Since 1989 NZ On Air has measured local free-to-air television content. This report compares the schedules of the three nationwide free-to-air channels, to observe trends and changes in the local content landscape.

Key trends

  • Total hours of local programmes increased to 6186, up 44 from 6142 hours in 1999 (refer fig 1)
  • Total first-run hours (prime time and offpeak) increased by 7% from 4830 hours in 1999 to 5182 in 2000 (refer fig 2)
  • Total repeat hours dropped to 1004 hours, the lowest level since 1995, primarily because there was no repeat screening of Good Morning on TV2, no repeat of Five O’clock with Jude Dobson and reduced repeats of Children’s programmes on TV3 (refer fig 4)
  • These fluctuations mean that, overall, local content remained static, comprising 23.5% of the total broadcast hours in 2000, compared to 23.4% in 1999 (refer Appendix 3)
  • News and Current Affairs remains the single largest local content genre, once again comprising 30% of total local hours (refer Appendix 3