The '
Māori Television Service
'' is a state sector organisation in

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 List of islands of New Zealand, smaller islands. It is the ...

that was established on 7 May 2003 under the ''Māori Television Service (Te Aratuku Whakāta Irirangi Māori) Act 2003'' to replace the ''Te Reo Māori Television Trust (Te Awhiorangi)''. The service's primary function is to promote the language te reo Māori me nga tikanga Māori.

Māori Television Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

is available on the

UHF band Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter (on ...

to approximately four-fifths of

Māori speakers Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

, and to all New Zealand SKY Television satellite service subscribers. It is also available on the Freeview satellite service. Like the

Reserve Bank of New Zealand The Reserve Bank of New Zealand (RBNZ, mi, Te Pūtea Matua) is the central bank of New Zealand. It was established in 1934 and is constituted under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989. The governor of the Reserve Bank is responsible for N ...

, the television service has, according to the

State Services Commission The Public Service Commission (PSC; Māori: ''Te Kawa Mataaho''), called the State Services Commission until 2020, is the central public service department of New Zealand charged with overseeing, managing, and improving the performance of the ...

, an unusual status in that it is a stand-alone agency within the State sector that does not fall under any State sector category. The Maori Television Service, while established by Statute (The Maori Television Service Act 2003), is not a

Crown entity A Crown entity (from the Commonwealth term '' Crown'') is an organisation that forms part of New Zealand's state sector established under the Crown Entities Act 2004, a unique umbrella governance and accountability statute. The Crown Entities Act ...

in any shape or form. The Act, however, does make the Service accountable in much the same way as Crown entities. The principal reason for this approach is that the Maori Television Service is a partnership between the Crown and Maori. Maori interests were represented by Te Putahi Paho (the Maori Electoral College) who appointed four members of the Television Service's seven member board. The remaining three board members were appointed by the Government. Now Māori interests are represented by Te Mātāwai (a legislative group comprising representatives from Māori organisations and

iwi Iwi () are the largest social units in New Zealand Māori culture, Māori society. In Māori-language, Māori roughly means "people" or "nation", and is often translated as "tribe", or "a confederation of tribes". The word is both singular and ...

) The Maori Television Service receives the bulk of its funding from the government, via Vote Maori Affairs. Funding is provided directly to the service for its operational administrative costs. Programming is funded by Te Mangai Paho (The Maori Broadcasting Commission). The Service is able to commission its own programming from advertising funds.

References

External links

Māori Television Service site

State Services Commission siteMāori Television Service listing at the State Services Commission siteNew Zealand Legislation Archive
Television networks in New Zealand Māori organisations Māori language Māori culture Māori mass media Television channels and stations established in 2003 {{NewZealand-org-stub