More free sport on TV possible if Sunday ad ban axed, says TVNZ

Thursday, 20 February 2025

The removal of the Sunday morning advertising ban appears to be shaping up to be a consolation prize for the media.

The main upshot of the Government’s plan to remove the ban on broadcast advertising on Sunday mornings and three public holidays could be more ‘free’ sport on television, TVNZ says.

But Better Public Media trustee Myles Thomas told a select committee today that the removal of the ban would inevitably lead to a decline in “wonderful”, less commercial programming.

The Government has proposed removing the ban on television and radio advertising that applies between 6am and noon on Sundays and on Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith said in December it would remove a discrepancy between the treatment of traditional broadcasters and streaming TV and radio services, estimating that could be worth $6 million a year in additional sales to the former.

The Broadcasting Amendment Bill has been viewed as a small consolation prize for local media outlets while they wait for word on whether the Government will advance the stalled Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill or find another way to provide more substantial help to the sector.

TVNZ chief content officer Brent McAnulty estimated removing the Sunday ad ban could be worth about $1.1 million to $1.2m to TVNZ, with the axing of the ban on the three public holidays probably worth a similar amount.

Media and Communications Minister Paul Goldsmith says the rule change is partly about creating a more level playing field.

For context, TVNZ had revenues of $289m in the year to the end of June.

The ability for TVNZ to sell advertising around sports events that fell in the Sunday morning time slot would be one of the key opportunities if the ban was removed, McAnulty told Parliament’s Economic Development, Science and Innovation select committee.

“A lot of major sporting events held in Europe or on the east coast of the United States happen in ‘prime time’ there on a Saturday night — Sunday morning here.

“Without advertising to wrap around those events, we can't make a serious bid for them. We see huge benefits in a free-to-air service making those events available to New Zealanders, rather than having them tied up behind a paywall.”

That aside, McAnulty said he didn’t expect TVNZ would make many changes to its content if the ban was removed, noting also that the schedules for many of its programmes were set for a year.

But Thomas said TVNZ could be expected to replace some valued programmes with more commercial content after that, if the ban went.

“We're very concerned that — particularly on television — the last area of non-commercial media would be wiped out.”

Thomas told MPs that the “small benefit” the advertising-rule change would provide television and radio broadcasters was not worth the negative effects it would have.

NZME chief executive Michael Boggs (right) gives evidence to the select committee.

“If it was going to solve all their problems, then sure. But what we're going to lose is not worth this tiny little fillip.”

The issue around overseas sports could be solved by allowing currently-banned advertising during some such events, but with a requirement for broadcasters to make up for any commercials with an equivalent spell of advertising-free broadcasting in the evening, he said.

Michael Boggs, chief executive of NZME, owner of the New Zealand Herald and about half the country’s commercial radio stations, cited a 2021 report that removing the advertising bans could be worth up to $8m to the media sector as a whole.

He expected NZME’s radio business could expect to bring in about an additional $1m a year without the restrictions.

But he said it was only a “starting point” for regulatory changes NZME felt were necessary and not a silver bullet for the sector.

Speaking to The Post after the hearing, Boggs acknowledged speculation that the threat of economic retaliation by US president Donald Trump could be behind the Government pulling back from advancing the separate Fair Digital News Bargaining Bill.

The bargaining bill, which would force internet giants including Google and Meta to agree licensing deals with the media on terms that could ultimately be determined by regulators, shouldn’t be seen as focussing purely on US businesses, he said.

But he admitted he didn’t know if the Trump administration would see it that way.

“We absolutely think it's the right thing for the Government to be looking at and implementing,” he said.

But he said NZME had to run its business on the assumption that assistance from that law change was not coming.

The obstacles the bargaining bill faced hadn’t influenced the scale of a restructuring plan that NZME finalised yesterday and that will see it cut about 30 roles at the company and reduce the number of stories it publishes, Boggs said.