3 News has not died like some would suggest.
We are evolving and investing heavily in the cross-platform news business.
To suggest, like some have, that we have given up on news is the opinion of the wildly and totally uninformed and ignorant.
3 News becomes Newshub.
It's part of a much wider shake-up of how we do things, how you consume the news and views we report and of course a rebrand.
The truth is the way you consume news has been changing rapidly. So, Mediaworks had invested millions of dollars in a new state-of-the-art integrated newsroom. It's bloody impressive.
I love working in it and sense others do too.
It's a place we can be proud of. People want to be here. People want to work from here. I see the passion and excitement every day.
Far from walking away from news, we've actually invested in it in a big way over a year-long construction.
We're training our reporters like never before, we have new technology, new staff, new co-operation across TV, radio and online. Thank goodness!
It's a new approach. And it was totally necessary. Stand still and you die. Evolve, as you must.
It's true the 6pm bulletin used to be the one-stop shop for news. I started in 1995 at TVNZ when one million people watched a half-hour bulletin at TVNZ.
Our stories were short. We rarely went 'live' from the field. We had no cell phones. There was no internet. There were surplus reporters sitting on their backsides.
Now, the landscape is barely recognisable - there has been a tidal wave of change.
We must provide the news to meet your much more diverse media consumption habits.
More than 65 percent of people own smart phones and consume their news across the day in a digital way.
So we have to give you the news like a rolling maul, minute by minute, and we will. And we do.
I'm so proud of what 3 News has achieved. This isn't the end, it's simply evolution.
But let's pause and reflect. 3 News has led the game for so long. Mention the big stories and 3 News led the coverage.
My friends who work for rival media companies still choose 3 News most nights, because we traditionally break stories and are first there. They just can't admit it publically.
I spent 11 years in our press gallery office, the last seven as Political Editor. I'm proud to say we constantly broke stories, exposed lies, explained the big policy decisions and hopefully informed you in a credible and at times entertaining way.
And Newshub's Political Editor Paddy Gower has more than continued that tradition.
It's what we do, it's our reputation and nothing changes with Newshub.
Journos run our outfit, present the news and report the news at Mediaworks. News and breaking news is in our DNA at every level.
I'm proud to work here, to do radio, TV, blog, file for online and comment far too often across social media. It's what I do and it's what we do here at Newshub.
Our 6pm bulletin remains; we're proud of our news bulletin and that will never change.
However, this move is more of a reflection of you and how you live your lives. We want to keep you informed across the day, across any platform you choose.
It's not just news though. We must provide opinion and our take on the big events and decisions. That's why we pride ourselves on having leading commentators and hosts too.
Newshub, like no other media company in NZ, will provide news across our TV platform, our vast array of radio stations including RadioLIVE and online. We have the media assets and the people and we've spent the money.
Maybe that's why our competitors spend so much time scrutinising us, because they know what we're capable of and what we've been planning.
It's exciting. It's a privilege to report the news and it comes with a massive responsibility.
We get that.
But far from walking away from news, we've just got bigger, better and stronger.
Join Hilary, Mike and the rest of us at Newshub from February 1st.
