The $70 million special dividend to the Government from TVNZ should be used to give long-suffering TV viewers a break, Alliance leader Jim Anderton says.

He says it could be used to fund non-commercial children’s television, or even purchase free-to-air international sport.

The special dividend was paid after TVNZ sold out of its holdings in Clear Communications and Sky TV.

“The $70 million is money that was made by TVNZ from its broadcasting-related business.

“Instead of using the special dividend to fund even more pay-outs for sacked state sector managers, the money should stay in broadcasting and be used to enhance the service for viewers.

“The first priority for $70 million would have been to fund the switch to digital television, which Treasury has been using as a bogus argument for privatising TVNZ. But the SOE has already made enough from the sale of its shares in Sky and Clear to fund digitalisation, and still make the $70 million pay-out.

“The government could use the money to purchase commercial-free kids TV. No parent could be comfortable with the amount of commercial hard-sell directed at children on television.

“Some experts believe that a viable national non-commercial channel could be established and run for around $70 million. Even if the Government didn’t want to go that far, with $70 million it could invest heavily in New Zealand productions or even allow sports fans to watch some of their favourite test matches live on free-to-air TV.

“This is our money, and it’s hard to see why it shouldn’t be used to give long-suffering viewers something worthwhile on television,” Jim Anderton said.

© Scoop Media

Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>