Building a strong and sustainable public broadcasting environment for New Zealand: a programme of action

Radio and television have an unparalleled influence on how people view themselves, their country and the world.

With the ability to reflect and explore every aspect of New Zealand life, what we see and hear on television and radio plays an important part in shaping our national identity, both for us as New Zealanders and in the way the rest of the world sees us.

The 1980s was a time of significant restructuring for broadcasting and the impacts were felt throughout the 1990s. The focus of the government’s broadcasting policy since 2000 has been to reinvigorate public broadcasting and reassert its value and the role of public broadcasting institutions.

Under the Arts, Culture and Heritage vote public funding for broadcasting increased over this period from approximately $91 million in 2000 – 01 to approximately $127 million in 2004 - 05.

This year saw the completion of the key policy initiatives identified by the government in 2000 and we turned our attention to the future; where to from here in the fast-changing broadcasting sector?

The Broadcasting Programme of Action released in February 2005 builds on government policy initiatives, aiming to achieve a balanced mix of public and commercial broadcasting. It shows government’s continued strong support for public broadcasting and looks to create a broadcasting environment that supports the advances in digital technology.

The Ministry worked on the Programme of Action for the Minister of Broadcasting as part of a process which began with the release of Broadcasting in New Zealand: A 2003 Stock-take. Comment on this report was received from public broadcasting agencies, the wider broadcasting sector, and the public. This was complemented by information gathered at the December 2003 conference A New Future for Public Broadcasting.

The Programme of Action, finalised after further consultation with the broadcasting sector, outlines a high-level policy programme that is underpinned by a set of goals aimed at ensuring that broadcasting policies:

reflect public broadcasting principles
strengthen public broadcasting as a key element in the broadcasting ‘mixed economy’
maintain a healthy private broadcasting and production sector
provide a foundation for community and regional broadcasting.

The following six priorities will guide public broadcasting policy over the next six years:

Achieve adequacy and certainty of public funding for broadcasting by identifying a sound basis for determining the appropriate level of public funding for broadcasting.
Strengthen public broadcasting with a range of measures including considering an appropriate ratio of commercial to non-commercial funding for TVNZ and investigating options for new radio services.
Facilitate the successful development of digital broadcasting services for both television and audio broadcasting.
Enhance regional and community broadcasting by increasing support for local non-commercial radio and television.
Enhance independence and responsibility in broadcasting by investigating a possible modified role for the Broadcasting Standards Authority.
Enhance the incentives for producing higher-quality content and schedules by re-examining some of the functions of NZ On Air to permit it to support a more diverse range of content.

Each priority area contains a range of policy proposals and further consultation will be undertaken before final decisions are taken.

Building a Strong and Sustainable Public Broadcasting Environment for New Zealand is available on the Ministry’s website www.mch.govt.nz.

Work on the Programme of Action supports the Ministry’s Outcome 1, effective government involvement in culture and heritage.