Radio NZ getting off lightly

Radio NZ, like most crown agencies, has been on a funding freeze for several years. They of course have been far better off than their commercial competitors who have had significant revenue drops.

This story from Greece shows how bad it could get, if the Government doesn’t balance it books:

Under pressure from its creditors to cut public employment, the Greek government said Tuesday that it was closing down its state-run television and radio broadcaster, idling 2,900 people — less than 1 percent of the public work force — and outraging the country’s powerful labor unions.

Describing the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation, known as ERT, as a “haven of waste,” a government spokesman said ERT, which went off the air at 11 p.m. local time, would reopen soon as a “modern state organization” with a fraction of the current staff.

Now that is what you call a cut!