The leaked news that the Government is considering restructuring TVNZ and RNZ into a new multi-platform public service provider might signal the best news for public media in New Zealand since the closure of TVNZ7.
From the reports so far, the new model is intended to have a “clearly defined public media mandate and purpose, with the core functions of a globally recognised public media entity”, with “some” services that “may” be advertising-free.
Taken at face value, however, this could be problematic if the plan is simply to bolt RNZ onto TVNZ, chuck an extra $15 million at them to fight over, and hope for the best. For nearly three decades, RNZ and TVNZ have been on divergent paths of public service and commercial remit.
Introducing commercial advertising or sponsorship to RNZ’s operations would immediately compromise its charter objectives. Programming and scheduling decisions would need to consider ratings and revenue. This would fundamentally change RNZ’s character and undermine its ability to provide a full range of programmes for a diverse range of communities.
Meanwhile, the former TVNZ charter arrangements are a salutary reminder that public service principles cannot easily be superglued to a commercial operation. TVNZ's dual remit saw the broadcaster paying the Government more in dividends than it received in charter subsidies, and it was often unclear whether public dollars were helping provide quality local content, or subsidising programmes intended to compete commercially.
TVNZ 6 and 7, canned by National in 2012, proved that dedicated funding of commercial-free public service television could work, even on a limited budget. The schedule included children’s programming, an hour of news and current affairs, as well as programmes on arts and literature, the law courts, politics, the media, and local communities. But none of these programmes were sustainable without a commercial-free channel (although Back Benches and Media-3 initially survived with NZ On Air funds).
If the Government’s new public media model is to succeed, there are three factors it needs to get right.
- The organisational structure needs to clearly demarcate which services are subject to public service obligations. Retaining RNZ’s services as the public service core requires them to be insulated from commercial pressures, and given operational priority at board and management level.
- The funding must be proportional to the vision. The current funding for RNZ’s services has to be ring-fenced from any commercial budget and, if the plan is to wholly or partially decommercialise TVNZ’s channels, then the subsidy must be sufficient to maintain programme range and quality without advertising. Turning TV One ad-free would forgo $150 million in advertising. But if public television funding is combined with commercial funding, then it must be clearly earmarked for programmes in schedule slots that would not normally be commercially viable.
- The governance structure needs to be robust and have a clear set of principles and expectations as to the desired balance between public and commercial operations. This includes having an independent board (preferably with iwi and civic representatives, not just Government nominees). If some level of combined services, infrastructure or content-sharing were expected, there would need to be clear protocols or internal ring-fencing to prevent the commercial side of the new entity from dominating or cannibalising the public service operations.
There is a view that public service media is an anachronism in an environment where we seem to be able to binge-watch our favourite programmes on demand, at any time on any device. But the evidence suggests that, as digital intermediaries capture an increasing share of digital advertising, failures in the digital media ecology are increasing, especially in respect to quality local content, news and current affairs and content for minority groups.
In this respect, the proposal for a new model of public media has not come a moment too soon.
Read the original article on Stuff.