RNZ will close its youth platform TAHI and make other changes to programming following a review into how it covers music, arts and culture.
The review followed Budget 2025, when funding for the public broadcaster was cut by $18 million over four years, equivalent to $4.6 million annually or about 7% of its $67 million yearly operating budget.
RNZ’s review of its shows sought to “determine whether it could be more effective at reaching audiences across platforms and be more efficient”.
Today, it has announced programming changes including shuttering youth platform TAHI, the Sunday Sampler show, and the At the Movies radio show. Culture 101 would also be impacted, moving from two presenters to one.
It confirmed eight roles would be impacted, including one position that was currently vacant.
“We are recruiting three roles to work across music, arts and culture. As we are currently in a recruitment process we cannot confirm final savings but expect these to be in excess of $300,000 a year,” a spokesperson said.
Interim head of content John Hartevelt said in a statement “we recognise that change is difficult for audiences and kaimahi”.
“As a publicly funded media organisation, RNZ has a responsibility to assess and ensure all parts of the organisation are performing in a way that delivers for our audience and serves the public interest.”
Speaking about the closure of TAHI, he said the expansion of international platforms such as YouTube and TikTok had made it difficult to support dedicated youth channels.
“The youth market is notoriously difficult and despite the hard work of everyone involved, TAHI has not reached the target audience to the extent that would justify continuing to fund it,” he said.
“We are able to reach younger audiences by making our content freely available on those platforms and our focus will now be on making sure we continue to offer a wide range of vibrant content that fulfils our Charter requirements to reach audiences of all ages.”
Hartevelt said the long-running At the Movies radio show will finish, however the At the Movies podcast feed would still be retained as a showcase for reviews on RNZ National.
“Part of the review into how RNZ covers music, arts and culture looked at how we are ensuring audiences benefit from a variety of voices. As a result, RNZ is changing how we meet the audience demand for film reviews, through the introduction of multiple contributors that will allow for an increased diversity of viewpoints and for more reviews to appear across RNZ’s platforms,” he said.
The one-hour programme The Sunday Sampler has finished. Long-running album review segment The Sampler continues within Music 101 and music reviews would continue across RNZ’s radio programming and digital platforms.
He said Culture 101 would change from two presenters to one.
“This is to bring the programme in line with its sister show Music 101 and to boost production of the show. The show itself will continue its important role profiling creativity and culture in Aotearoa, aiming for an even larger audience across platforms.”
The TAHI podcast will have its final episode on Thursday, November 6. The final date for At the Movies and The Sunday Sampler show were yet to be confirmed.
In a statement, RNZ told 1News eight roles were impacted by the programming changes, including one position which was currently vacant.
“We are recruiting three roles to work across music, arts and culture. As we are currently in a recruitment process we cannot confirm final savings but expect these to be in excess of $300,000 a year.”
