New Zealand On Air
Encyclopedia
NZ On Air is an independent New Zealand
broadcast funding agency. It is an autonomous crown entity separate from central Government and governed by a Board of six appointed by the Minister of Broadcasting. NZ On Air is responsible for the funding of public-good
broadcasting
content across television, radio and new media platforms.
NZ On Air is a major investor in television production mostly made by independent producers for free-to-air
television channels. The agency also fully funds public broadcaster Radio New Zealand
, an intervention to protect the state broadcaster's independence from central Government, and several access and community radio stations.
NZ On Air was the name taken by the Commission in an attempt to promote its activities and encourage payment of the broadcasting fee. The public broadcasting fee was abolished in 1999 and NZ On Air now receives its funds through the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
Programmes funded by New Zealand on Air would often have the announcement: This programme was made with the help of your broadcasting fee - so you can see more of New Zealand on air (also heard as This programme was made with funding from New Zealand on Air).
as a means of re-surfacing past New Zealand programme and film production.
A strong campaign developed in the late 1990s from a section of the public against the Broadcasting Fee. The reason behind the campaign was to prove "whether the broadcasting fee is a tax and the legality of applying GST to this tax". In the end the fee was scrapped in 1999, and the Commission has since been directly funded by the government. The fee was collected from those people who owned a television set although the fee was funding much more than television work, especially radio. Some campaigners believed this was unfair.
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
broadcast funding agency. It is an autonomous crown entity separate from central Government and governed by a Board of six appointed by the Minister of Broadcasting. NZ On Air is responsible for the funding of public-good
Public good
In economics, a public good is a good that is non-rival and non-excludable. Non-rivalry means that consumption of the good by one individual does not reduce availability of the good for consumption by others; and non-excludability means that no one can be effectively excluded from using the good...
broadcasting
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
content across television, radio and new media platforms.
NZ On Air is a major investor in television production mostly made by independent producers for free-to-air
Free-to-air
Free-to-air describes television and radio services broadcast in clear form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscription or one-off fee...
television channels. The agency also fully funds public broadcaster Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand
Radio New Zealand is a New Zealand public service radio broadcaster and Crown entity formed by the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news, current affairs and arts network Radio New Zealand National and classical music and jazz network Radio New Zealand Concert with full government funding...
, an intervention to protect the state broadcaster's independence from central Government, and several access and community radio stations.
NZ On Air was the name taken by the Commission in an attempt to promote its activities and encourage payment of the broadcasting fee. The public broadcasting fee was abolished in 1999 and NZ On Air now receives its funds through the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.
Programmes funded by New Zealand on Air would often have the announcement: This programme was made with the help of your broadcasting fee - so you can see more of New Zealand on air (also heard as This programme was made with funding from New Zealand on Air).
Public-good broadcasting
NZOA funds radio and television programme production in both the public and the private sectors. This includes drama, documentary, children's programmes, and programmes for special-interest groups.Cultural promotion
NZ On Air focuses on "local content" - New Zealand programmes that are expensive or risky to make which the broadcaster market cannot fully pay for. These programmes are primarily drama, documentary, children's programmes and special-interest programmes.Archiving
NZOA funds a non-commercial broadcast archive. As part of its archive and digital functions NZOA funded the establishment in 2008 of NZ On ScreenNZ On Screen
NZ On Screen is an online showcase of archival New Zealand television and film. The website is fully funded by NZ On Air and provides free worldwide access to NZ-produced television, film and music videos. Content is streamed and the webpages provide authoritative background information.The site...
as a means of re-surfacing past New Zealand programme and film production.
Promotion of New Zealand music
Mainly aimed at increasing the amount of New Zealand music on radio.Broadcasting fee
The Broadcasting Commission was established under the Broadcasting Act of 1989, and initially was funded by a television licence fee, known in New Zealand as the public broadcasting fee of NZ$110, payable annually by each household with a television.A strong campaign developed in the late 1990s from a section of the public against the Broadcasting Fee. The reason behind the campaign was to prove "whether the broadcasting fee is a tax and the legality of applying GST to this tax". In the end the fee was scrapped in 1999, and the Commission has since been directly funded by the government. The fee was collected from those people who owned a television set although the fee was funding much more than television work, especially radio. Some campaigners believed this was unfair.