Update: End of an era as TV Rotorua to close

FILE

Rotorua's only dedicated community television channel, TV Rotorua, will stop broadcasting at the end of the month.

Speculation about the station's closure appeared online on Thursday evening, and was confirmed in an on-air announcement made during last night's news bulletin.

The station will cease broadcasting at midnight on April 30. Parent company Television Media Group also revealed TV Rotorua's sister station, the Matamata-based TV Central, would close on the same day.

Television Media Group chief executive Daryl Anderson told the Rotorua Daily Post that both channels had suffered from the same fundamental issue, namely a lack of commercial funding.

When asked about the futures of the six TV Rotorua employees who would lose jobs in the closure, he said the company would be providing moral and practical support in finding new employment.

Staff will be retained by the company until May 22 to help wind down operations.

Mr Anderson praised the support of the Rotorua business community and loyal viewers of the channel, but said changing technology and viewing habits meant that traditional local broadcasting had become harder to sustain.

"The local support has been great, but it's like anything - all good things must come to an end."

He estimated the required annual running costs of TV Rotorua to be in excess of $100,000, a figure impossible to reach solely through local commercial support. Mr Anderson called on funding agencies such as NZ On Air to provide more support for local broadcasting.

Mr Anderson did suggest there had been an expression of interest by some staff for continued local production. However, he stressed this would be independent of any traditional broadcasting structures, and that his company would not be involved.

TV Rotorua has broadcast as the city's only dedicated community channel since 2006.

The company said "management and staff are proud to have provided this service over the years and take this opportunity to thank all supporters, viewers and various funders in the community that have been part of this journey".

Rotorua Chamber of Commerce chief executive Darrin Walsh said he had heard about the channel's closure after speaking with station manager Wayne Douglas yesterday afternoon.

"It's very disappointing news," Mr Walsh said. "I think they are a great local organisation and do a lot to help the Rotorua community.

"In the time I have been in the role [as chief executive], when the profile was a little tarnished, the station played a big role in lifting our profile, and tended to get behind a lot of the Chamber of Commerce events."

The shifting landscape of the broadcast media industry had made the channel's operation a lot harder to maintain: "At the end of the day it's a business - if it's not sustainable you have got to make the hard decisions."