Triangle Television Turns 6 With Much To Celebrate

PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Triangle Television turns six with much to celebrate

As Triangle Television turns six it has plenty to celebrate. Having defied all odds and survived, the station now has confirmation that it's attracting a huge audience.

Auckland's only regional television station, Triangle Television was launched on August 1, 1998 after years of campaigning to secure a non-commercial frequency. Earlier this month AC Nielsen figures revealed that it attracted more than a quarter of a million individual viewers in June.

Triangle Television Chief Executive Officer Jim Blackman says when Triangle finally went to air most industry insiders didn't expect it to last the distance.

"It's a thrill to have provided a wide cross section of Auckland viewers with intelligent and diverse programming for the past six years - it's been rewarding and inspiring to learn that an increasing number of people are tuning in to Triangle."

Mr Blackman says Triangle commissioned AC Nielsen to determine the monthly cume viewer figures because anecdotal evidence indicated the station was drawing a large audience.

The cume viewer figures indicated that 273,250 people aged five-plus watched Triangle Television in the month ending July 3. The figures indicate Triangle is attracting more viewers in the Auckland Region than Maori Television was on its nationwide UHF service in its third week of broadcasting when it reported viewers aged five-plus had "settled back" to 249,000.

"We wanted proof that we were a popular choice and got it. We couldn't have asked for a better birthday present. Of course, some financial support from the Government was also on our wish list but, once again, Government failed to honour its many promises to the country's regional broadcasters," he says.

Although Triangle has always supported the Government's charter which requires television stations to reflect and develop New Zealand culture and identity, the station - along with other regional channels - has never received a drop of financial support despite innumerable Government promises.

"As a result, we're hugely grateful to the many programme providers generous individuals, and organisations who support Triangle. We've made it to our sixth birthday because of their time, support, skills and commitment. Every time we have a birthday we thank all of our supporters and celebrate their generosity."

Mr Blackman says the station is proud to have given Auckland viewers six years of quality television in a variety of languages relevant to the City's diversity.

In a programme which will be filmed at Triangle's in-house studio, viewers will soon be able to catch up on what other viewers are saying about the station and its programmes. Called 'Hotline', it will go to air weekly and feature a host reading and discussing feedback that has been received by the station.

Mr Blackman says 'Hotline' is a reflection of Triangle's coming of age.

"We feel it's time to offer our viewers a programme that reflects who we are and how we are perceived by our audience. We are constantly seeking to improve our content and add a wider range of shows to our already diverse programme line-up and, accordingly, we welcome all comments from our viewers. Ever since we started six years ago we have received regular viewer feedback. Nearly all of it is positive, supportive and encouraging but we take on board all feedback - even that from viewers who might for some reason be having a niggle at us."

Triangle Television is Auckland's only regional, non-commercial television station and has operated as a public broadcaster to Greater Auckland since August 1 1998. The channel screens a mix of regional-access television with international news and information programmes. It is non-profit making and operates with no funding from NZ On Air. Triangle broadcasts 24 hours daily from UHF channel 41.

Note: 'Cume' or 'cumulative audience' viewer figures, which are also known as 'net reach', reveal the number of people who watch a television channel during a given time period. Each person is counted once, no matter how many times that person tuned into Triangle Television during the period.

ENDS

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