Māori Television

Māori Television
File:Māori Television Logo.png Current Māori Television Logo
Launched	28 March 2004
Owned by	New Zealand Government Te Putahi Paoho
Picture format	576i 16:9 (anamorphic)
Slogan	Mā rātou, mā mātou, mā koutou, mā tātou. (For them, for us, for you, for everyone.)
Country	New Zealand
Website	maoritelevision.com
Availability
Terrestrial
Free-to-air SD
Satellite
Free-to-air SD
Cable
Pay TV SD

Māori Television is a New Zealand TV station broadcasting programmes that make a significant contribution to the revitalisation of the Māori language and culture. Funded by the New Zealand Government, the station started broadcasting on 28 March 2004 from a base in Newmarket. In July 2015 the Māori Television board decided that Hamilton, or Rotorua could be a new home for the broadcaster.

Programming

• Te Kaea: news every evening
• Native Affairs: Julian Wilcox fronts the weekly current affairs show
• Homai Te Pakipaki: great talent, great music, fantastic humorous presenters
• Hyundai Code: the most irreverent live sports show
• Hunting Aotearoa: Howie Morrison Jnr explores the New Zealand's best hunting spots
• Willie Jackson's Newsbites: current affairs with a twist!
• Kete Aronui: the Maori arts show with a difference
• Tautohetohe: Debating game show format in te reo
• Haa: programming for youth
• Marae DIY: renovating meeting houses
• Kai Time on the Road: Peter Peeti travels the back-blocks of the country, showing how amazing culinary feats can be pulled off using the finest local produce and foods from the wild.
• Maorioke: Kingi Biddle and Cushla Tangaere Manuel bring you amazing homegrown vocal talent
• live sport, free to air: New Zealand Breakers, NZ Rugby League National Premiership, CODE, Fox Memorial rugby league
• New Zealand feature films
• New Zealand Documentaries
• Ngāti NRL – A series that focuses on young Māori and Pacific Islanders who travel to Australia and play in the National Rugby League's youth competition.
• International Documentaries
• International feature films
• ANZAC Day: the only national broadcaster dedicating an 18-hour broadcast to ANZAC Day celebrations, live from their studios with live feeds from around the nation and well-researched and presented segments.
• Waitangi Day: Live studio coverage and live feeds from Waitangi, celebrating New Zealand's national day

Budget

The station has an annual budget of $45m, almost one third of state spending on television in New Zealand.

Mission

To revitalise Maori language and culture through broadcasting. The relevant legislation says "The principal function of the Service is to promote te reo Maori me nga tikanga Maori (Maori language and culture) through the provision of a high quality, cost-effective Maori television service, in both Maori and English, that informs, educates, and entertains a broad viewing audience, and, in doing so, enriches New Zealand's society, culture, and heritage".

Stakeholders

• Government
• Maori Television Electoral College (Te Putahi Paoho)

Successes

Māori Television was launched on 28 March 2004 and attracted a cumulative audience of 300,000 in its first month on air (April 2004). The channel attracts 1.5 million viewers each month; half of all Māori aged five or more, and one third of all New Zealanders.

84 per cent of the general population believes that Māori Television should be a permanent part of New Zealand broadcasting.

Māori Television continues to attract a rapidly growing and increasingly broad audience across age, gender and ethnicities. More than two-thirds of the audience are non-Māori, who are looking for local programming such as Kai Time on the Road, Kete Aronui and Ask Your Auntie, many New Zealand movies and documentaries, and the diverse range of international movies and documentaries that normally would not get air-time on the main commercial networks.

Te Reo is the station's second channel, launched 28 March 2008. Te Reo is 100% Māori language with no advertising or subtitles featuring special tribal programming with a particular focus on new programming for the fluent audience.

Executive Team

There are seven members of the board of directors. For more information on the Board and the Executive please go to Māori Television's website

• Chief Executive: Paora Maxwell
• Head of Multiplatform: Stephen Smith
• Head of Corporate Affairs: Rick Osborne
• Head of Content: Mike Rehu
• Head of Finance and Administration: Darren Beatty
• Head of Technology: Mark Bullen
• Interim Head News & Current Affairs: Maramena Roderick

Controversies

Originally, Canadian John Davy was appointed chief executive of Maori Television back in 2002. However, it was found that his qualifications were false (i.e. He had a degree from the 'Denver State University') and resigned in disgrace.

Newsreader Julian Wilcox was fired and reinstated in 2005. Mr Wilcox was dismissed by Maori Television after Mr Wilcox contributed to information provided to other media leading to negative stories being broadcast and published.

Maori TV presenter Ngarimu Daniels who was banned from taking part in protests and whose gay partner was referred to as a "dyke" by a senior MTS manager has been awarded $16,000. Leonie Pihama, a leading Maori academic and film-maker, resigned from the seven-member board citing a conflict of interest over an employment dispute taken against the network by her partner, Te Kaea news presenter Ngarimu Daniels.

External links

• Māori Television
• [1]