At the end of June Channel Seven will fade to black, leaving NZ as the only country in the OECD without a commercial-free mainstream public service television station.
What's happening across the Tasman is a distressing example of what happens when the principles of public service broadcasting are corrupted by commercialism and administered by Philistines.
The National (equivalent to Australia's Liberal Party) government is refusing to maintain funding of Seven – about NZ $15 million a year - through TVNZ.
(Maori TV, the national indigenous broadcaster is still getting NZ $50 million a year. This is monocultural, not SBS-style television. Although Maori currently form 15 per cent of the population it's estimated that Asians will be the largest ethnic minority after 2026.)
What's happening across the Tasman is a distressing example of what happens when the principles of public service broadcasting are corrupted by commercialism and administered by Philistines.
The National (equivalent to Australia's Liberal Party) government is refusing to maintain funding of Seven – about NZ $15 million a year - through TVNZ.
(Maori TV, the national indigenous broadcaster is still getting NZ $50 million a year. This is monocultural, not SBS-style television. Although Maori currently form 15 per cent of the population it's estimated that Asians will be the largest ethnic minority after 2026.)
