Director of News and Current Affairs, Mark Jennings, says he is delighted to have Guyon joining the team.

“When you get an opportunity to snap up a journalist of Guyon’s calibre, you don’t hesitate,” he says.

“I have a great deal of respect for his work; he breaks stories and tells them well. He is a great addition to our 60 Minutes team.”

Guyon has been TVNZs political editor since 2006, having joined the network in 2003. Prior to TVNZ, Guyon had ten years experience in journalism, including working at Wellington’s Evening Post, and a stint as political editor of the Sunday Star Times. He attended Canterbury University, and the Wellington Polytechnic Journalism School (now Massey). He writes a political column in North & South.

60 Minutes is TV3’s weekly current affairs programme. Presented by Mike McRoberts, it is a comprehensive blend of local and international reports, and interviews with people making the headlines, produced by some of New Zealand’s best investigative journalists.

Guyon will take up his new role in February 2012.

Many of you will have received this emailed release, the subject line of which reads: ‘60 Minutes drops 300K viewers since Feb – Monthly News Ratings.’

That statement is not true, and the release itself (copied below) contains a level of inaccuracy that requires correction.

Please note:

60 Minutes’ average audience in April was 256,500 people aged 5+
- The figure of 130,060 quoted by TVNZ is incorrect.

60 Minutes grew its audience in April.
- For the month of April, an average of 256,500 people aged 5+ watched each episode of 60 Minutes, a healthy increase of 8% on the average 5+ audience for March which was 237,600.

60 Minutes’ ratings surged in February as people tuned in for coverage of the Christchurch earthquake. The figure of 422,100 quoted by TVNZ is an outlier, and cannot be compared meaningfully with other months’ ratings.

- Only one episode of 60 Minutes screened in February, and this episode was broadcast on 23 February, the day after the Christchurch quake.
- Not surprisingly, ratings were unusually high.
- It is misleading to use the February 23 ratings as any kind of benchmark.

60 Minutes has a new time and date – from this weekend, the programme will screen at 7.30pm on Sundays.
- This is the only significant change being made to the programme in the next fortnight, and has been promoted through all the usual channels.
- This new, premium timeslot reflects our confidence in the ability of the 60 Minutes team to consistently break news stories, deliver in-depth analysis on the issues that affect New Zealanders, and build their audience.

Here is the text released by TVNZ:

There’s only one significant change in the news and current affairs viewership according to the monthly ratings data released this morning.

60 Minutes has shed almost half its audience since March and almost 300,000 viewers per week since February.

TV3’s flagship current affairs programme had an average of 422,120 viewers watching each week in February, 237,590 viewers watching each week in March and dropped another 107,530 viewers each week in April.

Only 130,060 watched each episode of 60 Minutes last month which explains why TV3 is making significant changes to the programme within the next fortnight.

The official, whose position requires him to have one of the highest security classifications, has made wild claims about his background, including that he had a distinguished combat career and was an Olympian.

He was hired by the NZDF despite having been pushed out of a series of jobs.

60 Minutes reporter Paula Penfold went undercover to expose the official’s lies. Armed with what he’d told her, 60 Minutes was able to check his employment history going back 20 years.

The programme revealed:

- how the official has claimed to have been a member of the British Olympic bobsleigh team in the 1980s. No one from the team or the British Bobsleigh Association has ever heard of him.

- Despite his claims to have been a Royal Marine, no record of him ever having been so exists. No evidence supports his claims to have been decorated in battle either.

- Despite what he says on his CV, his employment history going back to 1990 is far from impressive with previous employers concerned about his dishonesty and lack of performance.

- He vanished from one chief executive role after being challenged about the veracity of his background.

- Immediately before rising to his current job leading 80 people, he was chief executive of a small Australian housing company in charge of about 10 people. They jokingly called him a rocket scientist because of what he’d told them about his past.

The official solely represents New Zealand on a strategic international defence committee. A former employee told 60 Minutes the official is not capable of doing the job and is damaging New Zealand’s defence relationships with its allies.

Other people who have had dealings with him in the past tell the programme they cannot believe he holds the position he does.

So how did he get such a senior role in the New Zealand Defence Force?

Watch here.

- TV3

2009 saw 60 Minutes cover some intriguing local and international stories, and according to Executive Producer Terence Taylor, 2010 will prove to be even more fascinating.

“As always we’ll be kicking off the 2010 season with a bang,” he says. “Shooting is already underway around the country and we have some brilliant stories coming in from overseas.”

When asked about details, Taylor is hesitant about revealing much, saying; “I can’t say too much, but what I will say is that we have some great stories already in the pipeline!”

This year will also see Mike McRoberts once again joined on screen by his wife Paula Penfold.

“As usual, Mike McRoberts will be presenting and reporting,” says Taylor. “And his wife, Paula Penfold, will be taking an on-screen role.”

As for the rest of the team, Taylor says they could not be more excited about the upcoming season.

“All of us have a good feeling about 2010 – and we’ll be keen to make it the best 60 Minutes season yet,” he says.

Make sure to join Mike McRoberts and the team for what is gearing up to be an unforgettable 60 Minutes season when the series premieres on a new night of Wednesday, February 17th at 7:30pm on 3.

- TV3