The Māori Television Service ( MTS; ) is a state sector organisation in New Zealand that was established on 7 May 2003 under the Māori Television Service (Te Aratuku Whakaata Irirangi Māori) Act 2003 to replace the Te Reo Māori Television Trust (Te Awhiorangi). The service's primary function is to promote the language te reo Māori me nga tikanga Māori. Like the

Reserve Bank of New Zealand The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ) () is the central bank of New Zealand. It was established in 1934 and is currently constituted under the ''Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 2021''. The current acting governor of the Reserve Bank, Christian ...

, the television service has, according to the

State Services Commission The Public Service Commission (PSC; ), called the State Services Commission until 2020, is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with overseeing, managing, and improving the performance of the public sector organisations ...

, an unusual status as a stand-alone agency within the State sector that does not fall under any State sector category. While established by statute (the Maori Television Service Act 2003), it is not a

Crown entity A Crown entity (from the Commonwealth term ''The Crown, Crown'') is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's public sector organisations in New Zealand, state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governa ...

in any shape or form. The Act, however, does make the Service accountable in much the same way as Crown entities. The principal reason for this approach is that the Maori Television Service is a partnership between the Crown and Maori. Maori interests were represented by Te Putahi Paho (the Maori Electoral College) who appointed four members of the Television Service's seven member board. The remaining three board members were appointed by the Government. Now Māori interests are represented by Te Mātāwai (a legislative group comprising representatives from Māori organisations and

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori society. In Māori, roughly means or , and is often translated as "tribe". The word is both singular and plural in the Māori language, and is typically pluralised as such in English. ...

). The Maori Television Service receives the bulk of its funding from the government via Vote Maori Affairs. Funding is provided directly to the service for its operational administrative costs. Programming is funded by Te Mangai Paho (The Maori Broadcasting Commission). The Service is able to commission its own programming from advertising funds.

Māori Television Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

started broadcasting in 2004. It was renamed

Whakaata Māori Whakaata Māori is a New Zealand television channel that broadcasts programmes that make a significant contribution to the revitalisation of the Māori language and culture. Funded by the New Zealand Government, it commenced broadcasting as M� ...

in 2022. It is available on the UHF band to approximately four-fifths of Māori speakers, and to all New Zealand SKY Television satellite service subscribers. It is also available on the

Freeview Freeview may refer to: *Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia *Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), a ...

satellite service.

References

External links

Māori Television Service site

State Services Commission siteMāori Television Service listing at the State Services Commission site
Television networks in New Zealand Māori organisations Māori language Māori mass media Television channels and stations established in 2003 {{NewZealand-org-stub