Legislature broadcasters in New Zealand

Last updated

Parliament TV / AM Network
Ptvnzlogo.PNG
The Parliament TV logo
Country New Zealand
Broadcast areaNew Zealand
Headquarters Wellington, New Zealand
Programming
Picture format 576i 16:9 (SDTV)
Ownership
OwnerNew Zealand Parliament
History
Launched9 October 2007 (television broadcasting)
Links
Website Parliament TV
Video live stream
AM Network
Audio live stream
Availability
Terrestrial
Freeview Channel 31
AM frequencies Various

Legislature broadcasters in New Zealand are broadcasters of the New Zealand Parliament House of Representatives. Television channel Parliament TV and radio network AM Network are funded by the New Zealand House of Representatives to broadcast full and unedited coverage of its proceedings. The Office of the Clerk also funds a fully independent written, audio and video political reporting service of Parliamentary proceedings called Parliament Today.

Contents

Sitting hours are seasonal and are generally within five weekly sessions. Normal sittings are 14:00 and 18:00 Tuesdays; 19:30 and 22:00 Tuesday nights; 14:00 and 18:00 Wednesdays; 19:30 and 22:00 Wednesday nights; and 14:00 and 18:00 Thursdays. Special circumstances can allow Parliament to sit under urgency, usually between 09:00 Tuesday morning and 24:00 Saturday evening. [1]

History

Prior to the AM Network, parliamentary broadcasts were carried on the Concert programme, with New Zealand becoming the first country in the world to regularly broadcast parliament proceedings on 25 March 1936. [2]

Veteran press gallery journalist and political commentator Charles Wheeler introduced the broadcast of the opening of the 25th Parliament, with Speaker-elect Barnard. Wheeler told listeners on the first broadcast that "for the first time in the history of New Zealand broadcasting, the microphone has been introduced into Parliament itself so that even the most distant elector may gain some first-hand knowledge of the more important happenings". He said New Zealand was blazing the trail in allowing parliamentary broadcasts. [3]

Since the 1980s, the AM Network has used to broadcast all live Parliamentary proceedings in full. On 17 July 2007, Parliamentary coverage was expanded to television. [4]

Services

Parliament TV

The popularity of a video of a Parliamentary speech by Maurice Williamson led to him being invited to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Maurice Williamson at the NZ Open Source Awards, 2007.jpg
The popularity of a video of a Parliamentary speech by Maurice Williamson led to him being invited to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show .

Parliament TV is managed by Kordia under a long-term contract to the House of Representatives. [5] and is made freely available to media companies. It broadcasts though media such as TVNZ and MediaWorks New Zealand, as streaming video on the Internet, and, since 9 October 2007, on Freeview channel 31 and Sky Channel 086.[ citation needed ]

Programming on Parliament TV is limited to live coverage of Parliament and scheduled repeats of Question Time on Parliamentary sitting days. [6] It closes down outside non-sitting hours.[ citation needed ]

In The House

Christchurch-based Tandem Studios is contracted to the Clerk of the House to live stream Parliament TV's broadcasts, and record, re-format and re-purpose the coverage as small highlight package videos on their In The House website and YouTube account. More than 22,000 videos have been uploaded, and the company claims the videos have received more than 3 million views. [7]

Several videos from the final reading of the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 were redistributed by The New Zealand Herald and other media. A video of one speech in favour of the Act, by National Party MP Maurice Williamson, went viral on YouTube, Huffington Post, Gawker, New York Times and Pink News. It was broadcast on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, with Williamson later declining an invitation to appear on the show. [8] [9]

AM Network

Map of the AM Network frequencies. Map of AM Network frequencies.png
Map of the AM Network frequencies.

The AM Network is operated by Radio New Zealand under a similar contract, and uses a nationwide set of AM broadcasting transmitters that were previously used by The Concert Programme before it switched to FM broadcasting. The broadcasts are also available online, via live-streaming and through on-demand podcasts. The AM Network's Parliamentary broadcasts do not include continuity announcers or news bulletins, unlike other Radio New Zealand networks.[ citation needed ]

In total, Radio New Zealand produces an estimated 17 hours of live Parliamentary broadcasting and just over an hour of packaged extracts. The Radio New Zealand smartphone app allows listeners to follow individual Parliamentary sittings on Apple and Android mobile devices. The broadcaster claims its iPhone App has been downloaded more than 50,000 times since it was first introduced in 2011. [10]

The AM Network's closedown hours were originally used by Sports Roundup. Since 1997, Christian broadcaster Rhema Media has consistently leased this time to broadcast the low-budget easy listening Star radio network. [11] Despite AM Network being technically owned by Radio New Zealand, Star broadcasts Newstalk ZB Affiliates Unit hourly news bulletins during the air time it leases. [12] AM Network's North Island frequencies are Auckland 882 AM, Waikato 1494 AM, Hawke's Bay 909 AM and Wellington & Tauranga 657 AM. In the South Island, it broadcasts on Canterbury 963 AM, Dunedin 900 AM and Invercargill 1314 AM. [13]

Parliament Today

The Office of the Clerk also fully funds a political reporting service, providing written, audio and video summaries from the debating chamber and committee rooms of the House of Representatives completely independently from Radio New Zealand. It is the country's only consistent source of regular reports of parliamentary proceedings, with live reports of debates and decisions in the chamber from independent press gallery journalists Tom Frewen and Rheesh Lyon.[ citation needed ]

Clerk of the House David McGee established the service in 1994, hoping to replicate the success BBC Radio 4 show Today in Parliament has had since 1945. Parliament Today programmes summarise the most significant events and highlights from Question Time, debates and select committees, utilising audio from the AM Network for rebroadcast on other stations. Kiwi FM, the community access stations, the student radio stations and other stations broadcast the programmes around the country, and Radio New Zealand International broadcasts the programmes around the Pacific. [14]

Each sitting week the service produces three daily programmes on sitting days, a weekly five-minute programme, a weekly ten minute programme, weekly 15 minute programme, a weekly 28 minute programme and a weekly 5 minute Select Committee report.[ citation needed ]

The service ceased in 2016.[ citation needed ]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio New Zealand</span> Public-service radio broadcast network

Radio New Zealand, commonly known as Radio NZ or simply RNZ, is a New Zealand public-service radio broadcaster and Crown entity that was established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995. It operates news and current-affairs network, RNZ National, and a classical-music and jazz network, RNZ Concert, with full government funding from NZ On Air. Since 2014, the organisation's focus has been to transform RNZ from a radio broadcaster to a multimedia outlet, increasing its production of digital content in audio, video, and written forms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio in New Zealand</span>

Radio broadcasting began in New Zealand in 1922, and is now dominated by almost thirty radio networks and station groups. The Government has dominated broadcasting since 1925, but through privatisation and deregulation has allowed commercial talk and music stations to reach large audiences. New Zealand also has several radio stations serving Māori tribes, Pasifika communities, ethnic minorities, evangelical Christians and special interests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newstalk ZB</span> New Zealand talk radio network

Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk-radio network operated by NZME Radio. It is available in almost every radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in many of them. In addition to talkback, the network also broadcasts news, interviews, music, and sports. The network's hosts include Kate Hawkesby, Mike Hosking, Kerre Woodham, Simon Barnett, James Daniels, Heather du Plessis-Allan, Marcus Lush, Andrew Dickens, Jack Tame and Francesca Rudkin. Wellington and Christchurch have a local morning show.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Sport</span> Radio station

Radio Sport was a New Zealand sports radio network and the talkback sister network of Newstalk ZB. It held commentary rights for most cricket matches, international and domestic rugby union games, NRL rugby league games, trans-Tasman basketball and New Zealand tennis tournaments.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">ABC NewsRadio</span> Australian Broadcasting Corporation radio service

ABC NewsRadio, since 2017 broadcast under the ABC News brand and for a short time known as ABC News on Radio, is a 24-hour news radio service broadcast by the Australian public broadcaster, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). ABC NewsRadio is available via a number of platforms around Australia, including AM/FM radio, online via web or the ABC Listen app, DAB+ radio, free-to-air digital TV, and some pay-TV platforms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sky Open (TV channel)</span> New Zealand free-to-air television network

Sky Open is a New Zealand free-to-air television network. It airs a varied mix of programming, largely imported from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coast (radio station)</span> New Zealand radio network

Coast is a New Zealand radio network playing a mix of "feel good" hits predominantly from the 1970s and 1980s. The network includes stations in 21 major cities and provincial centres broadcasting from studios in central Auckland, owned and operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment (NZME).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Hits (radio station)</span> Radio station in markets

The Hits is a Hot adult contemporary music radio network, broadcasting to 26 markets across New Zealand. It was set up by Government broadcaster Radio New Zealand in 1993 by consolidating existing stations into a single brand and has been privately owned since 1996. The Hits has had the broadest broadcast reach of any radio network in the country since 1996, and is now available on 40 full-power FM frequencies and 18 iHeartRadio streams.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hokonui (radio station)</span> Radio station in Gore, New Zealand

Hokonui is an Adult Contemporary radio station that first launched in Gore, New Zealand, broadcasting across Southland and now also broadcasts across South Otago and Mid Canterbury. Hokonui also from April 2015 was broadcasting in Taranaki until late in 2020 when it was disestablished by NZME and replaced by Gold AM. The name Hokonui comes from the Hokonui Hills which can clearly be seen in Gore and the Southland Plains.

Radio Nelson was a New Zealand radio station in Nelson. The station was started by Radio New Zealand in 1932.

Trackside is a New Zealand horse racing and sports broadcast network, incorporating two free-to-air television channels. The TV channels are available on Sky as well as Freeview terrestrial and streaming services. The radio station broadcasts on 14 AM radio and 16 FM radio frequencies from Kaitaia to Invercargill were suspended on 12 April 2020.

Martin Devlin is a New Zealand radio and television broadcaster. In July 2012, The Radio Network announced that Devlin would take over the morning show for NZ's first private station, Radio Hauraki. Devlin later anchored a show on Newstalk ZB, until 2021.

2ZB was a radio station based in Wellington, New Zealand. This station was run by Radio New Zealand and eventually spawned a second FM station called B90FM. Today 2ZB and B90FM are part of a nationwide networks Newstalk ZB and The Hits respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Zealand Media and Entertainment</span> New Zealand media business

New Zealand Media and Entertainment is a New Zealand newspaper, radio and digital media business. It was launched in 2014 as the formal merger of the New Zealand division of APN News & Media, APN New Zealand; The Radio Network, is formerly part of the Australian Radio Network; and GrabOne, one of New Zealand's biggest ecommerce websites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Taranaki</span> Radio station in New Plymouth

Radio Taranaki was a radio station in New Plymouth and Hāwera.

95 BOP FM was a radio station in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Rachel Jane Smalley is a New Zealand television and radio journalist and presenter. From 2013 to 2017 she hosted Early Edition every weekday morning on Newstalk ZB and wrote regular columns for The New Zealand Herald.

The Christian Broadcasting Association (CBA) is a New Zealand non-profit radio production company, set up to produce Christian programmes for secular radio stations and non-Christian audiences. It predominantly produces programmes for Newstalk ZB and Radio Sport. According to the association's website, it aims to "share the heart of the Christian faith in mainstream media".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Radio Bay of Plenty</span> Radio station

Media Bay of Plenty is a radio company based in Whakatāne, New Zealand. Its flagship station, One Double X, reaches the entire Bay of Plenty, with specific frequencies Ōhope and Te Puke and live streaming on its website. It also owns and operates subsidiary network Bayrock in the Bay Of Plenty and Ōhope, with an additional frequency in Wānaka in the South Island and similar live-streaming on a separate website.

The 2022 New Zealand Radio Awards are the awards for excellence in the New Zealand radio industry during 2021. It was the 45th New Zealand Radio Awards, recognising staff, volunteers and contractors in both commercial and non-commercial broadcasting.

References

  1. "New Zealand Parliament House sitting programme". New Zealand Government. Archived from the original on 14 May 2009. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  2. "First radio broadcast of Parliament | NZHistory, New Zealand history online". nzhistory.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. 18 December 2014. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  3. "First radio broadcast of Parliament". NZHistory.net.nz. Retrieved 7 October 2014.
  4. "Parliament TV celebrates ten years of broadcasting democracy in action". www.parliament.nz. New Zealand Parliament. 17 July 2017. Retrieved 15 October 2023.
  5. "Live Webcasts Of Parliament Begin Today" . Retrieved 27 August 2008.
  6. New Zealand Parliament - House sitting programme, 2015
  7. About InTheHouse Archived 13 January 2015 at the Wayback Machine , 2015
  8. "New Zealand MP who gave viral pro-equal marriage speech will not appear on Ellen". Pink News. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  9. "Williamson's Ellen appearance canned". GayNZ.com . Retrieved 23 January 2015.
  10. "AM Network". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 10 June 2009.
  11. "About Southern Star". Sstar.co.nz. Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2011.
  12. "Newstalk ZB Affiliates Service". Newstalk ZB. Archived from the original on 3 June 2010. Retrieved 3 June 2011.
  13. "AM Network MW Frequencies". Radio New Zealand .
  14. "About -- Parliament Today". Parliament Today. Retrieved 10 July 2014.