Children's and Youth content

Engaging younger audiences

Children and youth are among our most dynamic audiences, seamlessly moving between platforms and demonstrating a strong appetite for diverse content that speaks to their experiences.

They are also crucial audiences for building lifelong connections with local stories and identity, which is why in 2024/25 we allocated 22% of Scripted and Non-fiction funding to projects for tamariki. We also funded seven New Music Kids singles and three multi-song projects under New Music Projects Kids.

We make local content available where young people are already spending their time. We prioritise rangatahi content made by young creators who understand their audience from lived experiences. For tamariki, we support everything from music and animation to live-action series, online games and factual content including news.

Our strategy in this space is well-informed by research and audience data we gather on all our projects. Our 2022 Youth research was fundamental in driving our digital-first approach to content for this audience. In the 2024/25 year, we saw the majority of projects created under the resulting strategy, Within My Reach (WMR), released. The final project will be released in late 2025.

While we haven’t yet completed a full analysis of the success of the WMR approach, what we know already from our data gathering is that content reached hundreds of thousands of viewers. Feedback on social media channels about the projects has been overwhelmingly positive. One of the WMR projects has been expanded on in more depth below.

Children’s content needs have been a major focus of new research this year. Partnering with Te Māngai Pāho, we commissioned a deep dive Where Are The Audiences study into Children’s media use. The research is due to be released late 2025, along with a significant announcement. You’ll find more on successful Children’s projects in the Success stories below. content here

The Gender Agenda

Billed as “Anthony Bourdain meets Queercore punk-rock”, this docu-series of five 10 minute-long episodes followed non-binary presenter Perrin on a quest for answers and identity as they explored the complicated issue of gender.

But the project was much more than the five episodes, with bonus content also created to pique interest and whet the appetite of its audience for more. On YouTube the series had over 830,000 views. One of the most popular episodes, with 137,000 views, looked into how different cultures understand gender.

The project was also an opportunity for them to be mentored by experienced producer, Kim Harrop. They learned about all parts of the production process, crew management, health and safety, and financial management as well as story structure, shooting, interviewing and presenting.

“The Gender Agenda actually made a difference – not only to the lives of its creators, but to their community and their audience. As well as showing genuine and heartfelt solidarity, it delivered valuable access to practical support and resources in the community. The gratitude and positive social feedback from young queer and trans rangatahi, their friends, parents and wider whanau has been utterly overwhelming,” says Kim Harrop.

“The Gender Agenda is a precious example of how authentic, empathetic and courageous storytelling can affect positive social change – and a living example of how investment and elevation of industry up-and-comers is a win for everyone.”

A second season has been funded in April 2025.

Funded April 2024, released November 2024 on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram. 

$395,115 NZ On Air funding to Rumbletoon. 

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Secrets At Red Rocks

A series for the whole family, Secrets At Red Rocks was adapted from the award-winning Rachael King novel of the same name.  Set on the rugged Wellington coast, a boy is drawn into a world of mythical creatures and adventure when he finds a sealskin hidden on the rocky shore.

Secrets At Red Rocks was the number one NZ On Air funded show for tamariki on linear television in the 2024/25 year, reaching 246,643 viewers on Sky Open.

Richard Fletcher, Managing Director of Libertine Pictures says he was immediately drawn to Rachael King's novel because of it's universality and big themes.

"It's a series about the discovery of inner strength, understanding of family, and a sense of turangawaewae (belonging) full of adventure, mystery, jeopardy, humour and mystical creatures. Plus, it was a unique opportunity to highlight Wellington’s wild and beautiful south coast.

That‘s what also attracted our US partner, BYUtv, who co-commissioned the series with Sky NZ, and were a key financing component. Whilst a uniquely NZ story, with a strong Celtic twist, the themes of love of family and need to understand how the world works resonate with everyone," he said.

A second series was funded in July 2025.

Funded May 2023, released March 2025 on Sky

$2,235,000 NZ On Air funding (and NZSPR) to Libertine Pictures

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Badjelly

Based on the beloved book, Badjelly the Witch: A Fairy Story, by renowned comedian Spike Milligan, and starring a stellar voice cast including Miriam Margolyes, Rose Matafeo, Cohen Hollway and Rhys Darby, the series delivers a fresh take on this classic story for today’s kids, all while preserving the crazy humour, bizarre situations and quirky characters from the original tale. Badjelly is produced by local animation studio, Mukpuddy Ltd, the UK’s Cantilever Media and Canada’s Sphere Media.

Badjelly launched to New Zealand audiences during the summer school holidays with a digital first strategy on TVNZ+. The show immediately proved its popularity and became the number two on demand show for tamariki funded by NZ On Air in the financial year. When Badjelly launched on TVNZ 2 on Sunday mornings in March, the series was viewed by 93,397 people. This digital first strategy proved to be successful with on demand viewing of the episodes more than double those of TVNZ 2.

Badjelly has proven its international appeal with ITV in the UK set to launch the show in October and WildBrain, a global leader in kids’ and family entertainment, signing Badjelly to international platforms, including France TV (France), as well as RTS (Switzerland and Liechtenstein) and ViuTVsix (Hong Kong).

Funded July 2022, released March 2025 on TVNZ 2

$800,000 NZ On Air funding to Mukpuddy Ltd

Nielsen TAM pārongo published by NZ On Air is not to be re-published, copied, quoted or redistributed to any other parties.