TVNZ set to give digital deal detail

By RICHARD BRADDELL

Television New Zealand may outline its plans for partnerships with digital television providers on Monday.

Spokesman Liam Jeory said a press conference was a possibility because of the strong interest after Television New Zealand chief executive Rick Ellis told a parliamentary select committee on Thursday that the broadcaster was confident of signing a deal with a digital partner by Christmas.

The smart money is on Telstra Saturn as the probable partner, although TVNZ has also had discussions with Sky.

Mr Jeory said the details had not been announced because the partners had still not been revealed.

Television New Zealand has paid $6 million for a slot on Australian telecommunications company Cable & Wireless Optus' B1 satellite.

This would be used to deliver digital television across New Zealand.

But the state broadcaster, which wrote off $14 million in investment when the the Government canned earlier digital plans, is hoping for a cheaper entry to digital by teaming up with another party.

Telstra Saturn, which is building a cable television and telephone network in the main centres, might provide cheaper access to urban customers for Television New Zealand's programming.

Telstra Saturn could extend its business beyond urban areas by distributing its own programming over TVNZ's satellite service.

More likely, it would simply bundle the digital content of TVNZ with a number of its own telecommunications services.

While details are said to be far from nailed down, it seems likely that even greater benefits lie in joint programme purchasing and production arrangements.

These would exploit TVNZ's library and existing news production arrangements to produce specialised programming for use on either firm's pay television services.