Tua De Force Ratings Success for Maori Television

PUBLICITY RELEASE
THURSDAY APRIL 1 2010

TUA DE FORCE A RATINGS SUCCESS FOR MAORI TELEVISION

New Zealand’s national indigenous broadcaster, Maori Television, has recorded its highest ratings ever thanks to the hundreds of thousands of people who tuned in to the heavyweight clash between David ‘Tuamanator’ Tua and Friday ‘The 13th’ Ahunanya last night (Wednesday March 31).

Figures from AGB Nielsen Media Research show that the month of March 2010 is now the channel’s best ratings to date with a monthly cumulative audience of 1,952,500 unique viewers – beating the June 2009 record of 1.7 million.

The exclusive, free-to-air and live TUA DE FORCE broadcast is also the highest rating programme for Maori Television in its history. The fight had the highest reach – 877,700 viewers – for any programme screened yesterday in New Zealand. Reach is the number of unique individual viewers who have tuned in.

Average audience for the broadcast was 310,400, peaking at 494,970 viewers. Share for the broadcast was 24.2 per cent, peaking at 62.1 per cent.

Maori Television chief executive Jim Mather says the ratings milestone is a fitting finale to the month of March – the organisation’s sixth on-air anniversary. The channel is particularly proud to support Tua’s boxing career and the ratings success confirms the exclusive broadcast partnership, which has two more fights left to screen, was a sound business move for Maori Television, Mr Mather says.

“Our coverage of events of significance to all New Zealanders – such as ANZAC Day and sports – has translated into long-term audience growth. We have found that we retain many of the viewers who we attract through these special broadcasts and we expect to benefit with an increased audience base from the Tua fights.”

Maori Television’s support for Tua has never been about short-term gain but about long-term commitment, Mr Mather says. “We want to see David achieve his dream of becoming world heavyweight champion by providing opportunities for him to remain active as he continues his quest for the greatest prize in all of sports. Our arrangement also ensures that all New Zealanders have the opportunity to be part of TUA DE FORCE and David's inspirational journey to the heavyweight championship.”

Maori Television’s new season of programming includes the fifth all-day ANZAC Day broadcast (Sunday April 25 from 5.50 AM); the premiere of critically acclaimed family drama KAITANGATA TWITCH (Sunday May 2 at 7.00 PM); and the return of popular programmes HYUNDAI CODE (Thursday at 8.30 PM) and a HOMAI TE PAKIPAKI special featuring former contestants (Friday April 30 at 8.30 PM) as well as current affairs series NATIVE AFFAIRS (from Monday April 19 at 8.30 PM). Two new Australian series also appear in the channel’s 2010 schedule in early April: FIRST AUSTRALIANS and THE CIRCUIT.

Maori Television is available free-to-air on Freeview channel 5; channel 19 on SKY Digital or channel 6 on SKY UHF; and channel 33 on Saturn TV. The 100 per cent Maori language channel, Te Reo, is available on Freeview satellite channel 24 and channel 59 on SKY Digital. Viewers can call the helpline on 0800 MA TATOU (0800 628 2868) for advice on how to tune in to Maori Television or go to the website, www.maoritelevision.com, for more information including video on demand.

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