HEIHEI and The Big Picture for Children’s Media

HEIHEI and The Big Picture for Children’s Media


The NZ Children’s Screen Trust (Kidsonscreen) has long advocated for a home for children’s content and welcomes the launch this week of the new online platform HEIHEI for 5 – 9 year olds. HEIHEI is an important step in reaching children where they are watching with quality, curated Kiwi content.

The new platform from NZ on Air in partnership with TVNZ has already sparked the imagination of producers and brought new exciting content that was largely missing from local broadcasting channels. Small, innovative productions including documentary, animation, games, science and lifestyle programmes now have a place in a commercial-free environment online – all with a distinctive New Zealand voice.

“The NZ Children’s Screen Trust has been asking for a home for screen content for New Zealand children since 2012. We soon realised that we had to move beyond advocating for a broadcast channel and that an online platform was essential for kids giving their changing viewing habits. HEIHEI is the result of the vision that Kiwi kids deserved to see themselves on screen and to get the same diverse content that adults enjoy, when and where they want to watch it. NZ on Air have risen to the challenge of providing for children in a changing landscape and TVNZ have come on board to produce an exciting and relevant platform.” says Chair Janette Howe.

The New Zealand Children’s Screen Trust developed a set of principles based on children’s rights which have become a core document for the online platform.

“Along the way we have ensured that children have had a voice in the new platform, and it has been wonderful to see this embraced at NZ On Air and TVNZ. We held workshops that involved children’s voice in the values and branding of the platform. It is essential going forward that HEIHEI continues to listen to its community of children and to involve them in a meaningful way as it evolves.”

The NZ Children’s Screen Trust will be continuing the conversation of children’s rights to diverse media content by bringing together the wider community of health, education, justice and media to build a vision for children’s wellbeing with media as the cultural platform.

“We hope HEIHEI is just the beginning. We need to give children and young people from 0–18 years access to engaging local content – and that means content for a diverse and demanding audience that will enrich them as New Zealanders now and in the future. We want to build a vision for 50 – 100 years where expanding imaginative horizons and being culturally confident are part of how we see wellbeing for children in this country.”

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