50 years of NZ TV & Radio captured

8 August 2000
50 years of New Zealand TV and Radio has been definitively captured in a new book by Waikato University author Dr Patrick Day.

Commissioned by the Broadcasting History Trust, Voice and Vision examines the arrival and rise of television, the remodelling of radio, the saga of public as opposed to state broadcasting and the growth of private radio and television in New Zealand.

Voice and Vision: A History of New Zealand Broadcasting is the culmination of over 10 years research by Dr Day and continues from the successful Radio Years - the first volume about broadcasting in Aotearoa.

The book deals with the arrival of television in the late 1950s and the changing nature of broadcasting from a Government Department to an independent corporation.

It follows the many changes in structure during the last five decades, from the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, to today’s State-Owned Enterprises, Radio New Zealand and Television New Zealand.

It starts with the 1950s, when only the State’s voice was heard and news broadcasts were politically controlled. Four television stations were started in Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, each with their own local fare – including the popular Town and Around programmes.

The 1960s saw private commercial broadcasting arrive on the radio waves and by 1973 the first colour television transmission began.

In 1989, the Labour Government established the Broadcasting Commission – soon to be dubbed New Zealand On-Air – who allocated licence fee revenue in return for public service programming. The BCNZ was abolished, with the two television channels forming TVNZ Ltd and publicly owned radio stations forming RNZ Ltd.

During this time TV3 gained its licence and many private radio stations started broadcasting around New Zealand.

Voice and Vision also offers a historical context to the contentious issues of the last decade: from Maori broadcasting to advertising, local content, and sports broadcasting.

New Zealand broadcasting has been a topic of great public interest and plays a significant role on forming our ideas of identity and nation.

A series of causes celebres, such as the sacking of Alex McLeod and the fortunes of John Hawkesby and Brian Edwards have kept broadcasting in the forefront of public attention.

Voice and Vision offers a comprehensive history of a fascinating aspect of New Zealand life and leisure.

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