Television New Zealand

, type = Crown entity
, industry = Broadcast television
, num_locations = New Zealand
, location = Auckland, New Zealand
, area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solomon Islands
, founded =
, owner = Minister of Finance (50%)
Minister of Broadcasting (50%)
, key_people = Simon Power (CEO)
, homepage =
, divisions =
, products = Television
, subsid = Former TV stations
, revenue = (2019)
, net_income = (2019)
, assets = 43.2% (2019)
, predecessor =

Television New Zealand ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki o Aotearoa), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a television network that is broadcast throughout New Zealand and parts of the Pacific region. All of its currently-operating channels are free-to-air and commercially funded.

TVNZ was established in February 1980 following the merger of the two government-owned television networks, Television One (now TVNZ 1) and South Pacific Television (now TVNZ 2), under a single administration. It was the sole television broadcaster in New Zealand until November 1989 when private channel TV3 (now Three) was launched.

TVNZ operates playout services from its Auckland studio via Kordia's fibre and microwave network for TVNZ 1, TVNZ 2 and TVNZ Duke, with new media video services via the American-owned Brightcove which is streamed on the Akamai RTMP/ HLS DNS based caching network. Its former channels include TVNZ Kidzone (closed 30 April 2016), TVNZ Heartland (closed 31 May 2015), TVNZ U (closed August 2013), TVNZ 7 (closed June 2012), TVNZ 6 (closed 2011), and TVNZ Sport Extra (closed 2009).

Approximately 90% of TVNZ's revenue is from commercial activity (such as advertising and merchandising). The remainder of its funding comes from government funding agencies. There has been reoccurring debate about TVNZ's role and whether it should be treated as a public-service broadcaster or a fully commercial network, and the current government plans to create a replacement public media entity.

History

Formation

TVNZ was created in February 1980, through the merger of Television One and South Pacific Television (which was renamed TV2). Until January 1989, it was paired with Radio New Zealand as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ).

The broadcaster was initially based in Television One's former headquarters at the Avalon television centre in Lower Hutt, with TV One broadcasting out of Avalon and TV2 broadcasting out of Auckland. However over the course of the 1980s, operations were gradually moved to Auckland. In 1989, TVNZ moved to a new television centre in central Auckland.

Broadcasting in New Zealand was deregulated in 1989. Private broadcasters were allowed to operate in competition to TVNZ. The Broadcasting Act 1989 also established the organisation now called NZ on Air which funds public broadcasting and independent media production in New Zealand.

Role as public broadcaster

The Labour-led government under Helen Clark from 1999 to 2008 pursued a programme of public broadcasting reforms. New Zealand's wide-ranging adoption of neoliberal policies in the mid-1980s and 1990s had large sections of the state sector privatised. As a state owned enterprise, TVNZ enjoyed enormous commercial success (sustaining two-thirds of the overall audience share) and paid the Crown substantial dividends (over $250 million between 1989 and 1999). However, the commercial success had been achieved through an unabashed pursuit of ratings through populist and tabloid content, and prior to the 1999 election the National-led government was evidently positioning TVNZ for commercialisation Labour-led administrations since 1999 explicitly recognised the market failures of a wholly commercial broadcasting sector (e.g. saturation-level advertising, low levels of local content, heavy reliance on cheap imports and a disregard for quality genres and in-depth news and current affairs) and re-emphasised television's cultural and democratic functions in their policy thinking.

The Clark government's highest profile broadcasting reform to date was the restructuring of TVNZ as a Crown entity in 2003. This introduced a dual remit whereby the broadcaster had to maintain its commercial performance (continuing dividend payments to the Crown) while simultaneously implementing a new public service Charter.

The TVNZ Charter would require the negotiation and reconciliation of potentially contradictory commercial and public service imperatives. The final version of the TVNZ Charter included a range of public service objectives and expectations.

However, this dual remit precluded any transformation of TVNZ into fully-fledged public service broadcaster, and TVNZ's efforts to balance its pursuit of commercial performance and Charter objectives were soon being criticised. Despite some investment in local content, including new documentaries and discussion programmes, the content on TV One and TV2 remained similar to the pre-charter schedules, with a continuing high proportion of light entertainment and reality-TV shows.

TVNZ continues to pay dividends to the Crown. However, from 2006 until 2009 TVNZ received $15.11 million each year from Government to assist it with fulfilling Charter obligations. There was much debate about the initial secrecy surrounding funding allocations and the programmes supported. The allocation of $5 million toward coverage of the 2008 Olympics, the rights for which are secured by a competitive tender between broadcasters, was possibly the most controversial. In 2009 the Government gave control of that funding to funding agency NZ On Air. NZ On Air announced the creation of the contestable "Platinum Fund" in April 2009, setting aside the $15.11 million for high quality drama, documentary and other programme types. Following the election of a National Party-led government under John Key in 2008, the Charter was abolished in favour of a return to the 1990s model of a full commercial broadcaster.

There is much debate on the future of TVNZ, which focuses on the nature of public service broadcasting and its commercial role. An example was in a memo called ''A More Public Broadcaster'' written by outgoing Chief Executive Ian Fraser to the board of TVNZ in October 2005, was obtained and released by Green MP Sue Kedgley. The memo outlined three (four) options.

These were:
* TV One as a fully non-commercial network, like ABC in Australia, charged with delivering Charter values, and possibly merging with Radio New Zealand and Māori Television
* TV One a semi-commercial broadcaster with no more than six minutes of advertisements an hour like SBS in Australia
* TV One and TV2 remaining unchanged, but two new public service channels being broadcast via digital television.
* TV One and TV2 are now fully commercial with 15 – 20 minutes of ads per hour, plus ads overplayed over programs.

On 15 February 2006, a group of 31 prominent New Zealanders signed an open letter, published as a full-page newspaper advertisement, calling for better quality programmes and less advertising on TVNZ. These included mountaineer Sir Edmund Hillary, and former governors-general Sir Michael Hardie Boys and Dame Catherine Tizard. However, they were accused of being out of touch and nostalgic for local programmes from the 1970s and 1980s, when New Zealand had only one or two TV channels. While the Broadcasting Minister, Steve Maharey, ruled out turning TVNZ into an entirely non-commercial broadcaster, on 25 February 2006, he stated that the Labour Government was "pretty much settled" on the introduction of two new free-to-air, non-commercial channels available via digital television. One screening high-end international documentaries, re-runs of ''One News'' and minority programmes with a high local content, and another, primarily for children, screening serious drama and arts at night. These channels would eventually become known as TVNZ 7 and TVNZ 6 respectively.

Digital era

In early 2006, TVNZ purchased Harmonic branded H.262 encoding equipment for the upcoming Freeview DTH service, which is an Electra 1000 on-the-fly video re-encoder.

On 14 November 2006, TVNZ announced plans to launch two commercial-free digital channels. The first, with the working title TVNZ News 24, would feature news, sport and special interest content, and be launched in late 2007. This would be followed by a channel featuring children's, families', arts and documentary programming, with the working title of TVNZ Home, in early 2008. While 80 per cent of the programming would be local content, 70 per cent of this would consist of repeats from TVNZ's existing channels or its archive.

In April 2008, TVNZ made another purchase of more H.264 encoding equipment for the upcoming Freeview HD DTT service, which are the Electra 7000 for HD and Electra 5400 for SD on-the-fly video re-encoders.

The proposal was criticised by TV3, which accused the Government of "bailing out" TVNZ and argued that the money would be better spent on new programming. Although Sue Kedgely welcomed the decision to make the channels (including children's programming) commercial-free, she accused the Government of tight-fistedness.

In late 2011, TVNZ and its pay-TV rival Sky Network Television announced the joint venture '' Igloo'', which is to provide a low-cost pay-TV service for households not currently covered by Freeview or Sky. ''Igloo'' closed in 2017.

In mid 2013, TVNZ changed its on-screen branding to a more flat, modern look. TVNZ went fully digital in December 2013, with the accompanying shutdown of the analogue transmitters to free up spectrum for telecommunications use.

In January 2017 TVNZ launched their 'New Blood Web Series Competition' supported by NZ On Air. The competition is calling for aspiring content creators to submit a web series pilot episode. The winner will receive $100,000 to make a complete web series, which will launch through TVNZ's online channels.

Conflicts

In addition to debates over whether TVNZ should be a public broadcaster or a commercial one, there have been other controversies.

For 3 weeks in January–February 1999, John Hawkesby became a weekday newsreader for One News, replacing Richard Long (who moved to presenting weekend bulletins alongside Liz Gunn). The change was short-lived, and Hawkesby received a $5.2m payout.

In 2000, the Broadcasting Standards Authority ruled against TVNZ over inaccuracies in a news story about the drug Lyprinol, which was erroneously touted as a cure for cancer.

In 2004 current affairs veteran of 15 years Paul Holmes sparked a public outcry after he referred to United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan as a "cheeky darkie" on his radio show on Newstalk ZB and subsequently chose not to renew his contract at TVNZ.

Also in 2004 there was the public outcry over newsreader Judy Bailey's $800,000 salary package, negotiated with head of news and current affairs at TVNZ Bill Ralston, she finished her final 12-month contract the following year after 34 years working at the broadcaster.

In late 2010, TVNZ garnered criticism over various comments made by ''Breakfast'' host Paul Henry. Henry had referred to Delhi Commonwealth Games organiser Sheila Dikshit as "the dip shit woman" and "Dick Shit", going on to state that "it's so appropriate, because she's Indian, so she'd be dick-in-shit wouldn't she, do you know what I mean? Walking along the street... she's just so funny, isn't she?" Henry also questioned whether the Governor-General of New Zealand Anand Satyanand was "even a New Zealander", going on to ask, "Are you going to choose a New Zealander who looks and sounds like a New Zealander this time ... are we going to go for someone who is more like a New Zealander this time?" Following widespread public complaints and official criticism, Henry was suspended from TVNZ for 2 weeks without pay, eventually resigning from the broadcaster. Henry's resignation polarised the New Zealand public, with supporters claiming he was a victim of political correctness, and critics accusing him of pandering to the lowest common denominator.

Replacement proposal

Renewing previous debate about the role of TVNZ as a commercial broadcaster, the Sixth Labour Government has announced a proposal to disestablish TVNZ and Radio New Zealand (RNZ) and establish a single public media entity. The television and radio broadcaster would have a public-service role to provide content on a variety of platforms, "some of which may be advertising free". By mid-March 2021, the merger proposal was still in its early stages.

In late December 2021, former National Party Member of Parliament Simon Power was appointed as the chief executive of TVNZ. Power had recently stepped down as acting chief of Westpac Bank when the bank appointed Catherine McGrath as chief executive in November 2021. Power is scheduled to assume the position in March 2022.

In mid-June 2022, Broadcasting Minister Willie Jackson introduced draft legislation to TVNZ and fellow public broadcaster Radio New Zealand into a new non-profit autonomous Crown entity called Aotearoa New Zealand Public Media (ANZPM), commencing 1 March 2023. Under the proposed legislation, both TVNZ and RNZ would become subsidiaries of the ANZPM, which would be supported by both government and commercial funding. The new organisation would also be headed by a board and be governed by a media charter outlining its goals and responsibilities including editorial independence. The Government has also allocated NZ$370m over four years in operating expenditure and $306m in capital funding from the 2022 New Zealand budget for funding the ANZPM.

Governance

Board of directors

The TVNZ Board is the governing board of Television New Zealand. It is appointed by the Minister of Broadcasting, Communications and Digital Media, who is Kris Faafoi. , the directors are: the chairperson Dame Therese Walsh (Wellington), deputy chairperson Andy Coupe (Hamilton), Abby Foote (Christchurch), Cameron Harland (Lower Hutt), Toko Kapea (Wellington), Kevin Malloy (Auckland), Julia Raue (Auckland) and Susan Turner (Auckland). Former board members include Roger MacDonnell (2010-2016).

Charter

The Fifth Labour Government introduced a "TVNZ Charter" in 2002. This was a list of objectives for TVNZ which specified it must broadcast a wide variety of New Zealand-made content; the broadcaster was given public responsibility to provide news, drama, documentaries and "promote understanding of the diversity of cultures". In 2008 the Government announced that the broadcaster was to become "more public-service" like. TVNZ responded by launching two commercial free channels; TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7. By 2011 Prime Minister John Key announced the closure of these channels. 6 in 2011, and 7 in mid-2012, with much of their content put into TVNZ Heartland and TVNZ Kidzone24 which are only available behind a Sky TV paywall. The Fifth National Government abolished the Charter in 2011. Political opponents accused the Government of reducing TVNZ's commitments as a public broadcaster.

Channels

TVNZ 1

TVNZ 1 is TVNZ's flagship channel. Launched on 1 June 1960, it has a broad range of programming, including news, sport, food, drama, and comedy. Its news service is '' 1 News'' and its sports division is '' 1 Sport''

The channel, once the traditional home of television sport, has since lost the rights to most of the world's main sporting events, including the Olympics, and All Blacks test matches to pay television competitor Sky. TVNZ's outside broadcasting division, Moving Pictures was established in 1962. It provided the production facilities for such events with 8 outside broadcast trucks across the country. This wound up in the mid 2000s after then-Australian owned outside broadcaster Onsite Broadcasting started to expand and took the OB contract off Moving Pictures for the filming of major sports for Sky TV. OSB was then owned by Sky before it was sold to American OB provider NEP. TVNZ 1 also broadcasts rural focused programmes such as ''Country Calendar'' and ''Rural Delivery'', Māori community presentations such as ''Waka Huia'', '' Marae Investigates'' and '' Te Karere'', a daily Te Reo news bulletin, and shows for minorities, such as ''Attitude'', ''Neighbourhood'', ''A Taste of Home'' and ''Tagata Pasifika''. Elsewhere TVNZ 1 specialises in food shows, including the locally produced ''MasterChef'', and international shows, mostly from the BBC
...