Funding shortfall a problem for B.C.N.Z.

Press, 10 February 1988, Page 18

Funding shortfall a problem for B.C.N.Z.

Inadequate funding from the public broadcasting fee means a public broadcaster has great difficulty in producing sufficient local programmes of sufficient quality with relevance to the communities it is charged with serving under the Broadcasting Act. This is the message given to the Royal Commission on Social Policy by the Broadcasting Corporation. In a submission to the Royal Commission, Broadcasting’s chief executive, Nigel Dick, said the corporation faced a contradiction in that it provided public broadcasting services, but funded the majority of them not from the public purse, but from advertising revenue. Whereas that situation had existed for many years because of an inadequate licence fee, it was now becoming untenable because of the numbers of private broadcasting licences being granted.

More commercial stations — radio and television — meant there was less advertising revenue available to fund the sorts of programmes which only public broadcasting provided. “Where this hits broadcasting and New Zealand hardest is in the provision of home-grown programmes,” Mr Dick said. "As the nation’s public broadcaster, we are charged under the Broadcasting Act with providing programmes which reflect and develop New Zealand’s identity and culture. “Yet locally-made programmes cannot compete in cost terms with American programmes which have been heavily discounted for export. “So if our advertising revenue is diminished as a result of there being more private radio and television stations, the only way we can continue to afford the expensive business of local programming, is by an increase in

the public broadcasting fee.” Mr Dick said New Zealand’s level of broadcasting fee — $65 plus GST — compared badly with those of other countries. For example, France paid a fee of $l4O, Britain $159, West Germany $179, and Austria $252. “We’re hopeful that ongoing discussions with our Minister about broadcasting matters in general will overcome these very difficult problems.” “A public broadcasting system exists for a clear purpose to provide the kind of broadcasting which private enterprises will not provide. To do this, it must have sufficient funds. To have a public broadcasting system and to have it operate within a financial framework which prevents it from providing the public service required of it is a contradiction, and one which requires a change in funding policy to meet social needs,” Mr Dick said.