*Mexikaresistance.com Note: Amazing and inspiring.

Maori Television is increasing its broadcast hours to focus on language revitalisation and scrapping infomercials in the process - a move which has been praised by a language critic.

From Sunday, the station will broadcast tuition programmes from 10am to 3pm, replacing infomercials which brought in about $250,000a year.

Chief executive Jim Mather said the extra five hours a day would turn the broadcaster into the biggest virtual classroom in the country.

The development came after research found that 85 per cent of viewers were not fluent Maori speakers.

“We need to be programming accordingly. We want to ensure that we’re constantly innovating to strengthen our Maori acquisition outcomes because at the end of the day we’re primarily a language revitalisation organisation.

“We’re just using television to achieve those goals.”

It is also cheap, as the station owns the rights to the shows and the technical infrastructure is in place.

The station’s second immersion channel, Te Reo, has also increased its broadcasting hours.

A new standard of at least 51 per cent Maori language content across the entire schedule simplifies a statutory obligation which obliges the broadcaster to “mainly” broadcast in te reo in prime time, 6pm to 10.30pm, and “substantially” outside those hours.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE: Maori TV dumps ads for lessons in language – National – NZ Herald News.