm grateful it will keep Newshub's legacy alive. This is the most exciting news project in the country, and I hope our viewers will trust us and come along for the ride."
Managing Director of Stuff Digital Nadia Tolich has welcomed Hayes' appointment.
"We are thrilled to have secured the top newsreader in the country to anchor our new bulletin. Samantha is an experienced and polished professional with brilliant skills and warmth. We are lucky to have her as part of the team.
"While there are some very familiar faces in our lineup, and we'll be reporting on all the major events in news, sport and business, this will be an evolution of a 6pm news product," Tolich says.
"We've said right from the start that we are innovating not replicating, and that will be in the way we commission and tell stories, the technology we use and our ability to get to the news first, right around the motu, through our large team of Stuff journalists."
Juliet Peterson, WBD Vice President, Head of Networks ANZ says the new 6pm bulletin has pulled together an excellent team in a short timeframe.
"We're very much excited to see the new Stuff bulletin come together," she says. "This is a brand-new 6pm bulletin with some continuity from familiar faces from the Newshub team."
Veteran TV news producer Claire Watson has been appointed as Executive Producer of the new 6pm bulletin. She had been at Newshub developing Three's planned 7pm current affairs programme, which was scrapped before launch due to the Newshub closure.
Steve Gore-Smith, currently Newshub's Senior Manager of Operations, will become Stuff's Director of Video Operations and Technology.
The new 6pm bulletin will air seven days a week from July 6, one day after the final Newshub broadcast. The name of the new programme has yet to be released.
