Maori TV set to launch next month

By REBECCA WALSH

After a troubled start, the long-awaited Maori Television Service will go to air next month.

The free-to-air service, which will include a nightly news bulletin, documentaries and lifestyle and sports programmes, will be broadcast seven days a week from its Newmarket studio.

Chairman Wayne Walden yesterday said it had been a "particularly long haul" to get the service up and running but the board and staff were excited about finally going to air.

"It's a very exciting time for many people who have been waiting to see that dream realised."

The broadcaster, which has yet to appoint a chief executive, has had a chequered history.

In 2002 Canadian John Davy, who was appointed its first chief executive, was jailed after it was discovered he had falsified his CV. Chairman Derek Fox took over the role but left last year amid sexual harassment allegations.

Yesterday, as work continued to complete the studio, Mr Walden and acting chief executive Ani Waaka said they never had any doubts the station would go to air.

Its launch represented years of work by many people to ensure the revitalisation and survival of te reo and a "new and exciting time in the history of New Zealand television".

"Maori Television has been designed to present a window to the Maori world and a Maori perspective on the world," Mr Walden said.

Explaining the delay - Maori Television had been expected to start mid-2002 - he and Ms Waaka said it was a "greenfields" project and there had been no detailed analysis about how long it would take to establish or its true cost.

"We are really opening the channel essentially 10 months after the organisation became a legal entity. We are quite delighted about that," Mr Walden said.

Last August, Maori Affairs Minister Parekura Horomia said the original timeline had changed because the Maori Television Services Bill had not been passed until May.

He admitted that the appointment of Mr Davy, his subsequent fraud conviction and the resignation of Mr Fox had delayed transmission.

Tuning in

* An estimated 82 per cent of the population - including about 78 per cent of the Maori population - will be able to get the channel.

* Some people may have to pay for a UHF aerial or satellite receiver and dish, depending on where they live.

* Sky subscribers can tune in on UHF channel 6 or digital channel 33.