Rautaki Māori

I te putanga mai i te tau 2024 o Te Pae Tata, arā, tā tātau Rautaki Māori whānui tuatahi, i whakatakotoria ai te tūāpapa e hangaia nei e tātau ngā pūnaha hei tautoko i a tātau ki te mahi tika ake mā ngā kaipāho Māori me ngā kaihanga ihirangi Māori.

Ko tētahi o ngā kawenga matua i raro i te Broadcasting Act ko te whakatairanga i te reo Māori me te ahurea Māori. Mā Te Pae Tata e āwhina i a tātau ki te whakatutuki i tēnei mā te whakapiki i ngā hua mō te marea me ngā kaihanga ihirangi Māori, te waihanga me te whakakaupapatanga o tētahi mahere mō te reo Māori, te whakarite hoki kia tautokotia ngā kaimahi Māori i roto o Irirangi Te Motu, me te whakawhanake i tētahi hononga whai tikanga ki ngā rōpū, ngā kaihanga, ngā iwi, ngā hapori me ngā marea Māori.

The release in 2024 of Te Pae Tata, our first comprehensive Rautaki Māori, provided a foundation on which we are building systems that will help us better serve Māori audiences and content creators.

One of our key remits under the Broadcasting Act is to promote Māori language and Māori culture. Te Pae Tata helps us to do this by aiming to increase outcomes for Māori audiences and content creators, developing and implementing a te reo Māori plan, ensuring Māori kaimahi are supported within Irirangi Te Motu and developing meaningful engagement with Māori agencies, creators, iwi, communities and audiences.

I te tau 2024/25, e tekau mā toru ōrau o ngā kaupapa i tautokongia i raro i ngā aho Scripted me Non-fiction i aro tika ki ngā marea Māori. Koinei te hunga whakarongo i tohua e te kaitono i te wā e tono ana rātau mō te pūtea. Engari, e mōhio ana tatau ki ngā raraunga o ngā hunga whakarongo, he maha noa atu o wēnā atu kaupapa kua whai wāhi, kua whakatutukingia hoki i ngā hiahia o te hunga whakarongo Māori nui tonu.

E mahi pātata tonu ana mātau ko Te Māngai Pāho, kia tino whakawhānuitia ake te whakamahinga o ngā pūtea a ngā rōpū e rua nei mō te ao kiriata me te ao pūoro hoki. Nā te Scripted and Non-fiction te reo me te ao Māori Content Co-Fund i whakangaongia te $8 miriona ki ngā kaupapa reo Māori kounga tiketike e toro atu ana ki te tini o te hunga whakarongo.

E haere tonu ana hoki te karahipi Waiata Takitahi ki te tautoko i ngā kaiwaiata o Aotearoa e hiahia ana ki te rekoatanga, ki te tukunga hoki o tētahi waiata kotahi e rua reo ana, e whai pānga ana ki te hunga whānui, ā, e 25 ōrau te iti rawa o ngā kupu reo Māori kei roto.

I te ao pūoro, e 61 ngā waiata kotahi i waihangangia e ngā kaiwaiata Māori, ā, i waiatatia rānei ki te reo Māori. Ko ētahi o ēnei waiata i eke tiketike ki runga i ngā reo irirangi o Aotearoa me ngā pae tukuoro ipurangi.

I noho ai te waiata a Stan Walker, Māori Ki Te Ao, mō ngā wiki piri tata e 41 ki te tūranga tuatahi i runga i te Te Reo Māori Singles Chart, ā, i riro i a ia te tohu Te Māngai Pāho Mana Reo i te AMA 2025.

I riro hoki i a Hori Shaw te tohu Breakthrough Artist of the Year i te tau 2025 i te AMA. Ko tāna waiata rongonui Back In My Arms i noho mō ngā wiki e iwa ki te tūranga tuatahi i te Official NZ Singles Chart, ā, koinei hoki te waiata i tino rongonuitia i te tau nei — e 9.6 miriona ngā tukunga whakarongo puta noa i Spotify me YouTube — (ā, e tipu tonu ana ia rā!)

In the 2024/25 year 13% of content funded under the Scripted and Non-fiction streams was targeted for Māori audiences. This is the audience identified by the applicant when they apply for funding. However, we know from audience data that many other projects also engage and serve significant Māori audiences.

We continue to work closely with Te Māngai Pāho to maximise the funding of both agencies with co-funds in both the screen and music spaces.  The Scripted and Non-fiction te reo and te ao Māori content Co-Fund saw $8m invested in high quality reo Māori projects that will reach broad audiences.

The Waiata Takitahi funding round continues to support New Zealand artists who are interested in recording and releasing a bilingual single with potential general audience appeal and a minimum of 25% te reo Māori lyrics.

In Music, 61 Music Singles were created by Māori artists or  performed in te reo Māori. Some of these tracks rose to great heights on New Zealand radio and on streaming services.

Stan Walker’s Māori Ki Te Ao spent an impressive 41 consecutive weeks at number one on the Te Reo Māori Singles Chart and won the Te Māngai Pāho Mana Reo award at the 2025 AMAs.

Hori Shaw won Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2025 at the AMAs. His breakout single Back in My Arms spent nine weeks at number one on the Official NZ Singles Chart and was the highest streamed funded song of the year with 9.6m streams across Spotify and YouTube (and growing daily!).

Hei mārama ake i nga hunga whakarongo Māori, i mahi ngātahi mātau ko Te Māngai Pāho ki te whakarewa i te rangahau tuatahi o Where Are The Māori Audiences?, he kaupapa i tirohia ai ō rātau whanonga pāpāho ā-rohe me tō rātau hiahia ki ngā pūrakāu Māori, tae atu ki ērā i te reo Māori tonu.

I whakaputaina te rangahau nei i a Hurae 2024, ā, i puta mai ai he mōhiotanga hira hei ārahi i ngā rautaki taunakitanga e hāngai ana ki te toro atu, ki te whakakaha hoki i te hunga whakarongo Māori. Ko ētahi o ngā kitenga matua, ko ēnei:

• He pai ki te Māori ngā ihirangi ā-rohe, nā te mea he mea pā tata ki a rātau, ā, e rata ana rātau ki te ngahau, ki ngā kiripuaki pono, ki ngā kanohi me ngā wāhi e mōhiotia ana, me te ahurea Māori, te hītori, me te puoro o Aotearoa.
• Engari, he maha ake kei runga i ngā pae ao whānui i ērā o te kāinga, nō reira he iti ake te tūpono ka kitea ngā ihirangi ā-rohe.
• Ko te rangatahi Māori (15–24 tau) e tino rata ana ki ngā kēmu ataata me ngā pae pāpāho pāpori.
• Ko te nuinga o te Māori, hakoa he matatau ki te reo, e pai ake ana ki ngā kōrero ngāwari I te reo Māori, kia kaua ki te reo Māori anake te katoa.

Ko tētahi atu kaupapa raraunga hou e anga whakamua ana ko The Everyone Project Aotearoa. He kaupapa nā Te Māngai Pāho rāua ko Te Tumu Whakaata Taonga i mahi ngātahi, ā, mā tēnei taputapu aroturuki kanorau e āhei ai te tātaringa hohonu me te mārama ake ki te hunga kaimahi Māori o te ao kiriata, hei wāhanga hoki nō te kohinga raraunga whānui e pā ana ki te hunga mahi kiriata o te motu.

Ka whakarewahia tēnei taputapu hei te tau 2026.

I tonoa anō hoki e mātau te Māori Music Industry Collective kia rangahaua ai te āhua o ngā kaiwaiata Māori i roto i te ao pūoro, me tā rātau whai wāhi atu ki te pūtea tautoko a Irirangi Te Motu. I puta tēnei tono i muri mai i te arotake o ngā pūtea NZ On Air Music i te tau 2023. Ka whakaputaina ngā hua o taua rangahau hei te mutunga o te tau 2025.

To better understand Māori audiences, we partnered with Te Māngai Pāho to launch the first Where Are The Māori Audiences? research project, exploring their local media habits and interest in Māori stories, including those in te reo Māori.

The research, published in July 2024 produced important insights that will help inform evidence based  strategies to reach and engage Māori audiences. Some key findings included:

• Māori enjoy local content, finding it relatable, and are attracted by humour, authentic characters, familiar faces and places, Māori culture, history, and Kiwi music
• But more spend time on global platforms than local so discovering this content is less likely
• Rangatahi Māori (15-24) are big on video games and social media
• Most Māori, even fluent speakers of te reo, prefer media content with simple conversations in te reo Māori rather than full te reo Māori

Another ground-breaking data initiative underway is The Everyone Project Aotearoa. Commissioned in partnership with Te Māngai Pāho and the NZ Film Commission this diversity tracking tool will provide a major step forward in analysing and understanding the Māori screen creation workforce, as part of a wide range of data that will be collected on the screen workforce.

The tool will be launched in 2026.

We also commissioned the Māori Music Industry Collective to undertake research into Māori artists in the music industry and their engagement with NZ On Air funding. This was suggested as a further piece of work after the 2023 NZ On Air Music Funding review. The outcomes of this research are due for release in late 2025.

E whakapau pūtea ana mātau ki ngā kaupapa rautaki e whakaarotia ana hei whakakaha ake i ngā ringatoi Māori i roto i te rāngai kiriata, ā, e mahi tata ana mātau ko Ngā Aho Whakaari hei tautoko i tā rātau kaupapa nui — arā, te whakamana me te whakatairanga i ngā reo me ngā pūrākau Māori i roto i te ao kiriata ā-rohe.

I roto i ngā tau 2024/25, hei wāhanga o tā mātau tautoko i te rāngai kiriata, i tautokongia hoki e mātau te Rotorua Indigenous Film Festival me te Māoriland Film Festival.

I roto i ngā tau tekau mā tahi kua pahure, kua tipu te Māoriland Film Festival hei kaihāpai kaha rawa atu mō ngā kiriata iwi taketake i te Tuakoi Tonga, ā, he hōtaka tauroa ā rātau mō te roanga ake o te tau.

I te tau 2025, i manaaki te hui nei i ngā manuhiri nō ngā whenua e toru tekau mā tahi, ā, neke atu i te 25,000 ngā tāngata i tae atu ki te taurima nei, e kī ana i te $6.8 miriona tāra ki te ōhanga ā-rohe o Kāpiti.

I a Hepetema 2024, nā Irirangi Te Motu, i te taha o Te Māngai Pāho, i whakahaere te Waiata Reo Māori Showcase ki Big Fan i Tāmaki Makaurau, ā, i whakapuakina mai ngā whakaaturanga a Swizl Jager, Ma, Aja, TAWAZ me Mara TK. I waihangatia tēnei whakaaturanga hei whakakite i ngā kaiwaiata Māori e piki ake ana ki te taumata kē, kia kitea ai e ngā kaiwhakarite hōtaka irirangi, ngā tapanga rekoata, me ngā kaiwhakarōpū rārangi waiata ipurangi.

We invest strategically in initiatives designed to uplift Māori creatives in the screen sector and work closely with Ngā Aho Whakaari to support their kaupapa of empowering and promoting Māori voices and stories within the local screen industry.

In the 2024/25 years our industry support included support for the Rotorua Indigenous Film Festival, and Māoriland Film Festival.

Over the past 11 years, the Māoriland Film Festival has grown to be the largest presenter of Indigenous screen content in the Southern Hemisphere, with a year-round programme of events.

In 2025, it hosted visitors from 31 countries and more than 25,000 people attended the festival, contributing 6.8 million to the local Kāpiti economy.

In September 2024, NZ On Air hosted the Waiata Reo Māori Showcase, in association with Te Māngai Pāho, at Big Fan in Tāmaki Makaurau with performances from Swizl Jager, Ma, Aja, TAWAZ and Mara TK. This showcase was designed to put emerging Māori artists in the spotlight for radio programmers, record labels and those curating streaming playlists.

Dead Ahead

Nā te pūtea ngātahi a Irirangi Te Motu rāua ko Te Māngai Pāho i tautoko te waihangatanga o Dead Ahead, he whakaaturanga whakaari pukuhohe reorua, ā, he āpitihanga anō tōna ki te ao wairua. Ko Miriama Smith te kaiwhakaari matua — he rōia Māori whai mana, me tōna whānau i hoki atu ki Aotearoa i muri i ngā tau maha ki Rānana — ā, ka tukuna ohorere e ia ōna tūpuna kaumingomingo.

E ai ki te kaiwhakaputa o te hōtaka, ko Nicole Horan (Ngāti Maniapoto) nō Hi Mama, he mea whakamahana i te ngākau te kite i te pānga o Dead Ahead ki te hunga mātakitaki.

I whiwhi pūtea i a Aperira 2024, ā, i tukuna i a Hune 2025.

I whakawhiwhi a Irirangi Te Motu i a Hi Mama ki te pūtea tautoko $1,139,001 mō TVNZ+.

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Created with support from the NZ On Air/ Te Māngai Pāho co-fund Dead Ahead is a bilingual dramedy with a supernatural twist. Miriama Smith plays a high-powered Māori lawyer returning to Aotearoa with her whānau from years in London who accidentally unleashes her chaotic tūpuna.

The show’s producer Nicole Horan (Ngāti Maniapoto) of Hi Mama says it has been heart-warming to see how Dead Ahead has resonated with audiences. Dead Ahead was the highest audience reaching funded show on TVNZ+ in its first three months online.

Funded April 2024, released June 2025

$1,13,9001 NZ On Air funding to Hi Mama for TVNZ+

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Pā Life

He raupapa docu-reality tēnei e whai ana i ngā oranga whānokē, oranga noa hoki, o tētahi tira whanaunga i whānau mai, i tipu ake hoki i runga i tō rātau papakāinga ki Porirua. I waihangatia te Pā Life mō te hunga rangatahi.

Ko tētahi tēnei o ngā kaupapa tekau mā rua anake i kōwhiria mai i te kotahi rau rima tekau mā rua o ngā tono i te puna pūtea mō te hunga rangatahi, e kīia ana ko Within My Reach. I hāngai pū ngā ihirangi nei ki te ao o te rangatahi – arā, i te ipurangi me ngā pae pāpāho pāpori. I tukuna tuatahitia ki YouTube, ā, i kīnaki hoki ki ngā ihirangi ā-Instagram me TikTok.

Ko ngā kiripuaki o te hōtaka nei he tangata pono, e hanga ana i ō rātau ake ara, e manako ana ki ō rātau ake tikanga me te āhua o tō rātau ao. E ai ki te kaiwhakaputa, a Anahera Parata, he wheako motuhake te hanga i tēnei hōtaka mō te katoa i whai wāhi atu.

He pai rawa atu ngā whakahokinga a te hunga mātakitaki ki YouTube, ā, he taikaha ā rātau hiahia kia whakaputaina anō ētahi atu wāhanga.

A docu-reality series following the extraordinary-ordinary lives of a group of cousins who were born and raised on their papakainga, in Porirua, Pā Life was made for a rangatahi audience.

One of just 12 projects selected from an initial pool of 152 applications to a Youth targeted round called Within My Reach, the content was specifically designed to meet the rangatahi audience where it is – online and on social media. The YouTube distribution was complemented with content on Instagram and TikTok.

The relatable characters are carving their own paths, embracing life on their terms. Pā Life’s producer Anahera Parata says creating the series was a special experience for everyone involved.

The responses on YouTube from viewers was positive and begging for more.

E ai ki te Tumuaki Pūtea, ki a Amie Mills, he tino ātaahua te whakakotahitanga o te ao Māori, ngā kōrero pono o te ao hurihuri, me te tirohanga rangatahi i roto i ēnei ihirangi.

Ka eke a Pā Life ki te 283,452 i ngā 4 marama i muri i tana tukunga.

I whiwhi pūtea i te Āperira 2024, ā, i tukuna i te Mei 2025.

I whakawhiwhi a Irirangi Te Motu i a Three Feather Productions ki te te pūtea tautoko o te $463.788

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Head of Funding Amie Mills says the content does a beautiful job of blending te ao Māori, contemporary real-life stories, and a rangatahi view.

Pā Life had reached 283,452 views on YouTube four months after release.

Funded April 2024, released May 2025 on YouTube

$463,788 NZ On Air funding to Three Feather Productions

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Hori Shaw

Ko Hori Shaw tētahi reo hou, reo mana hoki e whakatangi nei i roto i te ao pūoro o Aotearoa. I takea mai ia i Ōpōtiki, ā, he tangata whakahīhī mō tōna Māoritanga ake. Ko tāna mahi e whakatūroa ana ki roto i āna ake wheako whaiaro, te tuakiri ahurea, me tōna hononga hōhonu ki te ao Māori. He kaikōrero mātatau ia ki te reo Māori, ā, kua waiā kē ia ki te tuitui ngātahi i te reo Māori me te reo Pākehā i roto i āna waiata — ā, i āna waiata nei e tata ana ki te ngākau, ka whānui tonu te rere.

Nā tētahi aituā whakangau nui i āta waihanga tāna toi, ā, ko ngā kaupapa o te whakaoranga, te whānau, me te whenua e tuitui ana i roto i āna mahi. I te tau 2024, i riro i a ia te People’s Choice Award i te Aotearoa Music Awards, ā, i te tau 2025, i whakawhiwhia hoki ia ki te tohu Breakthrough Artist of the Year.

I noho hoki ia hei kaitono mō te Best Māori Male Solo Artist i te Waiata Māori Music Awards 2024.

Ko tāna waiata rongonui Back In My Arms i noho mō ngā wiki e iwa ki te tūranga tuatahi i te Official NZ Singles Chart, ā, i whiwhi tautoko nui mai i Mai FM — i tīmata mai i tā rātau hōtaka tautoko Backyard Beats, kātahi ka neke atu ki te Ā huringa.

Nā ngā pūtea tautoko a New Music Projects me Waiata Takitahi i a Aperira 2025, kua rite a Hori kia haere tonu i tana ara mō ngā kōrero ake, ngā pūrākau reo rua, ā-tuawhenua hoki o Aotearoa. E tino whakahīhī ana mātau ki te tautoko i tōna haerenga.

Hori Shaw – New Music Project me Waiata Takitahi (I whiwhi pūtea I te Āperira 2025 | ka puta tonu mai tana waiata me te kaupapa hoki)

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Hori Shaw is a powerful new voice in Aotearoa music. Hailing from Ōpōtiki and proudly Māori, his work is rooted in personal experience, cultural identity and deep connection to te ao Māori. A fluent te reo Māori speaker, Hori blends reo and English seamlessly in his songwriting, creating music that is both intimate and expansive.

His artistry is shaped by a life-changing hunting accident, with themes of healing, whānau and whenua running through his work. In 2024, he won the People’s Choice Award at the Aotearoa Music Awards, followed by Breakthrough Artist of the Year in 2025.

He was also a finalist for Best Māori Male Solo Artist at the 2024 Waiata Māori Music Awards.

His breakout single Back In My Arms spent nine weeks at number one on the Official NZ Singles Chart and gained strong support from Mai FM, first through their funded feature Backyard Beats, before moving into A rotation.

With support from both New Music Projects and Waiata Takitahi in April 2025, Hori is set to continue carving out space for authentic, bilingual, rural storytelling in Aotearoa’s music landscape. We’re proud to support his journey.

Hori Shaw – New Music Project and Waiata Takitahi (Funded April 2025 | Single and project forthcoming)

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Kei raro iho nei tētahi tirohanga whāiti o ngā kaupapa i whiwhi pūtea i te tau pūtea 2024/25, i tohua e ngā kaitono hei kaupapa nā te Māori, mā te Māori anake te aronga. E kore e whakaaturia tōna whānuitanga katoa o ngā ihirangi i tautokongia e ngā kamupene hanga kiriata Māori, engari e aro ana ki ngā marea ā-rohe whānui.

Below is a list of projects funded in the 2024/25 financial year that applicants categorised as by Māori, for Māori audiences primarily. This does not reflect the full spectrum of content funded from Māori-owned production companies intended for broader local audiences.