For immediate release

TVNZ AND SKY ANNOUNCE PLANS FOR LIVE BROADCAST OF INNOVATE CONFERENCE

SKY Television and Television New Zealand confirmed today that agreement has been reached to broadcast the Innovate Conference to be held in Christchurch on 6-7th March 2002.

The partnership, between two of New Zealand's major broadcasters, will see TVNZ providing a full two day programme to be broadcast live on both Channel 25 on SKY's digital satellite service and on TVNZ's nzoom, one of New Zealand's top Internet sites.

Richard Harman's Front Page Film and Television will play a key role during the broadcast, adopting a similar production approach to that used during Catching the Knowledge Wave, which was also broadcast live on SKY's satellite service.

The production will include live coverage of all keynote speeches, live interviews with participants and delegates, continual conference updates and behind the scenes commentaries.

Jim Anderton, Deputy Prime Minister and conference co-chair, says the partnership approach to the broadcasting of the conference is a reflection of what can be achieved when some lateral thinking is applied to challenges.

"The joint broadcasting agreement demonstrates that on occasions cooperation within a competitive framework can achieve innovative results for the general good".

TVNZ's Chief Executive, Rick Ellis also regards the cooperative approach as continuing a relationship that is already working effectively. "The broadcasting of Parliament's question-time is conducted in a similar complementary environment, while the public reaction to TVNZ's 1 and 2 channel position on SKY's digital programme has also been very positive."

SKY Television's Chief Executive Officer, John Fellet says, "This is an excellent example of the public and private sectors working together to achieve a positive outcome for New Zealanders."

nzoom is an award winning Internet site and has been experiencing recent growth of over 230%, while SKY has 476,210 subscribers of which over 64% have the digital satellite service.

ENDS