ACT Party leader David Seymour is investigating making TVNZ pay dividends.

He's asked Treasury to look into the returns the station is offering tax-payers, after 1News' competitor Newshub revealed it was broke.

Warner Bros. Discovery has proposed shuttering Newshub from July, axing one of the country's biggest commercial news operators.

Seymour says it's possible requesting dividends could improve returns- and competition.

"It's one possibility- having one big state competitor that gets a pretty easy run in terms of getting taxpayer capital and paying dividends is distorting the marketplace."

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