06 September 2008
TVNZ at sixes and sevens over new channels
28 February 2008
By Will Miller and James Murray
New digital current affairs channel TVNZ 7 is facing teething problems with a relatively small number of people being able to access the channel.
With TVNZ 6 already on air, 7 is the second digital channel funded by an 80 million dollar grant from the government which will only reach 80,000 New Zealand homes at launch.
The situation looks unlikely to improve quickly as TVNZ have been unable to reach a deal with Sky due to concerns that TVNZ 7 would extend Sky’s output and reduce Freeview’s appeal.
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| Eric Kearley, Head Of TVNZ Digital Services |
Head of TVNZ Digital Services, Eric Kearley said this would be equivalent to TVNZ 7 “slowly digging its own grave.”
A secured deal however, would instantly expand their reach to an extra 700,000 homes making greater financial sense of the government’s investment.
With TVNZ intending the channel to become “self-sustaining” over time viewers will become ever more important in order to attract the corporate sponsorship they will require.
This thinking is at odds with Mr. Kearley’s ambitions for the channel, “we’re not aiming for eyeballs but hearts and minds.”
He also viewed TVNZ 7 as the place where news originated rather than being the most popular news source on air.
This attitude seems to permeate the channel.
News Anchor, Geraline Knox saw the 24 hour news concept as ideal for breaking news but stressed their limited resources.
Whilst being ambitious for her programme to be number one she said there had been “some talk” that the new channel could cannibalise the existing news broadcasts.
Programming Manager, Juliet Jensen, didn’t share this concern saying “it’s never going to happen” referring to the channel’s limited reach.
She said TVNZ is aware that viewers are consuming media differently and was not precious about retaining audiences at TV 1 and 2 as long as they stayed within the family.
However, TVNZ 7 may not have to be responsible for its own success.
With Freeview’s digital terrestrial service launching in April General Manager, Steve Browning, was confident viewer figures would steadily rise and “there’s no reason why” between a third and a half of all New Zealanders wouldn’t be watching through his platform by 2012.
This attitude will encourage sponsors, however TVNZ 7 do not have the money in the bank and a National victory this year could see a government less inclined to support a non-commercial channel.
TVNZ’s success may lie outside of its own hands.
Links
- Eric Kearley’s TVNZ Blog
- Ministry of Culture and Heritage – Free to Air Digital Television Announcements
