New Zealanders Prefer Free-To-Air Television

New Zealanders Prefer Free-To-Air Television

2009 WAS A RECORD YEAR FOR FREE-TO-AIR TELEVISION VIEWINGwith New Zealanders spending more time engaged with free-TV than any other media.

The average viewer watched 3 hours 17 minutes of TV daily, an increase of 9 minutes per day or 4.8% over 2008.

Not only were people more engaged by television, but more people were watching in total. On a daily basis, 2.94 million people watched television, up almost 63,000 or 2.2% over 2008.

Both the number of viewers and the time spent viewing are the highest numbers on record.

The growth was split across all NZTBC members, with TVNZ, MediaWorks TV and Maori Television all experiencing growth in their key demographics. Free-to-air viewing on NZTBC member channels totalled a whopping 73.4% of all television viewing.

Daily newspapers continue their decline in readership and popularity, reaching a daily average of just 48.3% of New Zealanders 15+ in 2008 (the latest year for which figures are available), a drop of 1% from the previous year.

New Zealanders’ use of the internet has also had no impact on viewers continuing to choose free-to-air television.

Chief Executive of the NZTBC, Rick Friesen, stated “It’s clear that free-to-air television is the most attractive media for New Zealanders and mass audiences. As more New Zealanders purchase digital receivers and experience the huge improvements in both quality and features, they overwhelmingly choose free-to-air to be entertained and informed.

Advertisers have a great opportunity to gain from television’s continued growth and strengths as a medium.”

With exciting new local and international programming being launched by the networks this month, 2010 holds great promise for continued growth.

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