15 November 2004
Television with Attitude
NZ On Air’s strong commitment to Special Interest programming has resulted in funding for a range of television
programmes that will meet the needs of widely diverse audiences in the year ahead.
"In a number of cases old favourites are returning, " said NZ On Air Deputy Chief Executive, Bernard Duncan. "They
include Praise Be, Asia Down Under and Open Door – programmes that have carved out a real niche for themselves, and
attracted a dedicated and loyal audience among interested community groups.
Almost five million dollars of its Special Interest television budget was allocated at NZ On Air’s October meeting, and
part of that funding will also support 100 hours per week of Teletext captioning next year, in addition to The Mâori
Sports Awards 2004 and a new series dealing with disabilities.
"We have had a major review of our funding of programming for people with disabilities, including a symposium we
convened in July. As a result of that we issued a tender for new ideas,” said Mr Duncan.
“The successful proposal came from RSVP Productions, and the programme, Attitude, is something we’re excited about. It’s
a weekly magazine programme that will screen on TV ONE from March next year. It will feature a mix of sport, travel,
medical and technical stories, and also include personal profiles and a mailbag segment.
"It is important for NZ On Air to support Special Interest programming because the size of the audiences for these types
of programmes is such that they would be unlikely to be produced in a commercial environment. NZ On Air has the ability
to ensure they proceed, and that they are screened on free-to-air channels that reach a nation-wide audience.
"We also make sure that they are available for rescreening on regional television channels at no charge after their
first free-to-air broadcast, and that means an even larger audience has the opportunity to see them," Mr Duncan said.
Funding details:
Open Door 6 $300,621 10 x ½ hour Broadcaster: TV3 Producer:
Keith Lambert Morningside Productions
Asia Down Under 2005 $1,119,160 40 x ½ hour Broadcaster: TV One Producer: Melissa
Lee Asia Vision Ltd
Praise Be 2005 $654,175 45 x ½ hour, 1 x 1 hour Broadcaster: TV One
Producer: Ron Pledger TVNZ Avalon Productions
Attitude $1, 203,047 40 x ½ hour Broadcaster: TV One Producer:
Robyn Scott-Vincent RSVP Productions
Mâori Sports Awards 2004 up to $51,000 1 x 1½ hour Broadcaster: TV One
Producer: Derek Wooster TVNZ
Captioning 2004 $1,570,000 100 hours per week Broadcaster: TV One, TV2 and TV3
Producer: Alison Munro, Captioning Manager, TVNZ TVNZ
ENDS