Cultural identity

Local content programming on New Zealand television

Definition

The proportion of local content on prime-time (6pm-10pm) television.

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Television is the dominant cultural medium for many New Zealanders. It is a major source of news, information and entertainment, and influences people's sense of local and national identity. A local content measure reflects the extent to which New Zealanders see their culture reflected through this medium.

In 2014, local content on the six main national free-to-air television channels43 made up 36 percent of the prime-time schedule, up 1 percent from 2013, as reported by New Zealand On Air.

The proportion of local content on the main channels has shown a general decline over time, falling from 43 percent in 2006 to a low of 35 percent in 2010, 2012 and 2013. Over the last five years, the proportion of local content on prime-time television has remained steady.

Māori Television screened the most prime-time local content in 2014, with 80 percent of the channel's prime-time hours containing New Zealand programming. TV One and TV3 screened the next highest number of hours in prime-time with 53 percent and 48 percent respectively.

Figure CI1.1 – Proportion of local content on prime-time television, 2006–2014

Figure CI1.1 – Proportion of local content on prime-time television, 2006–2014

Source: NZ On Air
Note: Figures are for prime-time (6pm–10pm) local content on TV One, TV2, TV3, Prime Television, Māori Television and FOUR.

Looking at trends by genre for local content between the hours of 6am and midnight, news and current affairs accounted for 32 percent of the total local content hours in 2014, followed by information programmes (26 percent) and sports (13 percent). This was similar to 2013, 2012 and 2011, but differed from previous years, when entertainment had a larger share of total hours of local content.

Table CI1.1 – Percentage share of total hours of local content,
by programme type, 2006–2014

Programme type 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
News, current affairs 27 27 32 33 30 35 32 31 32
Information 15 18 15 15 20 18 23 26 26
Sports 17 16 15 14 15 16 16 12 13
Documentaries 6 6 6 6 6 7 7 9 8
Children's 8 8 9 9 8 9 7 8 8
Entertainment 17 15 16 14 12 7 6 7 7
Drama/Comedy 6 8 6 5 5 5 5 5 4
Māori 4 3 2 3 3 3 3 2 2
Total New Zealand content hours 10,255 10,784 11,600 11,418 10,881 11,219 12,051 12,145 12,537

Source: NZ On Air
Notes: Figures are for local content on TV One, TV2, TV3, Prime Television, Māori Television and FOUR. Hours are measured over 18 hours (6am – Midnight). For definitions of programme types (genre classifications), see NZ On Air (2014), Appendix 1, p31.