New Zealanders' Knowledge of Broadcasting Standards, 2010

22 March 2010

Date published: March 2010

Research Company: Nielsen Corporation

Quantitative research to provide insight into New Zealanders’ knowledge of the complaints process, broadcasting standards, classification codes and warning labels on free-to-air and pay-to-view television, and the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA)
Designed to understand the level of knowledge among the general public and identify where further education is required

Conducted from 17 February to 27 February 2010 with a margin of era of ±3.1% at the 95% confidence level
Online national survey with 1,000 individuals selected to represent the New Zealand population in terms of gender, age and region

Most New Zealanders (89%) are aware that they can make a formal complaint about television and radio content
There is a degree of confusion about the process for making a formal complaint
Most New Zealanders (96%) indicated a cause of action which, if not correct, would lead them to finding out about the correct process for making a formal complaint
The BSA is far more likely than the broadcaster to be identified as the organisation to contact to make a formal complaint
Younger New Zealanders (15 to 24 years old) are far less likely to know who to complain to
Few New Zealanders (4%) are aware that they can contact the BSA if unhappy with the broadcasters response
Few New Zealanders (1%) are aware that complaints must be made within 20 working days of the broadcast
Many of those who have considered making a complaint have not done so because they feel that it will not make a difference or will be a waste of time

New Zealanders are most aware of standards around offensive or obscene language (45%) and around sexual or lewd content (35%)
There is less awareness of standards relating to law and order, balance and fairness
There is reasonable knowledge of standards relating to the protection children, but only limited awareness of standards relating to promos screened during children’s viewing times

There is a high level of awareness of classification codes used on free-to-air and pay-to-view television, and their meanings
Approximately a quarter (24%) of parents with children under 13 believe that AO programmes start screening at 9pm or later
Approximately 18% of parents would not do anything different for G and PGR classified programmes

RESEARCH AND REPORTS NGĀ RANGAHAU ME NGĀ PŪRONGO