NZ public broadcaster closes down

Friday 23 Dec 2011
Free-to-air broadcaster Stratos Television is closing down after four years of public service broadcasting in New Zealand, The National Business Review reports.

The channel was reported to be no longer financially viable.

“We simply have not had the support we were seeking – despite a growing audience of more than one million and reaching the stage where AC Nielsen was able to include us in the TARPS audience ratings,” co-founder and CEO Jim Blackman says.

“It is hugely disappointing because New Zealand is a country where 25 percent of the population are new New Zealanders and providing a window to the world helps develop understanding in our communities.”

Mr Blackman says Stratos could also have filled the gap the proposed closure of TVNZ7 will create.

The broadcaster had international partnerships with the likes of DW-TV, France 24, Euro News in Europe, Voice of America, Bloomberg, Australia Network and CCTV, CQTV, NHK and YTN in Asia.