Monday March 4, 2002
TVNZ And Sky Sponsor Live Broadcast Of Innovate Conference
SKY Television and Television New Zealand confirmed today they will jointly sponsor the broadcast of the Innovate
Conference to be held in Christchurch this week.
The partnership, between two of New Zealand’s major broadcasters, will see TVNZ providing a full two-day programme to be
broadcast live on channel 30 on SKY’s digital satellite service and on TVNZ’s Nzoom, one of New Zealand’s top Internet
sites.
The agreement with the Ministry of Economic Development sees both broadcasters cooperating for the first time to sponsor
an event of national importance. The broadcasters are encouraging other media to join them in meeting the challenge of
getting the message of innovation across to the New Zealand public.
The production by Front Page Film and Television will include live coverage of all keynote speeches, live interviews
with participants and delegates, continual conference updates and behind the scenes commentaries.
Jim Anderton, Deputy Prime Minister and conference co-chair, says the
partnership approach to the broadcasting of the conference is a reflection of
what can be achieved when some lateral thinking is applied to challenges.
“The joint broadcasting agreement demonstrates that on occasions cooperation within a competitive framework can achieve
innovative results for the general good”.
TVNZ’s Chief Executive, Rick Ellis also regards the cooperative approach as continuing a relationship that is already
working effectively.
“We regard this decision as a further step down a road that will hopefully again see SKY and TVNZ working cooperatively
in a public service environment on our various broadcasting mediums. We already cooperate on a daily basis when
Parliament is sitting to enable Question Time to be broadcast around the country”
SKY Television’s Chief Executive Officer, John Fellet says “This is an excellent example of the public and private
sectors working together to achieve a positive outcome for New Zealanders ”
Both broadcasters believe it is now important for the rest of the New Zealand media to focus on an event that is aimed
at making innovation a cornerstone of our national identity.
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