Rachna Lal
SUVA (Fiji Sun / Pacific Media Watch): The New Zealand government is blocking the national Fiji Broadcasting Corporation TV service from showing Television New Zealand news and features, it was has been confirmed.
Since its launch in November last year, FBC TV has gained the attention of many viewers with its excellent line of programmes.
However, the absence of TVNZ and Australia Network coverage has not gone unnoticed by many viewers - something available on Fiji One and Mai TV.
Viewers approached the Fiji Sun this week in this regard and we questioned FBC chief executive Riyaz Sayed-Khaiyum.
Sayed-Khaiyum said, with regards to the TVNZ Pacific Service, requests made by FBC TV for broadcast rights last year were rejected twice.
He said: “TVNZ Pacific Service is free of service across the Pacific and all any broadcaster has to be is get approval from TVNZ.
“In our case, when I approached them the first time, I was rejected.
“When I approached the chief executive a couple of months later, TVNZ got back to me saying FBC TV cannot broadcast the service because we are Fiji government-owned,” he said.
NZ government order
Sayed-Khaiyum said this was a directive TVNZ, a New Zealand government-owned entity, had received from the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
Not giving up hope to provide the best possible services to its viewers, Sayed-Khaiyum then requested the New Zealand High Commission in Suva to check whether what they had been told initially was true.
He said the deputy head of New Zealand mission in Fiji, Peter Lund, who was quite helpful, confirmed the directive from New Zealand Foreign Affairs.
Sayed-Khaiyum was told the decision might only change when there was a change in the New Zealand government.
Meanwhile, on the Australia Network coverage, Sayed-Khaiyum said he had approached ABC director international Murray Green about the possibility of FBC TV playing particular programmes.
“I was told to get in touch with people selling those shows. When we approached, it was too expensive.
“But now we have requested them for shows in block and we are awaiting a response on that,” he said.
An ABC spokesperson confirmed Green being approached by Sayed-Khaiyum on the possibility of FBC TV playing individual programmes from the Australia Network channel.
The spokesperson said they were more than happy to receive a formal approach from FBC TV and would be delighted to discuss its carriage of the Australia Network signal in line with rights agreements.
Sayed-Khaiyum said it was sad FBC TV would not be able to provide TVNZ Pacific Services to its viewers because of the New Zealand government’s "interference".
He remains hopeful for ABC’s Australia Network.
Meantime, FBC TV is screening the increasingly popular Al Jazeera English news service.
New Zealand’s loss is Qatar’s gain.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 New Zealand Licence.
Pacific Media Watch
