By Jasmine Kaa
Is Mäori Television the Rocky Balboa of New Zealand broadcasting? Just like the iconic movie character, the indigenous television network has at times been considered the underdog by it’s main competitors in the television industry.
However with viewership figures on the rise, and recent ratings success delivering a knock out to rival networks, Mäori Television continues to punch far above its weight.
The “Tuamanator” wasn’t the only champion who won a heavyweight fight against their opposition on Wednesday 31 March. Also ringside that evening standing at one corner was Mäori Television, who recorded their highest ratings ever with the live free to air broadcast of the battle between David Tua and Friday ‘The 13th’ Ahunanya.
The special broadcast reached 877,700 viewers, making it the most watched programme in the channel’s history.
This milestone capped off a month where Mäori Television recorded its best audience figures to date, with a cumulative audience of 1,952,500 unique viewers tuning in to the channel.
Although some critics may perceive the
“Tua De Force” broadcast as slightly incongruous with Mäori Television’s stated aims of language revitalisation, Jim Mather says this is definitely not the case. For the station to ensure cultural objectives can be met long-term, he believes a sustainable business strategy must first be built in order for Mäori Television to survive and thrive into the future.
“We need to ensure that we are a well managed and successful television organisation. Our coverage of events is significant to all New Zealanders, such as ANZAC and Waitangi days.
We have found that we retain many of the viewers who we attract through these special broadcasts and we expect to benefit from an increased audience base from the David Tua fights.”
Over the six years Mäori Television has been on air it has experienced its fair share of highs and lows, with the negatives well documented by others within the media industry. These experiences have provided a steep learning curve for the station, with each episode offering an opportunity for growth.
For Jim Mather the number one highlight in the station’s history was its launch back in March 2004. He says, “With its birth the dreams of those who fought for many years for a Mäori television channel finally came to fruition.”
Among the list of other achievements noted by Jim include the development of a range in programming from light entertainment shows to hard-hitting current affairs.
Also there was the establishment of the Te Reo channel in 2008 and leadership that same year of the inaugural World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference.
Challenges for the station have included dealing with hurdles in any new business around systems and procedures and overcoming a negative perception from the outset about the station.
“We have tried to continually demonstrate the positive aspects of being an indigenous broadcaster. Overtime our audience has grown as we have conveyed to our viewers that we are not an exclusive organisation.
By continually increasing its audience share Mäori Television has shown successive governments of the day it has credibility as a broadcaster. This success is vital for the survival of Mäori Television as it is approximately 95% reliant on taxpayers funding. Each year the government provides a $16.5mn operational grant for the station and $16mn in direct funding for inhouse programming. Above this Mäori Television is required to compete against all other broadcasters for $25mn in contestable funding provided by government agency Te Mängai Päho, and receives only minimal funding from NZ on Air.
Jim says advertising brings in only a small percentage of its income, between $1–2mn each year. “Advertising is not the main priority for the station, but building a loyal audience who regularly tunes in is. To do this our role is to deliver exceptional programming to promote long term growth.”
To achieve this Mäori Television has joined forces with the indigenous television community to strengthen their capacity and capability to produce interesting programming. Jim recently returned from the second World Indigenous Television Conference in Taiwan where he met with counterparts from the host country and representatives from Australia, Canada, Hawaii, Ireland, Norway, Scotland, and South Africa.
Outcomes from the past two conferences have formed the basis of Mäori Television’s international business strategy. “We are working through a range of initiatives which will help realize our vision of becoming a world class indigenous broadcaster. These include a programme exchange scheme, which involves specific documentary programmes being pooled and all contributing members having access to a source of quality indigenous programming at minimal cost.
The sharing of knowledge and information between members is another key focus. This year one of our reporters, Carmen Parahi, will participate in a staff exchange programme with the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network of Canada.”
Negotiating and finally winning the rights to become the lead free to air broadcaster of the Rugby World Cup 2011 has demonstrated both a sign of maturity and good business savvy by the station.
Adding to its catalogue of special broadcast programming, an increase in audience numbers can be assured through this coup. There are also potential flow-on benefits for the Mäori business community as Jim says details are currently being worked through that will enable the sector to leverage off this broadcast.
“We are going to use this six-week window of opportunity televising the World Cup provides to promote our Mäori Tourism and Mäori creative sector.”
Another opportunity to reach a domestic and international audience is provided through the station’s revamped, bilingual website (www.maoritelevision.com).
The number of hits the website receives has trebled in the last year with many of the online audience coming from overseas. Statistics show people in 188 other countries are clicking onto the site, with 20% from Australia making up the total online viewership. The website currently hosts over 200 hours of on-demand
Mäori Television programming, including valuable Mäori language resources.
In addition to the network’s two digital channels, Mäori Television and Te Reo, this online presence provides a third platform for the broadcaster. By having access to three complementary platforms the station can both contribute to the revitalisation of Mäori language and culture, while also working towards a sustainable future.
Mäori Television may have taken its share of knocks over the past six years, but MTS will never shy away from climbing back into the ring.
You made some good points there. I did a search on the topic and found most people will agree with your blog.