Whakaata Māori is a New Zealand television channel that broadcasts programmes that make a significant contribution to the revitalisation of the Māori language and culture. Funded by the New Zealand Government, it commenced broadcasting as Māori Television on 28 March 2004 from its studios in Newmarket, Auckland. It has since moved to East Tamaki, Auckland.
Name
The name Whakaata Māori has been official since 2022, but has been used as a de facto Māori name for the channel since its inception. Until June 2022, Māori Television was the official name of the channel.
While TVNZ's Koha and Te Karere were showing signs of progress, there was heavy hostility at the time. Pākehā staff at TVNZ believed that Māori programmes "were of high nuisance value and minimal importance", as well as fears of a takeover by Māoris.
The Māori Broadcasting Advisory Committee was set up in 2000 by Derek Fox with the aim of creating a television network where the Māori language would become commonplace in prime time slots.
Māori Television was launched on 28 March 2004 with a special dawn ceremony attended by 2000 people at the Newmarket headquarters of the channel. The newly launched channel attracted 300,000 viewers in its second month of operation. The main channel attracts 1.5 million viewers each month, including half of all Māori aged five or more, and one-third of all New Zealanders. Te Reo, a second channel from Māori Television, was launched on 28 March 2008. In contrast with the main channel, it is ad-free and completely in the Māori language (without subtitles). Te Reo features special tribal programming with a particular focus on new programming for the fluent members of its audience.
In March 2013, Māori TV switched over from analogue television to digital television as part of a nationwide transition to digital television broadcasting between September 2012 and November 2013. On 17 August 2017, the channel started broadcasting in high definition.
Relocation
In 2021, Māori TV launched a news service called Te Ao Māori News and a streaming app called MĀORI+ to extend their audience and make their content more accessible to viewers.
Rename to Whakaata Māori and 2024 restructuring
thumb|right|180px|Very short lived Māori Television logo used from April to June 2022.
On 23 May 2022, the channel announced that it was going to change its official name to Whakaata Māori, the name being used in the Māori since the channel's inception, but until then not at an official scale. The new name took effect on June 9 with a special dawn ceremony.
Whakaata Māori celebrated its 20th anniversary on 28 March 2024. During its 20th anniversary celebration, Whakaata Māori kaihautū (leader) Shane Taurima reiterated the station's commitment to providing an "unabashed" Māori voice in the New Zealand media landscape. While acknowledging budgetary difficulties facing the channel, Taurima stated that the Whakaata Māori had built a "dedicated audience" and was shifting to become a "digital-first" audience in order to engage with social media users.
In March 2024, Whakaata Māori (formerly Māori Television) became the latest media group to sign a commercial deal with Google. The deal meant the channel would receive money to curate Te Ao Māori stories to be published on Google's News Showcase platform.
In late September 2024, Whakaata Māori proposed a major internal restructure including axing its daily news television bulletin due to a projected NZ$10 million funding reduction by 2027. Kaihautū Shane Taurima also announced plans to shift Te Ao Māori News from a linear television to a digital format.
On 5 December 2024, Whakaata Māori confirmed plans to cut 27 roles, move its Te Reo channel from terrestrial TV to online, and end its 20-year news programme from 13 December to focus on its digital news website Te Ao Māori News. These cutbacks and restructuring were in response to financial shortfalls in recent years.
Operations
The channel operates under the stewardship of the New Zealand government, and the Māori Television Electoral College (Te Putahi Paoho). As of 2021 it had a budget of NZ$19.24 million.
In July 2015, Māori Television's seven-member board of directors decided that Hamilton or Rotorua could be a new home for the broadcaster.
Since 2021, the channel has a news app called Te Ao Māori News and a video streaming platform called MĀORI+.
- Ōpaki
News and current affairs
- Ask your Auntie (2004–2007): Hosted by Professor Ella Henry. In 2005, newsreader Julian Wilcox was fired (and reinstated) after he contributed to information provided to other media that led to negative coverage of the channel. That same year, Te Kāea presenter Ngarimu Daniels was banned from taking part in protests, and her partner was referred to as a "dyke" by a senior channel manager. She was awarded $16,000 compensation, and her partner, Leonie Pihama, a leading Māori academic and film-maker, resigned from the channel's board, citing a conflict of interest.
In 2015, the channel's star broadcaster, Mihingarangi Forbes, resigned after complaints arose that senior management (including CEO Paora Maxwell) were attempting to shut down a story critical of the Kohanga Reo National Trust Board to be broadcast on her show Native Affairs. An external consultant recommended to the channel's board that reporting "not challenge and critique one another", leading some (including commentator Morgan Godfery) to question whether journalists at Māori Television had the necessary freedom to report on the failures of elders in Māoridom. Native Affairs and other current affairs programming was later cut back or cancelled altogether, a decision criticised by Green MP Marama Davidson.
In 2019, the channel offered candidates for the 2019 Auckland mayoral election the opportunity to pay $500 to be interviewed and to have that interview broadcast on its TV and digital platforms, an offer one candidate described as close to "extortion".