Media Releases

NZ On Air and RNZ Announce Collaborative Approach to Public Media Funding

Released at 12:54 pm on 29 August 2018

A Memorandum of Understanding signed between NZ On Air and Radio New Zealand (RNZ) will pilot an innovative collaborative approach to commissioning public media content for New Zealand audiences.

A $6 million Joint Innovation Fund will allocate contestable funding to projects in three separate categories: Signature Projects for major productions of interest to a broad audience; Growth Audiences with content for Māori, Pacifica, regional and younger audiences; and Diverse Journalism for news, current affairs and factual content.

Initial requests for proposals (RFP) will be published in September and October with an expectation that the first projects will be in production by the end of the year.

In seeking the best creative ideas, funding decisions will be made jointly by NZ On Air and RNZ with the large majority of the allocation being committed to projects sought from and delivered by independent content creators. RNZ will be the primary delivery platform for all projects.

NZ On Air will manage the contestable RFP and application process through its online application portal and funding decisions will be made public by NZ On Air in the usual way and presented in its Annual Report.

ENDS

For further information:
NZ On Air Allanah Kalafatelis: 021 585 538
RNZ John Barr: 027 246 4459

NZOA – RNZ MOU: https://bit.ly/2MUcolN
Joint Innovation Fund FAQ Sheet: https://bit.ly/2LAJvWP