Poll shows support for RNZ/TVNZ merger
Market research commissioned by Better Public Media Trust shows more New Zealanders support the merged RNZ/TVNZ merger than don’t, by a significant distance.
The poll, taken on 15 to 19 December 2022, suggests 60% of New Zealanders support for the ANZPM and 40% don’t support it, not including respondents without an opinion.
Including the ‘don’t knows’ the results of the question were:
- 44% support
- 29% don’t support
- 26% don’t know
The question was - The government is planning to merge TVNZ and RNZ into a new state-owned public media service, with an extra $109 million per year, which equals to $22 per person per year. If this organisation provided new content for niche, minority and regional audiences while keeping the current TV, radio and online services as well, would you support it?
“This result shows that with a little more information about what the merger entails, including the cost and the purpose for it, New Zealanders are overwhelmingly in support of this policy,” said Myles Thomas, Chair of the Better Public Media Trust.
“The government can have confidence in its ANZPM policy.
“Once New Zealanders come to know more about the ANZPM and once it is established in July next year providing increased public media content while maintaining RNZ and TVNZ in their current form, the public support will keep growing.”
The research was carried out last weekend on the 17th and 18th of December by Research NZ with 900 respondents weighted for the national population and a margin of error of 3.2%.
This differs from the Taxpayers Union poll on the same subject which found 54% opposed and 22% supported the merger, with 24% unsure. That poll was taken early November.
Another reason for the difference is the question used. Our question adds some context for respondents who may not know what the government’s ANZPM plan is.
Research NZ analysed the results by demographic and found:
There were significant differences by age and gender:
- Male respondents were more in support of the proposal than female respondents (49% and 40% respectively).
- Younger respondents were also more likely to support the proposal than older respondents. For example, 65% of respondents aged 18-24 were in support compared with 42% of those aged 55-64.
There were no significant differences by geographic location.