Maori TV pleased with first year

It's been through chief executive scandals, employment disputes and plenty of political criticism.

But a year on from its screen debut, Maori Television is firmly on the broadcasting map, has in many eyes gained respectable viewing figures, and has plans to make its prime-time programmes more accessible to non-Maori speakers in the next 12 months.

Jim Mather, the Ngati Awa businessman who became Maori Television's chief executive in December after a successful tenure as chief executive of the Pacific Business Trust, is confident the channel is on the right track.

"For a large number of people in the wider community it well and truly has exceeded expectations, particularly when you consider some of the early setbacks," he said.

"But we have certainly gone on from there, developed and got stronger as the year's gone on."

Maori Television was not far from the headlines early on, and came under strong political scrutiny.

The biggest setback was undoubtedly the discovery that the network's first chief executive, Canadian John Davy, lied on his application form for the job.

The decision to appoint Maori Television Service (MTS) board chairman Derek Fox as Davy's replacement didn't go down well with National MP Murray McCully, who questioned how the board could appoint its own chairman as chief executive.

Fox resigned from Maori Television amid sexual harassment allegations in August 2003, and is now a radio broadcaster and magazine editor,

Among the shows criticised this year was Tuku Morgan's programme Matua Whangai, a chat show hosted by his brother-in-law Tau Henare from a garage instead of a commercial studio.

Initially criticised for being funded at all, the show was pulled off air in September last year after concerns were raised by London-based Hat Trick Productions, which wanted to check if the show infringed the rights to its Kumars at No 42 programme.

However, Hat Trick said it was happy the show did not infringe its rights and took the matter no further.

Given the scrutiny the channel has faced, Mr Mather said accountability was important and he was pleased with the management structure when he arrived in December.

"I was very pleased to arrive and see firstly an organisation with such a strong fiscal management and cost control culture. It really is quite impressive, and I say that as a professional accountant -- that the organisation is run as a very tight ship.

"But quite aside from the financial structure of the organisation, the strong and experienced management team that we have in place was certainly very reassuring for me."

Early ratings figures were encouraging -- though disputed by Mr McCully -- and showed a sizeable proportion of the audience was non-Maori.

Among more popular programmes have been Korero Mai -- which mixes language and cultural education with the soap opera Aakina -- reality shows like DIY Marae and Kai Time on the Road, the entertainment show Maorioke and the news programme Te Kaea.

There hasn't been much drama made to date, mainly due to expense, though there is a strong chance Aakina will be extended to a 30 minute show, competing against Shortland St on TVNZ's Channel Two.

The station has also broadcast programmes from indigenous cultures outside New Zealand, something Mr Mather said was important. But he also saw Maori Television as a public broadcaster.

"We certainly see that there's a lot of public value in what we're doing and along with that, we really view that we are the face of New Zealand in terms of the programming that our viewers see.

"The other channels will predominantly show American and British programming which obviously reflects those respective cultures. Maori Television predominantly reflects New Zealand culture."

One of the channel's primary purposes is promoting te reo Maori, a purpose the channel has met with programmes exclusively in Maori and educational programmes teaching te reo to English speakers.

This year, however, Maori Television will begin subtitling many of its prime time Maori language programmes. Mr Mather said the channel was aiming to have 50 per cent of its programmes from 7.30pm to 11.30pm subtitled in English by the end of this year, and 100 per cent subtitled by the end of 2006.

"The key objective has always been the revitalisation of te reo Maori and tikanga Maori and I feel that the best way of doing that is to make both the language and the culture as widely accessible as possible.

"Obviously for the vast majority of non-Maori speakers, subtitling, captioning, sideboarding and other techniques are really the way to go to ensure that we get as wide an audience as possible."

Another major goal for the next 12 months is to increase the advertising percentage.

"We are very appreciative of the support we have had from the advertising community to date, however, we feel that there's more opportunity to develop that further."

To mark the anniversary on Monday, Maori Television will screen from the earlier time of 12 noon and screen several specials.

Two New Zealand movies -- the popular pool hall flick Stickmen and the love story Flight Of The Albatross -- will be screened in te reo Maori, and the Oscar-nominated short film Two Cars, One Night by Maori filmmaker Taika Waititi will screen for the second time on the channel.

Tours of the channel's studios in Newmarket, Auckland, will also be available on Monday.

Political support for Maori Television hasn't been universal in the past 12 months. Upon its opening, National's Maori Affairs spokesman Gerry Brownlee questioned whether the money could be spent better elsewhere, though National leader Don Brash has since said a National-led government was prepared to see whether the channel was working before deciding if funding would continue.

Mr Mather, however, is confident of the channel's future.

"I feel that the future of Maori Television is very secure, particularly after this first successful year that we've had," he said.

"The reason I say that is that I believe that we've exceeded the expectations of many and most New Zealanders are now seeing the value of the channel; the fact that we are inclusive, that we're providing an opportunity not just for Maori but for all New Zealanders to get a better understanding of the language and the culture.

"I think the public value of that brings us together more closely as a nation and there's a lot of intrinsic value in doing just that."

- NZPA