ABSTRACT
In respect of the central theme of this collection television in New Zealand provides an ideal case study, and salutary lessons for television systems across the globe. Ever since its beginnings, in the early 1960s, television in this South Pacific nation has been subjected to continuous structural and policy change, strands of continuity in programming and cultural significance and, most significantly, has experienced an extraordinary level of economic liberalization and deregulation. Most recently, policy directives from the Labour government have initiated another wave of change; what might be characterized as “Back to the Future.”
