Māori Television was launched on 28 March 2004 and attracted a cumulative audience of 300,000 in its first month on air. The main channel attracts 1.5 million viewers each month; half of all Māori aged five or more, and one-third of all New Zealanders. Te Reo, the station's second channel, was launched on 28 March 2008. It stands out from the main channel in that it is both free of advertising, and broadcast completely in Māori. Te Reo features special tribal programming with a particular focus on new programming for the fluent members of its audience.
Operations
The station is under the stewardship of two stakeholders which are the New Zealand Government, and the Māori Television Electoral College. It has an annual budget of $45m, almost one-third of state spending on television in New Zealand. In July 2015, the Māori Television board decided that Hamilton or Rotorua could be a new home for the broadcaster. The station has a seven-member board of directors.
Ratings
A survey conducted by Business and Economic Research Limited found that 84 per cent of the general New Zealand population believe that Māori Television should be a permanent part of New Zealand broadcasting. Māori Television continues to attract a rapidly growing and increasingly broad audience across age, gender and ethnicities. More than two-thirds of the audience are non-Māori, who are looking for local programming such as Kai Time on the Road, Kete Aronui and Ask Your Auntie, many New Zealand movies and documentaries, and the diverse range of international movies and documentaries that normally would not get air-time on the main commercial networks.
The station aims to revitalise Māori language and culture through its programming. The relevant legislation says "The principal function of the Service is to promote te reo Māori me nga tikanga Māori through the provision of a high quality, cost-effective Māori television service, in both Māori and English, that informs, educates, and entertains a broad viewing audience, and, in doing so, enriches New Zealand's society, culture, and heritage".
Controversies
Canadian John Davy was appointed chief executive of Māori Television in 2002. However, it was found that his qualifications were false — he claimed to hold a degree from "Denver State University" which did not exist — and he was fired. In 2005, newsreader Julian Wilcox was fired after he contributed to information provided to other media that led to negative coverage of the station. That same year, Te Kāea presenter Ngarimu Daniels was banned from taking part in protests, and her partner was referred to as a "dyke" by a senior station manager. She was awarded $16,000 compensation, and her partner, Leonie Pihama, a leading Māori academic and film-maker, resigned from the station's board citing a conflict of interest.
