TVNZ wants next year's new GLBT television programme to involve “stories from real lives”. NZ on Air and TVNZ have sent out requests to local independent television producers for an ‘observational documentary' series about New Zealand's gay community. TVNZ's Commissioner of Documentaries Jude Callen explains, “We wanted a fresh approach to revitalise the gay programme genre. “To date we've just had the traditional magazine-style for most of the gay programmes that we've done. This is just another way of telling a story, meeting people and getting their ideas across. “We put out the request because we think it's an interesting way of approaching it, so we'll be essentially looking for that. But we're not being overly prescriptive. We're always open to people interpreting it as cleverly as they can.” NZ On Air research was critical of TV2's recent LGBT programme Kiwifruit, which will not return in 2007. Callen says TVNZ constantly reassesses all their programmes, and NZ on Air has to reassess their special interest funding and projects as part of their mandate, “to see if they're still hitting the mark. They're constantly checking to see if they're still reaching the audience, or if that audience has shifted and changed. “The process has happened with gay programmes before, and we do the same thing with all our other special interest series. It's just a constantly evolving process, really – and looking for ways to freshen things up. We're looking for ways that a programme can address the key things that came up in the NZ On Air research.” New Zealand's LGBT programmes have always been broadcast late at night, and 2007's offering looks to be no exception. Callen is aware the timeslots of special interest programmes can be in issue, but says TVNZ's soon-to-be-released digital channels could well provide an earlier-evening slot for the new programme. “At the moment the planning for the digital channels is progressing well, but what exactly is going on them hasn't been defined. I know the idea for one of the digital channels is to offer another timeslot for people who currently miss programmes which are in ‘fringe-peak' or off-peak,” she explains. Ref: GayNZ.com (m)
Credit: GayNZ.com News Staff
First published: Tuesday, 19th December 2006 - 12:00pm