RNZ has received an increase of $25.7m in annual funding from the Government, it has just been announced. This is good news for New Zealanders who will benefit from significantly improved services from our only state broadcaster/media platform.

“We look forward to seeing how it used,” said BPM Chair, Myles Thomas. “Perhaps a youth radio network? Hopefully the Asian News Network which received seed funding from NZ On Air earlier this year?”

“Unfortunately, RNZ also has significant maintenance expenses to cover in the background, as a result of decades of under-investment. This includes transmission masts and maintaining the AM network which fulfils a vital role in emergencies.”

Increased funding for RNZ still not enough

BPM notes the new funding for RNZ is significantly less than the $109m promised for the ANZPM.

“We appreciate that the government had issues with how the ANZPM was to be constructed, but the potential benefits can still be realised by maintaining the same level of funding,” Thomas said.

"The increased funding falls short of a new, integrated public media entity. In particular, New Zealanders still need support for public service provisions in television/video . One solution the government could be looking at is provisions for a public service publisher, either by establishing a new non-commercial channel designated as the distributor or by requiring TVNZ to allocate prime-time slots in the schedule for local content genres which would otherwise not be commercially attractive."

Per capita Kiwis are still paying less than almost everyone else

The new funding announcement brings the per capita funding level to $44 per person annually. This compares to Australia at $60, Ireland at $73, UK at $129.* Scandinavian countries with comparable populations to NZ are all investing more still.

“This comparison shows that New Zealand is still under-investing in its public media compared to other democracies we compare ourselves to,” Thomas said.

“The new increase of $25.7 million is actually only $5 more for each of us annually, yet the benefit will far outreach another cup of coffee. Money invested in RNZ goes to lifeline emergency services, democracy-affirming news and current affairs, and potentially better news and entertainment services for under-served audiences as well.”

* Figures from Ministry for Culture and Heritage - Research on public broadcasting models (April 2018) and Nieman Labs - www.niemanlab.org/2022/01/do-countries-with-better-funded-public-media-also-have-healthier-democracies-of-course-they-do/

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