The Project (New Zealand TV programme)

The Project is a New Zealand current affairs show hosted by Jesse Mulligan, Kanoa Lloyd, and Jeremy Corbett with rotating guest panelists. It aired at 7 pm weeknights on Three.

The programme was officially cancelled on 26 October 2023, and its last episode aired on 1 December 2023.

Format
The show's format was purchased from Roving Enterprises and was the same as that of the Australian version, The Project, which airs on Network Ten. It presented light and topical current affairs content as well as comedy from recent news stories. It was filmed and broadcast live in front of a studio audience.

Each presenter filled a different role on the programme: the anchor (Jesse Mulligan), the newsreader (Kanoa Lloyd) and the comedian (Jeremy Corbett). They were usually joined by a guest presenter who was typically a well-known New Zealander, such as a journalist, comedian or politician, or an international guest. Jaquie Brown filled that role regularly on Fridays. All the presenters introduced and voiced over magazine-style current affairs stories and discussed the day's events.

Episodes were thirty minutes, but were sixty minutes on Fridays from the show's 2017 launch until the end of 2019. The guest presenter and live audience were briefly discontinued during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Backup presenters

 * As anchor
 * Jon Bridges
 * Michael Wesley-Smith
 * Wallace Chapman
 * Patrick Gower
 * Ryan Bridge
 * Nadine Higgins
 * As newsreader
 * Nadine Higgins (née Chalmers-Ross)
 * Mike McRoberts
 * Ali Mau
 * Isobel Ewing
 * Jeremy Corbett
 * Kate Rodger
 * Laura Tupou
 * As comedian
 * Ben Hurley
 * Peter Helliar
 * Jeremy Elwood
 * Rhys Mathewson
 * Dai Henwood
 * Josh Thomson
 * Rose Matafeo
 * Melanie Bracewell
 * Urzila Carlson
 * Justine Smith
 * Rove McManus
 * Guy Williams
 * Heath Franklin (as Chopper)
 * Jono Pryor
 * Tony Lyall
 * Paul Ego
 * Jaquie Brown
 * Pax Assadi

Season 1 (2017)
The first television advertisement for the show was released in early February and promoted the show as "not the same old song and dance". The program launched on 20 February 2017 with hosts Jesse Mulligan, Kanoa Lloyd, and Josh Thomson, and guest host Rove McManus, and became the number 1 trend on Twitter during its timeslot. Fill-in hosts throughout the first season include Ben Hurley, Peter Helliar, Jeremy Elwood, Rhys Mathewson, and Dai Henwood for Josh Thomson, Jon Bridges, Michael Wesley-Smith and Wallace Chapman for Jesse Mulligan, and Nadine Higgins (née Chalmers-Ross) for Kanoa Lloyd. On Monday through Thursday, episodes aired for half an hour, and on Friday, for a whole hour.

On 5 June 2017, RadioLive ceased simulcasting The Project.

The season ended on 15 December 2017, having aired 212 episodes.

Season 2 (2018)
The second season of The Project debuted on 15 January 2018, three weeks earlier than its competitor, Seven Sharp.

On 16 March 2018, Josh Thomson left his position as panelist on The Project, although he "will continue to contribute to The Project, and will join Jesse and Kanoa on the desk regularly." His position was filled by Jeremy Corbett, who had usually been the fourth host on Monday nights.

On 18 May 2018, Francesca Avent and Toby Gilsenan got married live on The Project, with Jaquie Brown officiating, as a culmination of the show's week-long celebration of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

The season ended on 14 December 2018, having aired 238 episodes.

Season 3 (2019)
The third season of The Project debuted on 21 January 2019, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern's partner Clarke Gayford as the fourth host.

On 15 March, they had no fourth host or live studio audience as they covered the Christchurch mosque shootings.

On 17 April, there was no episode, because Three was airing the You Are Us/Aroha Nui concert live from Christchurch. There was also no episodes on 19 April or 22 April for Good Friday and Easter Monday.

The season ended on 13 December 2019, having aired 232 episodes.

Season 4 (2020)
The fourth season of The Project debuted on 20 January 2020. The Friday episodes were reduced to half an hour.

On 17 February, they aired at 6:30pm due to a network outage at Newshub, which forced Three to re-air the 4:30pm bulletin at 6pm, and meant that they didn't have an autocue.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the show stopped having an audience from 16 March, and from 23 March, it stopped having a rotating guest panelist, changing to a three-host format. A physically distanced studio audience returned on 18 May. A full studio audience and rotating guest panelist returned on 8 June, with Patrick Gower being the first.

On 12 August, with Auckland returning to Alert Level 3, the show stopped having an audience and reverted to the three-host format. When Auckland returned to Alert Level "2.5" on 31 August, a fourth host returned and a physically distanced audience was added.

The season ended on 11 December 2020, having aired 233 episodes.

Season 5 (2021)
The fifth season of The Project debuted on 18 January 2021. The rotating guest panelist was removed from 15 to 17 February 2021 and again from 1 to 5 March 2021, while Auckland was in Alert Level 3.

On 27 May, Urzila Carlson was scheduled to be the guest host, but had to self-isolate before the episode began.

, 116 episodes have been aired.

Ending
On 26 October 2023, Warner Bros. Discovery ANZ confirmed they had commenced discussions to discontinue The Project by December 2023, citing changes in audience behaviour. The final episode aired on 1 December 2023.