Wednesday March 26 to Friday March 28, 2008 – Auckland, New Zealand

Māori Televsion is the inaugural host of the World Indigenous Broadcasting Conference to be held at the Aotea Centre – part of the Auckland Convention Centre at THE EDGE® in Mayoral Drive, Auckland, New Zealand – from Wednesday March 26 to Friday March 28.

Conference highlights include:

A traditional Māori welcome, or pōwhiri, will take place at the beginning of the conference from 8.45am on Wednesday March 26. Manuhiri (visitors) will assemble outside the Owens Foyer doors, situated next to the Ticketek Box Office. For more information, including a programme for the pōwhiri, go to http://witbc.org/programme/powhiri.htm.

WITBC ’08 has confirmed an exceptional line-up of keynote and featured guest speakers from the USA, South Africa, Scotland, Australia, Canada, Ireland, Wales, Taiwan and Aotearoa-New Zealand. International delegates registered to attend the conference hail from Australia, Botswana, Canada, China, England, Fiji, Hawaii, India, Ireland, Mozambique, Norway, Scotland, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand and the USA. A list of all delegates will be included in the conference packs.

The launch of a World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Network (WITBN) is proposed as a key outcome of the conference. Its purpose will be to build and maintain strong, collaborative relationships between indigenous television broadcasters worldwide with the purpose of opening up opportunities for increased audiences, access to resources, knowledge transfer and international advocacy. WITBC ’08 will provide an opportunity for participants to discuss the need, benefits, scope and nature of an international network.

New Zealand tertiary students are being offered a rare opportunity to meet with their peers, industry leaders and potential employers. Māori Television is awarding five scholarships to tertiary students based in New Zealand. To qualify, applicants must be full-time students in a related field – broadcasting, film or a specific media course, for example, with a particular emphasis in indigenous language, identity or culture – and not currently in fulltime professional employment.

Highlights from the conference will be filmed and edited into a half-hour programme which will screen on Māori Television at 10.30pm on Wednesday March 26, Thursday March 27 and Friday March 28. Viewers can call the helpline on 0800 MA TATOU (0800 628 2868) for advice on how to tune into Māori Television which is available on channel 5 on Freeview; channel 19 on SKY Digital and channel 6 on Sky UHF; and free-to-air on UHF or using a satellite dish and receiver. Te Reo will be available on channel 24 on Freeview; and on SKY Digital from Friday March 28.

Māori Television’s new 100 per cent Māori language channel, Te Reo, will be officially launched at a dawn ceremony on Friday March 28 at 5.00am. There will be an early-morning karakia (prayer) and unveiling of a plaque at the Newmarket studio exactly four years after the on-air launch of Māori Television. At 8.00pm that night, an hour-long live-to-air broadcast will simulcast on both channels from the conference’s closing event at the SKYCITY Auckland Convention Centre and will also be streamed on the website www.maoritelevision.com.

Te Puni Kōkiri Lifetime Achievement Award for Indigenous Television Broadcasting – Te Rerenga Tahi – will be presented at the gala dinner of WITBC ’08 on Friday March 28. The award will recognise the work of a person (or persons) that has made an outstanding contribution to the indigenous television broadcasting industry in New Zealand. It is hoped that the host nation of the next World Indigenous Television Broadcasting Conference will adopt the concept and present its own lifetime achievement award.

As well as the conference’s closing event, the WITBC ’08 gala dinner will include the first, live-to-air broadcast of Te Reo; celebrations for Māori Television’s fourth birthday; and the presentation of Te Rerenga Tahi. Māori Television’s daily news programme, Te Kāea, will also broadcast live from the venue between 7.30pm and 8.00pm. The entertainment includes singer-songwriter Ruia Aperahama; leading taonga puoro musicians, who use traditional Māori musical instruments; an indigenous fashion showcase; and New Zealand music icon, Ardijah.

The closest carpark to the conference venue is the Civic Carpark (09 379 6035), located directly below the Aotea Centre, and accessible from Greys Avenue and Mayoral Drive. The opening hours are Monday to Thursday, 6.00am – 1.00am; and Friday 6.00am – 3.00am. The nearest taxi rank to THE EDGE® is on Wellesley Street. However, all taxis will pick up and drop off passengers directly outside the venues. For information on bus, ferry and train services, phone MAXX on 09 366 6400 or go to the website: www.maxx.co.nz.