TV policy benefits Sky - expert

The Government's quick decision to ignore concerns for the free-to-air sector has raised eyebrows in the broadcasting industry. Photo / Kenny Rodger

The communications academic behind a redraft of the TVNZ charter says the Government may be pursuing a broadcasting policy agenda strategically aligned to the business interests of Sky Television.

Unitec senior lecturer in communications Peter Thompson said that was one of the options to explain National's decision last week to scrap a review on broadcasting regulation.

The other options were that it was following a political agenda or that it did not want to commit ministerial time and resources to the issue, Thompson said.

Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman and Telecommunications Minister Steven Joyce dismissed dire warnings from TVNZ and TV3 about Rupert Murdoch-controlled Sky and a growing dominance of the TV industry.

The Review of Regulation for Digital Broadcasting and Future of Content, including the proposed study into market competition was launched in the dying days of Labour.

Calls for bans on Sky covering some sports - while common overseas - were lodged too late in New Zealand and were unlikely.

On Thursday Sky confirmed it had won host broadcaster rights to the 2011 Rugby World Cup and the pay television rights to all 48 games, although some key games will be screened on free-to-air channels.

But the Government's quick decision to walk away from the reviews and ignore concerns for the free-to-air sector has raised eyebrows in the broadcasting industry.

They viewed the review as the last chance to slow the Sky juggernaut as it nears 50 per cent saturation of the market with all obstacles now gone.

Thompson said National's reason last week for shutting down the review - that officials found there was no need to regulate - alluded to selective reading of reports from the Ministry of Economic Development and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage.

The Government approach was akin to the "sexing up" of evidence on weapons of mass destruction and to the plot for Yes Minister, he said.

"This aversion to regulation may indicate that Government wants to maintain an investor-friendly profile and is reluctant to tarnish that reputation by prioritising civic interests over corporate profits.

"Such political expediency is hardly satisfactory, but it would explain the alignment without requiring speculation on other possible forms of influence."

He said Sky was the principal beneficiary of the "do nothing" approach and retroactive regulation would be politically untenable for National.

Thompson's strong views will be dismissed by some. National is pro-business and anti-regulation and the reviews always had limited prospects.

The regulatory review was initiated by Labour and by the Ministry for Culture and Heritage - a department heavily aligned to cultural issues that was headed by former Prime Minister Helen Clark.

Many in business claim that Labour was too aligned to regulation and its own broadcasting policy was murky and bureaucratic, focused on public broadcasting rather than business.

But apart from opening up about $4 million a year in taxpayer funding formerly set aside for TVNZ, National's broadcasting policy does little for MediaWorks or prospects for its private equity owners gaining a good price in any eventual sale.

As Sky continues to grow past 50 per cent of New Zealand homes it shuts the door to Government oversight in a market that is heavily scrutinised in other countries.

The reviews included calls for expanding the telecommunications commissioner role to include broadcasting at a time when National is pulling back from regulation of telecommunications initiated by Labour.

Joyce has indicated he is prepared to review Telecom undertakings made to Labour last year.

The Government has removed the fiercely independent chairman of the Commerce Commission Paula Rebstock.

Coleman has made it no secret in the past that he admires the Sky business plan.

It had lost millions of dollars over the years but he did not see it as appropriate to regulate now that it was making money.

But Sky spent those poor-profit first few years building up infrastructure with no regulations that forced it to back local content.