John Campbell says final goodbye to his viewers ending his ten years with TV3.

From money woes to culling current affairs, TV3's had a tough old time in recent years. We look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly.

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* Mediaworks dumps TV3 current affairs show 3D

* Mediaworks leaks reveal cuts and changes at TV3

WINNING MOVES

The Bachelor star Art Green proved a real catch for TV3.

In the realm of reality, TV3 has proven king, with The Bachelor and Dancing with the Stars pulling in huge numbers of viewers this year. In fact, TV3's focus on reality TV has been credited with helping minimise an across-the-board slide that's hit TV2 especially hard.

On its finale night in May, The Bachelor scored a stunning result, with 429,540 viewers tuning in to watch Art make Matilda the happiest woman in Auckland. At the same time, TVNZ's My Kitchen Rules slumped to its worst rating of the season, with 269,310 viewers.

And The Bachelor has proven a gift that keeps giving: it's coming back for a second season, with single ladies now being sought for their one true televised shot at love, while Art and Matilda have marked more than six months together with a public display of modern romance: creating a joint Facebook page.

Mediaworks All the the highs and lows compiled into a Top Ten moments of The Bachelor.

However, it wasn't all good news in the world of reality: X-Factor's been dropped for 2016 after poor for its finale, while Masterchef NZ also won't make a comeback, after being unable to pull in the same numbers for TV3 as it had in the past for TVNZ.

Instead, Kiwis will get a local version of the game show Family Feud, in which two families compete to guess the most popular answers to questions, to be fronted by comedian Dai Henwood.

ON THE CHOPPING BLOCK

MediaWorks bosses were stunned by Natalia Kills' savage rant at a contestant on X-Factor.

While reality's had a mixed-run in 2015, the real world of current affairs has had it even tougher over recent years.

Back in 2010, TV3's decision to axe morning TV show Sunrise and bring in Firstline, hosted by Rachel Smalley, was a vote of confidence for hard news.

The winds of change blew again in 2013, when Nightline was killed off in favour of a late-night show hosted by shock jock Paul Henry - who was later shuffled into Firstline's time slot as TV3 and RadioLIVE merged their breakfast broadcasts.

3D's Paula Penfold has just had her current affairs show canned. She is pictured with husband Mike McRoberts.

At last, in 2013, there was good news again: a new show, called 3rd Degree - hosted by 3News and TVNZ's former political editors Duncan Garner and Guyon Espiner - promised hard-hitting, in-depth reports, in a prime-time slot.

The show's interviews, including with Tania Billingsley, and a series of stories that helped wrongfully-convicted man Teina Pora clear his name.

Things were on the up and up after TVNZ cancelled Close Up and brought in the lighter Seven Sharp - giving Campbell Live its first ever win in the ratings war.

TV3 3 News presenter Hilary Barry breaks down after a story about outgoing colleague John Campbell.

But things weren't to be: the arrival of Mike Hosking on TV One turned the ratings on their head, and even a public campaign to boost viewer numbers couldn't rescue John Campbell's show, before it disappeared from the airwaves in May.

Now, with the demise of 3D, announced on Monday, TV3's current affairs programming hangs by a thread, with Campbell Live's replacement, Story, and the weekend politics show The Nation the only strings to its bow.

The company blames sliding ratings. In a leaked email to staff last month, MediaWorks boss Mark Weldon said while entertainment had performed well, news and current affairs had not: "The numbers do not lie, and there have been performance issues in both TV and in digital."

RORY O'SULLIVAN/Stuff.co.nz John Campbell admits he was "overwhelmed" by the scale of support for his threatened show after scores of demonstrators marched on MediaWorks HQ in Auckland.

STRANGE TIMES

From an X-Factor judge abusing a contestant to hosts on The Edge offending as many people as possible, 2015 was an odd old year for Mediaworks.

Singers Natalia Kills and husband Willie Moon were fired from X-Factor in March over a "destructive tirade" that stunned network executives.

Peter Meecham John Campbell's last regular television gig - Campbell Live - ended in 2015.

In an on-air rant, Kills accused contestant Joe Irvine of copying Moon's style, calling it "cheesy" and "disgusting".

In July, The Edge host Dom Harvey - who's no stranger to controversy - caused another headache for his bosses with a social media post that included a screenshot of Dancing with the Stars finalist (and ex-The Bachelor contestant) Chrystal Chenery's crotch.

Harvey followed up by saying he was "just having a laugh"; he later deleted the post, but not before the internet took aim, labelling him a misogynist.

NORRIE MONTGOMERY Dom Harvey's caused offence, both on the airwaves with co-hosts Jay-Jay Harvey and Mike Puru, and off-air.

One month later, Harvey and his radio co-host wife Jay-Jay put other former The Bachelor contenders on the spot on-air, with a "cucumber game" that outraged some listeners.

The women were asked to put a cucumber in their mouth, and bite as far along as they could. A woman who complained to the Broadcasting Standards Authority said the "really humiliating" prank was "obviously to gauge [their] performance in a sexual act".

Last month, Harvey struck again, with an off-colour joke about Jonah Lomu shortly after the rugby star's death.

ASHTEN MACDONALD/Stuff.co.nz The 'crotch gate' scandal as divided the public, we ask is what Dom Harvey did ok?

But it's not just the entertainment side of MediaWorks causing agony for the bosses: on October 16, political reporter Tova O'Brien was arrested outside Chris Cairns' London trial for filming in a prohibited area; six days later, police began an investigation into Story co-host Heather du Plessis-Allan over a gun purchase for a story exposing a firearm law loophole.

What began with a bang for TV3's new Scout entertainment site has turned into a fizzer. Gossip queen Rachel Glucina's appointment raised many eyebrows.

The site's opening act - paparazzi photos of Mike Hosking, MediaWorks' radio competitor on Newstalk ZB, vacuuming his Ferrari - were publicly mocked by TV3's biggest names.

Mediaworkks Radio host Dominic Harvey's joke about his shaven eyebrow tribute to Jonah Lomu has fallen flat with many fans.

MONEY WOES (AND RECOVERY)

Between 2008 and 2013, the MediaWorks money pot was looking dire. Hit hard by the global financial crisis, the company went through repeated restructures over several years.

In 2011, there was good news: MediaWorks repaid the remainder of a $43 million government loan that had helped pay its broadcasting licenses.

PETER MEECHAM/FAIRFAX NZ Rachel Glucina, editor-in-chief at Scout, certainly raised eyebrows at MediaWorks.

But two years later, the company entered receivership, with $700 million in debt. The June 2013 move followed a years-long battle with IRD over historic tax returns. At the same time, MediaWorks had to renegotiate its pricey contracts with US entertainment giants.

Within months, however, TV3 had turned its fortunes around. Out of receivership in November 2013, MediaWorks has been steaming onwards and upwards with a new-look board - including reality TV queen Julie Christie - and the appointment of former NZX boss Mark Weldon as chief executive last year.

This summer will see another shake-up, as 3News and RadioLIVE merge their news operations. The stations already combine resources: 3News and Paul Henry's breakfast show are both simulcast on radio, while Duncan Garner hosts on both networks.

MediaWorks' news boss Mark Jennings has indicated changes are afoot for the 6pm news - and popular long-time anchors Mike McRoberts and Hillary Barry face an uncertain future.