2009 tops 20 good years for NZ On Air

18 November 2009
Media Release

2009 tops 20 good years for NZ On Air

In its annual report released today, NZ On Air marks 20 years of great locally-made programmes and music on television, radio and the web.

Releasing the report, Chairman Neil Walter said that 2009 was a fitting year to celebrate twenty years of local content.

“In 2009 we launched NZ On Screen, our first digital initiative, we saw some of the highest ratings ever for our Top 10 funded television programmes, we introduced a new Platinum Fund that promises to create even more high quality television programmes and we saw NZ On Air-backed songs dominate the radio airplay charts.”

Mr Walter said the broadcasting landscape had changed dramatically since NZ On Air was created in 1989.

“Looking back on twenty years of local content, it’s remarkable how the world of broadcasting has changed. There are now an almost unlimited number of media channels and New Zealand audiences’ wants and needs continue to change rapidly.”

“It means that making and finding New Zealand content, amongst the international programming, is under even more pressure. And it means that more than ever before there is a place for a specialised independent agency whose job it is to advocate for the New Zealand voice and our stories, wherever people are watching and listening.

“The challenge for the next decade is to keep a space for diverse, well made local content in a complex and fast-changing environment awash in foreign programming. It’s a challenge we embrace,” Mr Walter said.

Copies of the annual report can be obtained from NZ On Air or downloaded from www.nzonair.govt.nz

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