A raft of proposed legislation changes to the media and screen industry have been announced this morning – we read through it all all so you don’t have to. 

What’s all this then? 

This morning the Ministry for Culture and Heritage released its draft proposed changes to media and screen industry legislation in Aotearoa. “We now live in a time where audiences have unprecedented access to global media, making competition for viewers and advertising intense,” minister for media and communications Paul Goldsmith said in a statement. “However, much of the legislation underpinning our media landscape is outdated and stifling innovation.”

Wait, wait, who are you calling outdated and stifled?

It’s all good: many in the industry would agree that change is urgently needed to keep up with the rest of the world. As the Screen Production and Development Association (SPADA) president Irene Gardiner told The Spinoff last year, streaming giants like Netflix, which now reaches 38% of New Zealanders daily, have “completely broken the model” for how things used to get made. “They have taken an enormous amount of viewing eyeballs from free-to-air television, and they’ve done that with no real responsibility here.” 

That drop in eyeballs has meant a drop in advertising spend, which has meant a drop in budgets. TVNZ slashed its local content budget last year by $30m and Three by $20m, in what Gardiner called a “devastating” blow to local storytelling. Last year, SPADA lobbied for legislation to force Netflix, Disney, Amazon and Apple to pay a small percentage of their New Zealand revenue back to New Zealand screen funding agencies. 

“All we’re saying is: if you want to be a part of our screen ecosystem, then make a contribution here,” she said. Many countries have already put measures in place to regulate the streamers, including the content quotas and reinvestment schemes of the Audiovisual Media Services Directive in Europe, and the push for a similar legislative set-up in Australia. “So now, we’re not working on a level playing field,” Greenstone CEO Rachel Antony told The Spinoff.

“It’s like you’ve got one team playing in a stadium with a full kit and we’re standing on the edge of a cliff, barefoot.” 

Damn, we gotta get ourselves some shoes! So what are the proposed changes? 

OK, so there are five draft proposals that the MCH is now seeking feedback on. The first is about “ensuring accessibility of local media platforms”, AKA giving New Zealand stories top billing alongside whatever zany scenario Amy Schumer has found herself in this time. The proposal would require devices like smart TVs to pre-install local platforms and give them a prominent position, and also ensure easy access to local linear channels. 

The second draft proposal looks at increasing investment into local content from the streaming giants, some of which are now more popular with New Zealand audiences than linear television (Netflix reaches 38% of us, while TVNZ1 reaches 34%). It proposes that all streaming services in New Zealand would be required to invest a proportion of annual revenue into making or buying local content, and would also have to make it easy to find (right next to Schumer). 

Up next is a proposal to increase captioning and audio descriptions, or CAD. There are currently no legislative obligations around providing these services to those who need it and, outside of TVNZ, our channels and streamers have been found to have “low levels of accessibility”. The solution? Legislative obligations! Detailed requirements! Progressive targets based on technological capacity! Basically, forcing platforms to make their content accessible to all. 

The fourth proposed change is streamlining regulatory bodies like the Broadcasting Standards Authority (which deals with TV and radio) and the Media Council (which deals with print and online media). The proposal is for one regime to rule them all: broadcasters, streaming platforms, online media, newspapers, and magazines. It wouldn’t include platforms like Facebook or TikTok, so your Aunt Midge can still pop off about the lizard people for now. 

Last, but certainly not least, is the proposal to merge our two major screen funding bodies: the New Zealand Film Commission and NZ On Air. “NZ On Air and the Film Commission were originally set up with a mandate to provide funding for TV and radio, and film, respectively,” the proposal reads. “Shifts in technology, audience preferences, and market context have increasingly blurred the distinction between television and film production and consumption.” 

Consolidating the two would result in one entity that would distribute funding for the production of everything: screen/audiovisual (including games), audio, digital text-based content, as well as exciting and mysterious “future forms” that we haven’t thought of yet. The proposal states that merging the two “could improve efficiencies and support strategic funding outcomes” but also identifies a range of pros and cons – hence the need for feedback. 

So what does the industry reckon about the changes? 

Early responses suggest that people are broadly into it. “We are particularly pleased to see regulating the international streaming companies as one of the proposals,” said Gardiner from SPADA. “Any regulation in this area will help level the playing field.” That said, they will be seeking consensus from their members on other proposals before submitting feedback, such as the merging of NZ On Air and the New Zealand Film Commission. 

The Broadcasting Standards Authority also welcomed the discussion. “For many years we’ve pointed with increasing urgency to the need to update broadcasting regulations that were created in 1989 in a pre-internet world,” said BSA chief executive Stacey Wood. “We support the Media Reform paper’s stated aims to create a modern, fit-for-purpose regulatory and funding environment, and to support a sustainable media and content production sector.”

“We’ve advocated for a regulatory system that’s platform-agnostic, reflecting sea changes in technology and how content is produced and consumed, and we’re pleased this is reflected,” Wood said. “Measures to make New Zealand content more accessible and discoverable, and increase self-regulation, could help level the playing field so local media and content producers can compete with big international platforms, and Kiwi stories continue to be told.”

“We look forward to seeing how these proposals develop, with input from industry and audiences, and will lend our support where we can.”

How can we give feedback on the proposals? 

“I want to hear from the sector and the wider public about these proposals, and how we could improve or change them to support the best outcomes for both the sector and New Zealand audiences,” Goldsmith said in a statement. The consultation period is now open, with all submissions due by 11.59pm, Sunday, March 23. Submissions can be made through an online form here, emailed to mediaandscreen@mch.govt.nz or posted to Media and Screen Policy, Manatū Taonga Ministry for Culture and Heritage, PO Box 5364, Wellington 6140.