Post by Flash on May 27, 2008 10:53:18 GMT -5
Television New Zealand has come under fire for using its charter funds to secure Olympic broadcast rights.
The government broadcaster gets just over $US11 million to broadcast local content that would not otherwise make it onto commercial television.
The broadcasting minister, Trevor Mallard, has told The Dominion Post it was inappropriate to use the money to subsidise the bid for Olympic broadcast rights.
The minister says the national broadcaster will now be stripped of its decision making rights and forced to apply to funding agency, NZ On Air, program-by-program, with no guarantee it will get the full amount in any one year.
The change would start with a one-year trial "with a no-penalty arrangement" and fully implemented from July next year.
The new rules would not affect the use of the funding for this year's Olympics, other programs underway, or where TVNZ has made prior commitments
The government broadcaster gets just over $US11 million to broadcast local content that would not otherwise make it onto commercial television.
The broadcasting minister, Trevor Mallard, has told The Dominion Post it was inappropriate to use the money to subsidise the bid for Olympic broadcast rights.
The minister says the national broadcaster will now be stripped of its decision making rights and forced to apply to funding agency, NZ On Air, program-by-program, with no guarantee it will get the full amount in any one year.
The change would start with a one-year trial "with a no-penalty arrangement" and fully implemented from July next year.
The new rules would not affect the use of the funding for this year's Olympics, other programs underway, or where TVNZ has made prior commitments