In May 1989 the Government established the New Zealand Broadcasting Commission (as a body corporate) in order to promote excellence in publicly funded broadcasting through management of the Public Broadcasting Fee.
The main function of the Commission was to make funds available from the TV License fee for broadcasting and the production of programmes which reflect and develop New Zealand identity and culture, reach New Zealand communities that would otherwise not receive a commercially viable signal; and provide for the interests of minorities and other groups in the community.
The first Executive Director for the Commission was Ruth Harley., who in the first instance was responsible for the establishment of the Commission’s Office, including:
- development and promotion of a vision, and strategy to achieve the Commission’s role
- development and implementation of a corporate plan
- establishing policies and procedures for the evaluation of funding proposals
- establishment of personnel management, financial, and office management policies and procedures.
The commission was required to act with analytical capacity and business judgment to evaluate funding proposals critically.
It's initial membership included Chair Merv Norrish, Alan Galbraith, Roger Horrocks, Stuart Melville, Merimeri Penfold, and Gay Sharlottets.
Sometime during its first year of operation the Commission decided to use NZ on Air as it's public facing name.
Local Content Reports
Between 1988 and 2016 they conducted and published annual research reports measuring local content on the main free-to-air (FTA) channels.
| FIGURE 1 : TOTAL NZ HOURS BY GENRE | ||||||||||||||||
| 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | |||||||||
| Drama/Comedy | 39 | 59 | 55 | 86 | 223 | 264 | 283 | 357 | ||||||||
| Sports | 509 | 691 | 1653 | 1283 | 1735 | 1075 | 1531 | 1545 | ||||||||
| News, Current Affairs | 550 | 709 | 997 | 924 | 1009 | 1023 | 1087 | 1045 | ||||||||
| Entertainment | 292 | 458 | 528 | 525 | 886 | 588 | 364 | 454 | ||||||||
| Children's | 325 | 440 | 534 | 739 | 1264 | 1019 | 861 | 745 | ||||||||
| Children's Drama | 12 | 21 | 25 | 20 | 33 | 27 | 2 | 28 | ||||||||
| Māori | 131 | 144 | 143 | 111 | 163 | 170 | 156 | 173 | ||||||||
| Documentaries | 43 | 36 | 107 | 139 | 175 | 190 | 207 | 257 | ||||||||
| Information | 213 | 253 | 208 | 213 | 226 | 431 | 477 | 415 | ||||||||
| Total : NZ Prime Time | 686 | 943 | 1189 | 1281 | 1640 | 1769 | 1821 | 1546 | ||||||||
| % of Prime Time | 23.5 | 21.6 | 27.2 | 29.3 | 37.5 | 40.5 | 41.7 | 35.4 | ||||||||
| Total : NZ Content | 2112 | 2804 | 4249 | 4039 | 5715 | 4788 | 4969 | 5018 | ||||||||
| % of Schedule | 23.9 | 31.8 | 24.2 | 31.7 | 30.2 | 23.2 | 23.2 | 19.7 | ||||||||
After 2016 it appears that they halted surveying local content levels with their going research focus shifting to the Where Are the Audiences? surveys. These have shown a gradual decrease in audience numbers watching linear TV (TV viewing via free-to-air platform) and a shift towards viewers watching via Video on Demand via local "broadcasters" and international content platforms.
Understandably a measure of what percentage local content makes up of the total linear TV offering become moot as more people were accessing video on demand via subscription and free video on demand streaming services.
In 2024 NZ on Air reported
...just five TV channels reach 5% or more New Zealanders each day. TVNZ 1 has continued to gradually decline over the last five years, however, remains the most popular TV channel, reaching just under one in three New Zealanders each day (32%). Three reaches the second biggest audience with 17% (no change year on year) watching this channel each day. TVNZ 2 reaches a little over one in ten New Zealanders each day (12%), slightly up from a year ago, while the Sky Sport group of channels remain steady on 8%.
In comparison Netflix is the most popular Subscription Video on Demand provider by a significant margin, reaching 38% of New Zealanders each day. However, after trending upwards since 2018, its reach has declined this year from 42% in 2023. Disney Plus is the second most popular SVOD provider, reaching 13% of New Zealanders each day, a slight year on year decrease. Amazon Prime, is the only SVOD to have increased this year and reaches just under one in ten New Zealanders (11%).
https://www.nzonair.govt.nz/news/where-are-the-audiences-2024/
Comments powered by CComment