5.3.1 Māori television service

The Māori Television Service Act 2003 provided for the allocation of a 10-year management right over 32 MHz, or four analogue channels, in the UHF band for the Māori Television Service (MTS) for the purpose of protecting and promoting te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori. In addition, the Act established a mechanism for safeguarding the UHF right for this purpose if it was not required by the MTS. This was intended to reflect the Crown’s commitment to the protection and promotion of te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori through broadcasting. Pursuant to this provision, the Crown transferred spectrum Management Right 195 to MTS in December 2003. The current statutory entitlement, and therefore the management right, expires in 2013.

The Crown provided this management right to ensure that te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori could effectively be protected through television broadcasting. The bandwidth is capable of supporting licences for both an analogue network and a digital network throughout New Zealand. MTS currently broadcast on both analogue and digital terrestrial technologies (including satellite). However MTS has negotiated transmission arrangements with other parties, namely SKY for analogue terrestrial services and Kordia for digital terrestrial and satellite services. This arrangement enabled MTS to go on air quickly using SKY licences and avoided SKY adjusting their subscriber equipment.

The operation and effectiveness of the Māori Television Service Act 2003 has recently been reviewed by an independent panel, which has put forward several recommendations relating to the management right held by MTS.¹³ A government response to the review is currently being developed, and this will include consideration of spectrum access issues. This aspect of the government’s response is therefore closely related to decisions the government may make on realising the digital dividend.

Any additional spectrum, after expiry of the current Management right, required for the promotion of te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori by MTS, over and above its present access to capacity on licences owned by other parties is not yet determined. Whatever final decisions are made, it is considered appropriate to incorporate any spectrum provision in the overall band plan outlined above. This may necessitate fine tuning of the exact frequency limits between the band segments.

Question 11

What opportunities do you envisage for the promotion of te reo Māori me ngā tikanga Māori which need consideration in a revised frequency plan?

Footnote

¹³ The review report is available online at: http://www.tpk.govt.nz/en/consultation/mtsa/report