NZ On Air’s Annual Report for the 2014/15 year has today been tabled in Parliament by the Hon. Amy Adams, Minister of Broadcasting.
It highlights a year of continued transformation of funding strategies to ensure the funding regime is fit-for-purpose in an evolving media environment. Informed by research, NZ On Air undertook reviews during the year of how it funds regional news and information content, children’s content, and radio spoken programmes. The agency also developed guidelines on how it will prioritise television and online channel applications. A new online promotional tool was also launched to help listeners find NZ music they enjoy – the portal AllTracks.co.nz.
In spite of an ever-expanding range of options for audiences, funded television content on free-to-air broadcasters continued to draw large audiences – the largest, for one episode of the perennial Country Calendar, was 600,000 viewers. Each of the top 10 funded television programmes attracted an average audience of at least 400,000 viewers.
Online spins of funded music are growing exponentially, making a massive contribution to the overall number of times funded local music is heard. MakingTracks funded songs played - on radio and music TV, and online - 11.5 million times in the 2014/15 year (songs funded and released within the year.)
Demand for funding of online-only content has risen rapidly and audiences are growing. Funded webseries were viewed more than a million times in the year. NZ On Air’s Digital Media Fund focuses on content for niche audiences that are not well-served by mainstream media.
“These are challenging times for all involved in the media. We are fortunate that the NZ On Air public media model is flexible enough to adapt to the changing needs of audiences,” said NZ On Air Chief Executive Jane Wrightson.
“We proudly continue to champion local content amid the swathe of global content, because this content is a crucial reflection of our culture. In a static funding environment we tightly manage overheads, so that we can continue to deliver the quality and quantity of content expected,” continued Ms Wrightson.
NZ On Air’s Annual Report is this year published here as an interactive online report. The below infographic sums up some of the key achievements.
A full PDF of the Annual Report is also below.
