Strong parochial TV base advocated

Press, 3 July 1986, Page 9

Strong parochial TV base advocated

If regional television in the South Island is to succeed it has to have a strong parochial base, according to a representative of Civic Enterprises, Ltd, Mr Ray Archer. Mr Archer presented the management side of Civic’s application for a third channel warrant for the South Island to the Broadcasting Tribunal yesterday. “Civic will offer a service that is an alternative rather than a duplicate of the existing national channel,” said Mr Archer. “Regionally and community orientated, it will be operated by five nonprofit community-based co-operatives.” Mr Archer said a South Island-based channel would cater far better for the needs of small South

Island towns and rural areas compared, with a networked system based in the North Island. “Many small local retailers complain that television advertising is of little benefit because it is too widely targeted ... and many find it too expensive,” he said. “We want to project an image of local control and involvement in the community. This cannot come from major corporations.” Civic Enterprises had established contact with Regional Television in Australia, and would work with this organisation in the supply of programmes for the local market. Mr Archer said use of the Post Office microwave network to cover the South Island would cost about $1 million a

year. "The potential for producing local programmes is affected by the budget available to the small stations, but the co-opera-tive format proposed will stimulate local bands, drama groups, and cultural societies to produce programmes for local television which may not be up to the technical standard of the larger operators but which would be very satisfying to the local community.”

The economic adviser for the group, Dr Ewen McCann, said Civic needed about $2 million to get the Christchurch station running. Dr McCann presented the economic background to the tribunal yesterday, and more witnesses will be heard today.