Television New Zealand is to close down its youth channel, TVNZ U, at the end of August.
The commercial channel was launched in 2011 to replace the commercial-free TVNZ 6, but spokesperson Georgie Hills said on Monday the state broadcaster was unable to make it financially viable.
"Despite our best efforts, we've not been able to make it work financially. The channel is a very lean operation as it is and we couldn't find any more significant savings to address the shortfall."
Ms Hills said a consultation process is underway with staff affected to keep them in the organisation.
The channel would be replaced on 1 September by a version of TV 2 an hour later, where Ms Mills said most of the broadcaster's most popular content is shown.
