Since 1989 NZ On Air has measured local free-to-air television content. This report compares the schedules of the free-to-air channels, to observe trends and changes in the local content landscape.
- Total hours of local programmes increased markedly with 7,201 hours broadcast in 2002 compared to 6190 hours in 2001 (refer fig 1)
- Total first-run hours (prime time and offpeak) increased from 5151 hours in 2001 to 5748 in 2002 (refer fig 2)
- Total repeat hours increased by 414 to 1453 hours (refer fig 4)
- These changes mean that the percentage of total broadcast hours made up by local content increased markedly, from 23.6% in 2001 to 27.4% in 2002 (refer Appendix 3)
- The increase in first-run hours was mainly due to an increase in sports coverage
- News and Current Affairs remains the single largest local content genre, despite a decrease of 4% of total local hours. In 2002 News and Current affairs contributed to 29% of total broadcast hours (refer Appendix 3)