2009 tops 20 good years for NZ On Air

In its annual report released today, NZ On Air marks 20 years of great locally-made programmes and music on television, radio and the web.

Releasing the report, Chairman Neil Walter said that 2009 was a fitting year to celebrate twenty years of local content.

“In 2009 we launched NZ On Screen, our first digital initiative, we saw some of the highest ratings ever for our Top 10 funded television programmes, we introduced a new Platinum Fund that promises to create even more high quality television programmes and we saw NZ On Air-backed songs dominate the radio airplay charts.”

Mr Walter said the broadcasting landscape had changed dramatically since NZ On Air was created in 1989.

“Looking back on twenty years of local content, it’s remarkable how the world of broadcasting has changed. There are now an almost unlimited number of media channels and New Zealand audiences’ wants and needs continue to change rapidly.”

“It means that making and finding New Zealand content, amongst the international programming, is under even more pressure. And it means that more than ever before there is a place for a specialised independent agency whose job it is to advocate for the New Zealand voice and our stories, wherever people are watching and listening.

“The challenge for the next decade is to keep a space for diverse, well made local content in a complex and fast-changing environment awash in foreign programming. It’s a challenge we embrace,” Mr Walter said.

Copies of the annual report can be obtained from NZ On Air or downloaded from www.nzonair.govt.nz



NZ ON AIR – THE YEAR IN REVIEW

NZ On Air invested in –

over 200 individual TV programmes, both mainstream and special interest
11 community access radio stations around the country
Radio New Zealand National and Radio New Zealand Concert, keeping them fully non-commercial
30 new albums from established musicians
20 musicians new to radio
170 music videos to develop airplay potential for new music

The Top 10 funded television programmes had some of our highest viewing numbers ever
New Zealand drama successfully returned to TV One’s Sunday Theatre, with funded programmes Piece Of My Heart and Until Proven Innocent dominating finalists and winners in the drama categories at the 2009 Qantas Film and Television Awards

New documentary series Off The Radar, Home Grown and What’s Really In Our Food? each attracted well over a quarter of a million viewers per episode
Outrageous Fortune broke all local TV drama popularity records - and swept the 2008 Qantas awards

The new Platinum Fund will create even more options for high quality local television programmes
Television local content hours in 2008 reached the highest levels ever – nearly 12,000 hours
Funded network Radio New Zealand National won the Station of the Year 2009 award
More New Zealand music will be played on RNZ Concert under a special NZ On Air initiative
2009 Qantas Film and Television Award finalists and winners included programmes funded by NZ On Air in a record 24 of the 30 general categories
The website NZ On Screen was launched, showcasing historic New Zealand television and film online and winning a Qantas Media Award in its first year
Untouchable Girls broke New Zealand box office records for documentaries
NZ On Air-backed songs dominated the radio airplay charts

The song Brother from Smashproof’’s NZ On Air-funded debut album set a new record for the longest run at #1 on the national singles sales charts
The band Midnight Youth scooped a major US marketing deal following an NZ On Air-coordinated music showcase in Los Angeles