TVNZ Ondemand To Carry Chinese Programming

New Zealand's television public broadcaster TVNZ has signed an agreement with World TV to screen Chinese language programmes on TVNZ ondemand.

TVNZ Chief Executive Rick Ellis says the agreement will see TVNZ ondemand screen up to 4 hours a day of programmes in the Mandarin dialect from CTV 8, a free-to-air channel which currently broadcasts in the greater Auckland region.

The programmes are streamed and are free of charge. They begin on Monday October 8.

"TVNZ's new five year strategic plan, 'Inspiring New Zealanders on every screen', has as one of its goals the broadcaster being the partner of choice for other content providers," Mr Ellis says.

"Not only does this initiative fulfil that, but it provides programmes for New Zealand's increasingly diverse population. The Asian population is growing, and it's critical that New Zealand has a public broadcaster that gives access to a diversity of programmes to reflect the rapidly changing nature of New Zealand." World TV's Samson Yau says the Chinese broadcaster sees the value in partnering with New Zealand's television public broadcaster.

"We recognise that TVNZ's new strategy is forward-looking in using different platforms to get programmes to the public. We are very happy to offer CTV8 programming to a wider audience," he says.

"CTV8 understands and appreciates the concept of people viewing their programmes 'anywhere and at anytime', and we believe this initiative will be very much welcomed by the Chinese community."

ENDS