TVNZ Charter compatible with aims of advertisers – Maharey
Broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey is confident Television New Zealand’s (TVNZ) new charter will be good for
advertisers.
Steve Maharey spoke to the annual general meeting of the Association of New Zealand Advertisers in Auckland this
afternoon. Under the Television New Zealand Act, TVNZ is no longer restricted to the pursuit of purely commercial
objectives but it is still intent on attracting high levels of advertising revenue.
“Delivering a wider range of audiences to advertisers is critical to the industry’s success and it also fulfils the
government’s objective of ensuring TVNZ’s programming choices have wide appeal, while meeting the needs of particular
audiences who have been ignored in the past.
“Last year television advertising across all networks was the highest return ever reported by the industry. As a
chartered public service broadcaster TVNZ can be expected to repeat the success of similar networks overseas, like the
BBC, and continue to build its audiences.
“We expect that this will be particularly valued by advertiser since, TVNZ, as the national broadcaster, can deliver
major audiences in an increasingly fragmented media environment.
“In a small country like New Zealand, the government cannot hope to fully fund public television. We are forging a new
approach that balances social and commercial objectives,” Steve Maharey said.
Steve Maharey also urged advertisers to be socially responsible about the presentation of advertising images.
“The current debate about child obesity, teenage drinking and biased information about medicines has generated genuine
public concern because of the problems that can emerge from exposure to irresponsible images and information.
“The advertising industry has a good record of acting responsibly on these issues. Advertising codes developed by the
Advertising Standards Authority are being observed in both letter and spirit.
“However there is a very low tolerance for abuses of these codes amongst both the general public and parliamentarians.
With increasing public scrutiny I think it is timely for advertisers to examine whether they are pushing the boundaries
further than are tolerable,” Steve Maharey said.