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TV3 boss Brent Impey is furious at claims by his TVNZ counterpart Rick Ellis that the new TVNZ Ondemand website service is part of charter obligations.
The chief executive of CanWest MediaWorks New Zealand - owner of TV3 and C4 - has attacked the website, which allows viewers to download programmes, as an example of more murky accounting of the charter.
The site allows broadband users to download programmes, including old archive material and some prime-time shows, at a charge of $4 an hour.
CanWest is developing its own download site through its new relationship with MSN and says it is a commercial venture.
"It is fundamentally wrong for the taxpayers to fund this new commercial operation for TVNZ," Impey said.
The criticism is not new - private sector broadcasters have long complained that state broadcasters mix up commercial and non-commercial ventures and elicit unfair advantage.
Impey recently attacked TVNZ and the funding body NZ On Air for committing $36 million over three years for a new TV One soap opera, The Point, which was subsequently dropped.
But Ellis drew attention to the crossover of commercial and public service, saying Ondemand was a charter obligation and he hoped it would be making a profit in three years.
Ellis launched Ondemand last Tuesday. The site allows downloads of 300 videos and 100 programmes. Some of those chargeable programmes have already been publicly funded by New Zealand On Air.
CanWest is working on developing downloads of some of its programming through its new online relationship with ACP Magazines at the redeveloped MSN website. Impey says: "As soon as they use the word charter it means it is being used to access charter money. It is either commercial or it is charter-funded by the state."
TVNZ spokeswoman Megan Richards said everything TVNZ did was aimed at meeting the charter and getting a commercial return. "That is the model we have to work with."
The Ondemand website as it stands is not receiving direct government subsidies. The charges for programmes such as Shortland Street were only to recover the money paid to producers, she said.
But a programme supplier for Ondemand confirmed that the charge picked up by TVNZ was not just to pass on to producers - a significant proportion would be retained by TVNZ. Terms of how much TVNZ kept were variable among different producers. Where producers made money they had to return some to New Zealand On Air.
Under Ondemand primetime programmes screened from 7pm to 9.30pm will attract a $2 charge for a half-hour programme and $4 for an hour.
Website row
* Ondemand is a new TVNZ website which allows broadband users to download programming, including old archive material.
* TVNZ boss Rick Ellis has described it as part of the Government-owned network's charter obligation.
* TV3 boss Bent Impey says it is wrong for TVNZ to be making profits from programmes already funded by taxpayers through NZ On Air.
* TV3 owner CanWest is developing its own download site in partnership with MSN.
