TVNZ may charge Kiwis for online TV

TVNZ may charge Kiwis for TV shows on its website next year, chief executive Kevin Kenrick says. Speaking to the Herald, Kenrick wouldn’t provide specific details on the timeline for the move but said TVNZ was open to offering online consumers an ad-free experience in exchange for a subscriber fee.

“We expect we will trial multiple monetisation options and we think that’s just a natural extension of what we’re doing right now,” Kenrick said.

It wouldn’t be hard for TVNZ to introduce a payment option given a subscriber model is in place in TVNZ, which requires users to sign in. NZ On Air’s 2018 report also indicates a highly-engaged audience, with time on local on-demand services rising from 74 minutes a day in 2014 to 115 minutes this year.

TVNZ’s active users contribute toward a weekly reach of 300,000 and have seen the platform tally more than 100 million streams in the last year.

Kenrick has set the goal of doubling that in 2019 through added investment in content and user experience.

Of the $318 million revenue TVNZ reported in its full-year results for 2018, a total $301m was attributed to directly to advertising, money that TVNZ will want to hold on to as it evolves in the coming years.

Kenrick’s willingness to experiment comes at a time when TVNZ has recorded its first stable revenue figure since 2012, with year-on-year earnings lifting from 2017.

“In previous years, our focus has been on growing online revenue fast enough to offset declines in TV, but getting our first stable revenue in six years just gives you a bit more confidence as an organisation. It gives you the confidence to invest a bit more and place some bigger bets.”

An example of consumers being given choice is the Spotify model, which gives subscribers ad-free access to all the music they want in exchange for a subscription fee. Something similar could ensure TVNZ maintains advertising revenue, while deriving some additional revenue.

Many broadcasters and news outlets around the world make their audiences pay for videos or news. Herald publisher NZME will soon charge online readers for premium journalism.