Poor audience numbers for M¯aori TV shows
New Zealand On Air funded seven Ma¯ ori Television shows in the past year that attracted an average initial broadcast audience of under 10,000.
The poor audience numbers were released to by the funding agency as part of an Official Information Act request. The information comes in the wake of criticism, particularly by National MP Melissa Lee, that NZ On Air didn’t provide ratings information on shows that weren’t a hit with the public.
Of the 11 shows with the lowest first-run audiences broadcast in the year of July 31,
2018, 10 of them were shown on Ma¯ ori Television. Three’s weekly Ma¯ ori current affairs show filled the other slot.
The other programmes were a mix of current affairs, documentaries and comedies, with the fourth season of
‘‘enjoying’’ the lowest average figure of 3474 across its
20-episode run on Tuesday nights (although a Sunday morning repeated also generated roughly the same figure). It received New Zealand on Air funding of $479,865.
Dance reality series (with an average audience of
6000) and comedies
(8000) and the second seasons of (11,000) and
(12,000) were among the others that struggled. In comparison,
had an audience of 628,000 for its September 2 episode (including those who watched it an hour later on TVNZ’s Plus-1 channel) and the September 3 instalment of attracted 202,800 viewers.
However, in releasing the information, NZ On Air’s Jane Wrightson said that all of these low-rating shows were ‘‘wellmade, have cultural value, and each has a different reason for a lower linear rating, often outweighed by a strong ondemand or online response’’. For example, some of
Facebook videos had more than 300,000 views and
had more than 30,000 plays on Ma¯ ori TV OnDemand.
Wrightson also added that ratings failed to measure cultural, social and other qualitative value. ‘‘NZ On Air’s purpose is to fund cultural content that the market alone cannot support.’’
Responding to the results, Ma¯ ori Television head of commercial and corporate affairs Rick Osborne admitted that ‘‘funding and producing programmes is, at times, more an art than a science’’.
‘‘And like other broadcasters the final judge of what is deemed good rests firmly with the audience.’’
Citing recent audienceattracting successes like coverage of kapa haka competitions and reality shows
and Osborne said that declining linear TV audiences were a problem facing all broadcasters. Also, a recent NZ On Air survey had shown Ma¯ ori and Pacific Island audiences were more likely to watch online videos and video on-demand than the general populace.
The drift to online, he said, was reflected in the usage of Ma¯ ori Television’s website which had more than 2.5 million minutes of video viewed in 2017 ‘‘and our forecasts are set to exceed this in 2018’’.
‘‘We pride ourselves on being Aotearoa’s only public service broadcaster that tells New Zealand stories from a Ma¯ ori perspective. A recent report showed that local content made up 82 per cent of Ma¯ ori Television’s prime-time hours, which was comparative with 50 per cent for other free to air local broadcasters.’’
Osborne though, said access to adequate funding remained the 14-year-old broadcaster’s biggest challenge.
‘‘Audiences are increasingly expecting high-quality content, but quality costs. It is therefore of paramount importance that Ma¯ ori Television receives appropriate levels of funding from Crown sources if it is to continue to successfully deliver to a high standard on its statutory requirements.
‘‘Rest assured, we are not standing still and waiting for things to happen. Ma¯ ori Television is undergoing a significant strategy refresh that is aimed at repositioning the organisation for the next 3 to 5 years.’’
Over at Mediaworks, chief news officer Hal Crawford said the broadcaster was committed to despite it only attracting an average of 12,000 viewers every Sunday morning.
‘‘I consider it to be a very important show because it is breaking important stories that wouldn’t otherwise be told. Yes, it has modest broadcast audiences for its first play, but these stories are amplified by
He said an interview the show aired on a woman addicted to synthetic cannabis attracted more than 100,000 page views on the website. Likewise, a collection of stories about child abuse in state care ‘‘was so incredibly important and ... powerful’’ that it was rebroadcast late on a Tuesday night on Three and reached an audience of more than 50,000.
‘‘Through various platforms, that story reached an audience of several hundred thousand people and had ramifications which are actually impacting government directions to this day.’’
And although NZ On Air’s funding of $543,457 for 40.5 episodes in 2017 accounted for less-than-half of actual cost, Crawford said that it couldn’t be made without that money. ‘‘To me, this is why the show is like a poster child for why public funding for some local content is a good idea.’’
I consider The Hui to be a very important show because it is breaking important stories that wouldn’t otherwise be told.’’ MediaWorks chief news officer Hal Crawford, right