Bill to save TVNZ7 from the axe
A private members bill, released today, would ensure the survival of TVNZ7, New Zealand’s only wholly non-commercial television channel which is about to be dumped by the National Government.
“My TV7 Bill establishes an independent broadcasting foundation to run the channel, Labour’s Broadcasting spokesperson Clare Curran said.
“It would be funded by Television New Zealand at $14 million per year - although TVNZ would no longer run it - and would, as far as is practicable, share production facilities and back office services with other state-funded networks.
“If New Zealand wants to continue to showcase itself as a country with high ambitions, it needs to ensure it has a healthy media environment. Public broadcasting is an essential ingredient of that because it provides a range of options not covered by the commercial sector.” Clare Curran said.
“Public broadcasting plays an important educative and informative role and is considered an essential responsibility of the state to its citizens. This Bill would enshrine the view that a public television broadcaster has obligations to the whole population.
“In Australia the ABC is primarily financed by the federal government through triennial funding arrangements at approximately $912 million a year. Australia’s SBS Channel which carries a small amount of advertising receives more than $200 million a year.
“New Zealanders have a right to expect their government to put a value on public broadcasting and $14 million a year is not excessive. It should also be remembered that TVNZ has formerly been New Zealand’s public television broadcaster and until recently maintained a charter of public responsibility.
“The intention of the Bill is not to create another large bureaucracy, but to establish a lean, modern and efficient public broadcaster. It will, as much as possible share back office services with other broadcasters, while remaining editorially independent. It will be governed and operated separately to those other broadcasters.
“The audiences for public broadcasting around the world are vast and diverse - they are not elite sections of the population. Most OECD countries ensure that citizens have access to at least one public television channel. They do so both as a response to market failure and because they recognise that public television can contribute to a better informed society,” said Clare Curran.