Minister needs to review broadcasting
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Confirmation by Television New Zealand of another round of job cuts including $5m slashed from the news and current affairs budget should cause the Government to re-activate plans to review broadcasting competition issues, says Labour's broadcasting spokesman Brendon Burns.
TVNZ today said it is looking at the cuts as it tries to make savings of $40m.
Brendon Burns said ongoing retrenchment at TVNZ - last year it shed 90 jobs - may temporarily assist the bottom-line and protect the flow of dividends to the Government but it will also further impact on the company's viability.
"TVNZ has maintained itself as the market leader in free-to-air television because of its strong local content.
"This is built around the evening news and current affairs programmes. On-going cuts to those will make them less compelling to viewers who already have plenty of other options. Added to that, there are very real worries that TVNZ is reducing its other New Zealand content, especially in drama and documentaries. Again, this is what many viewers want to see.
"Meanwhile, TVNZ's financial difficulties are seeing it self-cannibalise itself by providing content exclusively to Sky from May on the new Heartland channel which will re-run New Zealand content. This again provides short-term gains but at the cost of viewers on TV1 and Tv2. The Heartland deal also undermines
TVNZ's commitment to its channels 6 and 7 on the Freeview platform, which it once regarded as the way it could compete against Sky."
Brendon Burns says despite TVNZ's financial position, Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman is instructing it to look at ways to fund Channel 7 and possibly Channel 6 after Government funding runs out next year.
"Dr Coleman is doing headless chook impersonations. He needs to acknowledge that both television and radio state broadcasters need a coherent plan into the future. The first step towards that is to look seriously at the competition they face from Sky."
