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National Party Puts Heat on Maori TV

Posted on: Friday, 1 July 2005, 15:00 CDT

A National Party-led Government could pull the $14 million given to Maori TV unless it can draw more viewers.

The free-to-air UHF service launched in March last year is under scrutiny by National, which is critical of its results reported in the latest Nielsen Media Research ratings.

Gerry Brownlee, National's deputy leader and Maori affairs spokesman, said Maori TV should be able to prove it reached a significant audience. "We have serious questions about why Te Mangai Paho (New Zealand On Air) money should be invested in programming that reaches such a small audience."

The station receives $14 million from Te Mangai Paho for programming and $11.5 million in Government funding for operational costs.

Labour's Tainui MP, Nanaia Mahuta, said it was clear National was promoting getting rid of Maori TV. "I think that would be a backward step. Now we can tune into a TV station with a range of programming that reflects the huge wealth of Maori talent out there," said Ms Mahuta.

Maori TV spokeswoman Sonya Haggie said a fledgling station could not be expected to rate immediately.

"Our audience is growing. In April, we recorded our biggest monthly audience of 426,000 New Zealanders," Ms Haggie said.

That equated to 14,200 viewers a day.

"It is widely accepted it takes time for a channel to build an audience. It was 10 years before TV3 had achieved this (built an audience).

"Prime has been operating for more than six years and is still working to achieve this," she said.

Ms Haggie said it was still early days for Maori TV, which launched in March 2004.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said at the time it would reinforce the Maori language.

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Source: Waikato Times

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