The timebands which dictate the hours that certain content can air are under review in a round of public consultation being undertaken by the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA).
New Zealand television as viewers know it could be undergoing changes in the next year that could see shifts in adult and children's programmes.
Changes being considered include free-to-air (FTA) television to adopt pay tv classification labels (G, PG, M, 16, 18).
- G/PG will be screened any time.
- M (PGR/AO) content will be screened after 7pm.
- 16 and 18 (AO) will screen after 8.30pm.
Changes will be implemented for 12 months before the transition to remove timebands.
CEO for BSA Belinda Moffat says "We're asking the community do you still use timebands which has traditionally restricted what content can be aired at certain times, are they still useful for you or now that we watch television in such a different way would you watch parental locks instead?"
Moffat says the way audiences watch television has changed with recording and parental locks on FTA television now available. But with removal of timebands, there are concerns for viewers particularly in lower income communities who Moffat says still rely on FTA for main source of entertainment.
"Looking at the families who do use the television to entertain the children when they are cooking dinner, when they are getting home from work.”
“Those are really important considerations and those are really the key issues that we need to think about when we ultimately make a final decision."
Child advocacy group Parentline in Hamilton says should changes go ahead there needs to be robust education and support systems for parental locks.
BSA say changes to timeband and classification labels would apply to all FTA television including Māori Television and mainstream broadcasters.
Public consultation ends August 31.