Te Karere striking a chord with viewers

Te Karere editor Shane Taurima has been working to make the show more accessible. Photo / Richard Robinson

A year on from its relaunch, Maori news programme Te Karere is enjoying impressive audience shares.

Te Karere moved to a full half-hour bulletin in February last year and is TVNZ's flagship Maori news programme.

It screens at 4pm and has subtitled repeats, while Maori Television's Te Kaea goes to air at 7.30pm and also has subtitled replays. Both have online presences.

There is a volatile viewing pattern but on a single day recently Te Karere pulled in 90,000 viewers, whereas research company AGB NMR couldn't statistically measure Te Kaea's audience as its numbers were too small for accuracy.

Where Te Karere has 10 per cent of the available audience, Te Kaea has 0.3 per cent.

Te Karere editor Shane Taurima has overseen changes in the past year aimed at making the show more accessible.

TVNZ's head of news and current affairs Anthony Flannery said Te Karere's performance was exceptional, and he was pleased that Te Karere was starting to outrate two of rival TV3's shows - Sunrise and 3 News at Twelve - combined, on a consistent basis.

"It shows hands down they're doing a great job and they're obviously striking a chord with the viewership."

Maori Television's news and current affairs general manager Te Anga Nathan still believes Te Kaea provides a "superior product" to its state-broadcasting cousin.

It runs seven days a week as opposed to five and per episode, Maori Television figures show that Te Kaea reaches an average of 10,600 viewers. This is compared with the 18,100 viewers Te Karere reaches.

"We're not that far behind. We know we've got a way to go but we've only been in this a few years, Te Karere's been doing it for 26."

The station's own research found that 85 per cent of those who watched reported they were satisfied.

WHO'S WATCHING?

Te Karere:
* 67 per cent female
* 53 per cent aged 55 and over
* 17 per cent Maori

Te Kaea:
* 66 per cent Maori
* In 13 months reached 1.2 million viewers
* 18 per cent of online viewers from Australia