Allocation Of Reserved Non-commercial Uhf Frequency

A Taranaki community-based television group has been allocated the UHF frequency reserved for non-commercial television in Taranaki, the Minister of Communications, Maurice Williamson, announced today.

"Television Taranaki's proposal has a strong focus on access for local programme makers and includes a range of other non-commercial programming not being provided at a national level."

"This is an exciting opportunity for the development of television services in Taranaki, which should increase the diversity of television programming available in that region," the Minister said.

In 1989, the Government agreed to reserve a number of UHF frequencies nationwide for use by non-commercial broadcasters. This was part of a range of measures adopted by the Government to ensure that public broadcasting objectives which were not adequately provided by commercial broadcasters would be met.

Television Taranaki's proposal was assessed on the basis of Cabinet-approved allocation criteria for the reserved frequencies. The criteria require the broadcaster to operate on a non-profit basis, although some advertising and sponsorship is permissible. The authority for making decisions against the criteria rests with the Secretary of Commerce.