From Matangi Tonga Magazine Vol. 14, no. 3, July 1999.

Radio Tonga has plans to set up a second television station in Nuku‘alofa in competition to the Christian-styled OBN TV7 run by American entrepreneur Chris Racine.

Radio Tonga’s Tavake Fusimalohi wanted to launch his station in time for the Millennium but Privy Council has deferred the licence. The new TV proposal has been criticized on OBN TV7 in July by Racine who has drawn the King into the debate over the control of Tongan television.

Tavake comments on the uncertain future of local television.

Pesi Fonua–Do you think there is room for a second television station in Tonga?

Tavake Fusimalohi-The Tonga Broadcasting Commission was given a mandate by government in 1984 to set up a public service television station. I had to seek financial assistance to set up a station, and we were given $200,000 by the Taiwanese government through their bilateral assistance program.

But I kept asking myself, would television survive financially in Tonga? Considering that the small advertising market has not changed in 15 years, and now with the advent of FM stations, we are all competing for the same advertising dollars. I have said many times to the Board of Radio Tonga that to run a television service will mean a financial loss.

We have a fund set aside as general reserve-a little more than half a million-and I would hate to see television coming in and using the proceeds from radio to subsidise TV, because that means both radio and TV will fail.

We then brought in a television consultant who suggested that the only way to start a television station in Tonga would be to start small and gradually develop. He used the term “Evolving Gradualise Approach”. This means that we should acquire the skills first, train the staff so that we will be able to produce a weekly program of news and current affairs. We thought that if Channel 7 could air our program; we would pay them for the airtime.

So my Board decided that we should implement the television project by building a television production studio and fully equipping it so that we would be able to produce local programs. That was a major undertaking by Radio Tonga in December 1997, and completed by the end of June 1998.

The former manager of TV7, Ray Wick, agreed that we would do local production, he would air the program, and then we would share the costs. However, the owner of TV7, Chris Racine, fired Ray Wick, and has refused since June last year to broadcast any program that is produced by Radio Tonga.

But this year we are ready to set up our own station. We have the best-trained staff in the region-contrary to the critical report by Greg Milne.

Chris Racine has said on his own television station recently that it was the King who rejected your application for a licence to establish a second television station?

Well, I don’t know, I have no idea. The way he put it makes it sound as though the King dictates what is going on in the country, which is totally wrong. The King is in Privy Council and the decision is by the King and the Privy Council. So Chris Racine should be careful telling people that the King has said this, and the King has said that, and the King wants that, because he is creating an image for people to become dissatisfied with the King.

Our application for a licence was also not rejected, but was deferred by government for the second time.

I think I have met Chris Racine twice. The first time I met him was when he walked in here with ‘Isileli Taukolo, and asked me to give him the $200,000, which was a contribution from the Taiwanese government toward the setting up of our own television station. He wanted the money to buy some equipment for his television station. I told him that I could not hand over money just like that, there was a procedure, and it had to be approved by my Board. Aid funds are given for a specific project and they have to be spent accordingly.

The second time was when Chris Racine telephoned me, and asked me to arrange a meeting with the Prime Minister, who is the Chairman of the Board of the Tonga Broadcasting Commission, because he wanted to become a member of the Board of the Tonga Broadcasting Commission. At that time there was a vacancy on the board because the Rev. Saulala had resigned. I arranged a meeting with the PM, and the three of us met at the Prime Minister’s office, and Racine raised the point that he would like to become a member of the Board. The Prime Minister said that the appointment of new members had to be made by the board.

At the next board meeting, Chris Racine’s proposal was on the agenda. The matter was discussed and questions were asked, and it was decided for the board to list a number of nominees to be presented to Cabinet for their approval. First on the list was Chris Racine; followed by the President of the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga, Dr. ‘Alifeleti Mone; the Bishop of the Catholic Church, Soane Foliaki; President of the Free Church of Tonga, Rev. Semisi Fonua, and other church leaders. A week later Cabinet appointed Bishop Foliaki.

Government deferred your licence, is there a time limit?

No, but it defeated the plans and the vision of my board for the new Millennium, because four years ago we decided to enter the new Millennium with television. During the past four years we have been working hard to make all the necessary preparations, acquiring equipment, negotiating for viewing rights and broadcasting rights and then we are stopped short of the Millennium. We had planned to start operation in October, and already have the engineering plan, the design, and a list of equipment to order with Sony. If we had been given the go ahead the equipment would have arrived here in mid-September, and we would have begun operation in October, in time for the Rugby World Cup. We have already secured the rights to air the World Cup here. I don’t know what the Chairman is going to do about the World Cup, because it costs a lot of money for the rights to broadcast.

You are the most senior member of the news media in Tong, looking at the development of the media in this country, how do you think Tonga is coping?

Well, I was the Secretary General of the Pacific Islands News Association for 12 years from 1985 to 1997, and I have always advocated Press Freedom, accuracy and the truthfulness of information. If every operator in the news media could swear by the Almighty that it shall be the truth and nothing but the truth, we will have no problem whatsoever. The problems faced by some media organisations come from misinforming and misleading the people or distorting information. If you stick to telling the truth and nothing but the truth people will love it, they are starving for true information.

The news media has been all right to a certain extent.  We are not perfect in Radio Tonga, and that is why I continue to train my staff to be able to see between what is good and what is bad, what is constructive and what is destructive.

With the advent of Free Trade, when barriers are broken down, it will be possible for a television station in one country to a broadcast directly into another country.

That is a fear of what they call trans-national television, where the television service has no boundaries, they can go anywhere and it is a major concern.