Controversial New Zealand broadcaster Paul Henry is leaving Australia's Ten network, where he's reported to be unpopular with staff as well as viewers.
The network yesterday said its Breakfast show, co-hosted by Henry, would cease production on November 30.
The show, averaging about 40,000 viewers per day since debuting in February, failed to dent the stranglehold on the breakfast TV market held by the Seven and Nine networks.
The Australian today reported a Ten spokesman confirming that Henry and co-host Kathryn Robinson are leaving the network.
The newspaper noted that the show will end on the date that many of the 100-plus Ten staff being made redundant will have their last day at work.
It quoted a Ten newsroom source saying resentment against Henry was so high that staff were threatening to boycott the Christmas party.
"Staff feel he is being protected while they lost their jobs," the source said.
"The mood is savage in the Ten newsroom. Staff won't look at him when he walks in the room."
Henry has been reported to be commanding a $A1 million ($NZ1.28 million) annual salary, but The Australian says it's unclear whether that amount applied to the three years of his contract.
Either way he was likely to be paid out part of his contract.
Henry and former TVNZ co-host Pippa Wetzell have been rumoured as possible presenters of a new magazine show to replace CloseUp on TV One next year.
NZN