Door left open for Maori Sky bid

By PHIL TAYLOR

The Government has given the Maori Television Service a reprieve, allowing it more time to prove that its best option is to go to air on a Sky channel.

The Sky option, which MTS believes would save it several million dollars, was expected to be rejected last week but the Cabinet has left the door open for the Maori broadcaster to convince it of its merits.

A spokeswoman for Finance Minister Michael Cullen said the Cabinet had not reached a decision.

A source told the Weekend Herald that, after vigorous debate, the Cabinet requested more work on the two options before it, the second being a platform provided by the Government-owned Broadcast Communications Ltd.

BCL is desperate not to lose the revenue MTS would bring it and Mr Cullen and Broadcasting Minister Steve Maharey are understood to be sympathetic.

But MTS now has the chance to prove its proposal is better in terms of reach, quality and minimal interference to other signals.

MTS chairman Wayne Walden said he was unable to comment on the transmission issue other than to say it was still being considered by the board and Government.

He has been in Wellington this week on Tranz Rail business (he is the chairman) but might have been meeting Mr Cullen in an effort to justify the MTS proposal.

Using a Sky channel would enable MTS to go on air at the flick of a switch, whereas the BCL option might involve further delays.

If MTS' proposal is accepted it will save Sky from having to retune its customers' decoders - a big exercise - which is why Sky is willing to sacrifice a channel for MTS.

The BCL option would use frequencies set aside for Maori television in 1989 on which Sky has been squatting and would therefore need to be retuned.

Sky has also warned of an interference problem for PlayStations and televisions tuned through VCRs if MTS goes to air on these frequencies.