The axe is hovering over Close Up after a release was sent out yesterday saying it was looking at a ‘proposal’ to switch it off in favour of what TVNZ’s news and current affairs head Ross Dagan calls a “new daily current affairs show with a distinctively different format”. Most believe it’s already a done deal, and if it goes ahead, the show will finish up by the end of the year, bringing an end to a format that’s been running for 23 years.