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Work has resumed on the possible merger of RNZ and TVNZ into a new public media organization, a briefing prepared for new Broadcasting Minister Kris Faafoi confirmed.
The development of a business case for the merger was put “on ice” in April after the start of the Covid pandemic and following doubts from coalition partner NZ First.
But a report prepared for Faafoi by the Ministry of Culture and Heritage (MCH) released on Tuesday revealed that work resumed in August, ahead of the elections.
The policy of the Labor manifesto was to work towards creating a new public media entity if re-elected.
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The cabinet approved the withdrawal of $ 2 million in this financial year to “begin work on a strategic framework for the media sector, to cover public and private media,” said MCH.
“This is critical work that will support decision-making to ensure the long-term sustainability of the media system in New Zealand,” he said.
Diego Opatowski / RNZ
RNZ and TVNZ’s mandates, objectives and funding agreements are not aligned, the ministry says.
The document said this was a “crucial moment in defining the future of the media in New Zealand.”
“Increased competition from global platforms and content providers, declining revenue share and the transition to digital delivery are driving changes in the media operating environment.
“These factors are challenging the viability of traditional media models, particularly television and print media.”
A separate report released by Auckland University of Technology earlier this month said that media companies Bauer Media, MediaWorks, NZME and TVNZ had lost 637 jobs in 2020.
That was despite some news sites reporting “skyrocketing traffic” and significant spikes in their readership income, the university said.
The briefing prepared for Faafoi said that the mandates, objectives and financing agreements of RNZ, TVNZ and NZ On Air were not aligned and that the “transformative changes” that were undergoing in the sector had created the need to consider ambitious policy reforms .
A partially completed preliminary business case for the RNZ and TVNZ merger that was produced with the help of the consultant PWC and published Stuff under the Official Information Law in September it provided few clues as to what organizations would do differently than today.
Maarten Holl / Things
A year after ministers floated by merging RNZ and TVNZ into a new media entity, officials have yet to establish a timeline to allow public participation in the concept.
But the new report reiterated that the creation of a new entity was an opportunity to design “an agile and future-focused organization with greater scale and a clear public service mandate to deliver content across multiple platforms.”
“The ministry is developing advice on next steps to advance this work, including the establishment of a sectoral reference group and the focus and timetable for broader public participation,” he said.
Lobbyist Better Public Media argued earlier in February that the engagement process should already be underway.
“What is missing so far is greater public participation in the decision-making process,” said then its president, Peter Thompson.
The ministry briefing also reported that just under $ 32 million of the “$ 50 million package” of Covid-related support offered to the media and biased towards broadcasters in April had been allocated by the end of October. .
