The night the music died

By RICHARD WAIN

As the all-night music show M2 comes to an end this weekend, there is frustration, anger and disappointment in the local music industry about the demise of the latest in a series of attempts at free-to-air music television.

TVNZ announced last week that TV2 would not be carrying the show in the wee small hours.

From midnight to 6am each Thursday, Friday and Saturday for 78 weeks, M2 has played a self-imposed minimum 33 per cent quota of New Zealand music.

Many in the music industry want to know who is going to air all those local videos now.

Chris Chetland of electronic music label Kog Transmissions calls the closure "really sad" and thinks TVNZ has a moral obligation to continue with M2.

"TV's so powerful for constructing national identity. To lose M2 is cultural assassination," says Chetland. "The industry has lost a really important aspect of what is helping it to grow."

Ex-pat music label talent scout and DJ Grant Kearney accuses TVNZ of shutting down "the only worthwhile music content on the entire network".

Universal Music Australia's top A&R man wants to know whether the nation's largest broadcaster is on a "crusade" to stamp out decent music television.

Kearney says M2 is victim number three for TVNZ, buying Max TV's frequency in 1997 to remove Auckland competition for MTV, then later dumping MTV.

He attended a breakfast with Helen Clark and a Trade New Zealand delegation in Sydney to discuss how to promote New Zealand music internationally.

"How is this supposed to eventuate when New Zealand music receives such little exposure or support through the television medium in your own country?" Kearney says. "And the government controls TVNZ. The hypocrisy astounds me."

M2 and its presenters have been asked not to comment by TVNZ, but hip-hop star P-Money is not happy.

"Obviously I'm disappointed. Full Clip, the video show I front, was the only avenue for the hip-hop I love and for people out there who also love hip-hop. I'm a fan just like everyone else."

Blindspott vocalist Damian Alexander says one of the benefits of the show was that it programmed beyond chart-aimed pop music.

"It's not just pop music, it's for the benefit of the country ... all the bands that are making marks for New Zealand have had support from M2 which has helped," the hard rock singer says.

"Some of our videos have sat in the Top 12 on M2 for a couple of months and it's helped us. The support is huge."

Satellite Pictures made M2 and its general manager Nicki Streater is diplomatic about the demise of the channel-within-a-channel. Satellite continues to make the longer-running music shows Squeeze and Space for TV2.

"We are sad about it, absolutely," Streater says. "We're really proud of what we have achieved in the past 18 months, the bands and the talent that we've nurtured. I'll be sad to see it go."

Juice TV programme manager Daniel Wrightson is not sure whether free-to-air music television in such a late timeslot was a good idea.

"It comes down to what's required, quantity or quality."

The Sky Digital channel and its retro offspring J2 play 15-20 per cent New Zealand music. "We're putting our hand up and the quality's so high now."

Wrightson says he didn't perceive M2 as competition. "I'm sure they did a good job but we're just getting on with our job."

Juice and J2 run 24 hours a day, seven days a week but you do need a Sky decoder.

NZ On Air chief executive Jo Tyndall admits she is unhappy at the loss of all that airtime for local music videos - many of which her organisation funds.

"Yes, it is disappointing, but NZ On Air remains absolutely committed to pursuing more free-to-air music television," Tyndall says.

NZ On Air provided $250,000 in funding towards M2 in the 2002-2003 financial year - enough to support M2 until now.

"There will be more funding available after July for free-to-air music TV."

TVNZ needed to support M2 until then.

Alexander thinks TVNZ should approach the major music labels in New Zealand for money to keep it going.

Streater thinks M2 "did okay with advertising in that difficult timeslot". She is not sure what else would attract more money for TVNZ at that time.

TVNZ spokesman Glen Sowry admits the scheduled replacement diet of movies and series probably won't be successful in attracting more advertisers. But he says the decision to cut M2 was still a financial one.

"In addition to the ongoing commitment to Space, Squeeze, Mai Time, the SmokefreeRockquest and New Zealand Music Month, there are the chart shows such as RTR which also play a lot of New Zealand music."

The money that was being spent on M2 will go back into the general programming budget.

Rostering late weekend shifts for TVNZ staff involved with M2 was also problematic.

Cutting M2 goes against everything the new TVNZ charter stands for, Kearney says.

Tyndall agrees M2 would be consistent with charter obligations. "But it's TVNZ's decision on how they allocate resources for the charter."

Sowry says programming for the charter is a balancing act to satisfy different audiences, such as those for documentaries or the performing arts.

But there may be some reprieve yet to come for M2.

Tyndall hopes that something else can be done once the new funding becomes available.

Sowry says TVNZ is talking to Satellite "to see if there is another way we can continue with M2 in abbreviated form - but it's early days yet".