No. 211

4945

RECEIVED
21 NOV 1984
by ____

SUPPLEMENT
TO THE
NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE
OF
THURSDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 1984

Published by Authority

WELLINGTON: THURSDAY, 15 NOVEMBER 1984

Third Direction to Broadcasting Tribunal in Connection With Private Television Broadcasting

To the Broadcasting Tribunal

PURSUANT to section 68 (1) of the Broadcasting Act 1976, I, Jonathan Lucas Hunt, the Minister of Broadcasting,—

(1) Give you notice that the Government has considered your report on Regional Private Television, which you made to the Minister of Broadcasting in March 1984; and

(2) Give you notice that it is part of the general policy of the New Zealand Government in relation to broadcasting—

(a) That regional private television be developed in New Zealand without delay; and

(b) That there be 4 regions based on the major centres of population, namely,—

(i) Region 1, comprising the Auckland and Northland areas:

(ii) Region 2, comprising the Waikato and Bay of Plenty areas:

(iii) Region 3, comprising the Wellington, Manawatu, Hawke’s Bay, and Wairarapa areas:

(iv) Region 4, comprising the Canterbury, Otago, and Southland areas; and

(c) That, notwithstanding anything in paragraph (b) of this clause,—

(i) The boundaries and names of the 4 regions shall be determined from time to time by you; and

(ii) The initial determination of the boundaries and names of the regions shall be determined by you after you have considered applications for television warrants to service the 4 regions; and

(d) That in each of the 4 regions there should be effective coverage by private television stations; and

(e) That the holders of the warrants in respect of the private television stations in the 4 regions be encouraged to form a network so that, to the extent consistent with the maintenance by each such private television station of its regional identity, programmes may be broadcast on private television stations linked for the purpose; and

(f) That any application for a television warrant may be made on the basis of the use of the VHF band (where practicable) or of the UHF band or of both; and

(g) That, contrary to recommendation 4.17 in your report, the Broadcasting Regulations 1977 are not to be amended to prevent all persons who have a shareholding interest in one television warrant from having more than 30 percent shareholding or voting power in any other warrant holder; and

(h) That, in accordance with recommendation 4.19 in your report, the Broadcasting Regulations 1977 are to be amended to limit overseas shareholding (directly or indirectly) in any company holding a private television warrant to not more than 5 percent of the share capital and voting power; and

(i) That, in accordance with recommendations 8.22 and 8.23 in your report, the Broadcasting Regulations 1977 are to be amended so that the total number of shares held in a company that holds a television warrant or a television programme warrant by any one or more of the following companies, namely,—

(i) Any company that publishes a newspaper:

(ii) Any company that holds a sound-radio warrant or a sound-radio programme warrant:

(iii) Any company that is a subsidiary or a holding company of any company specified in subparagraph (i) or subparagraph (ii) of this paragraph,—

may not exceed 30 percent of the shares in that company and may not carry the right to exercise or control the exercise of more than 30 percent of the total voting power that can be exercised at any general meeting of that company; and

(j) That every applicant for a television warrant in respect of a region shall indicate in the application—

(i) The manner in which the applicant intends to service the region or the part of the region to which the application relates; and