Post Implementation Review
Going Digital
Prepared By: Ministry for Culture and Heritage
Date: 31 March 2014
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Table of Contents
1. INTRODUCTION 4
1.1. Programme overview 4
1.2. Purpose of the post implementation review 5
1.3. Review scope 5
1.4. Review methodology 5
2. OVERALL FINDINGS 6
3. PROGRAMME SUMMARY 6
3.1. Purpose 6
3.2. Objectives 7
3.3. Governance 8
3.4. Management 8
3.5. Stakeholders 9
3.6. Budget 10
4. PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION 11
4.1. Pre-digital switchover environment 11
4.2. Overseas experience 11
4.3. Going Digital’s strategy 12
4.4. Regional roll-out 13
4.5. Key milestones 15
4.6. Programme risks 16
4.7. Programme methodology 17
4.8. Post digital switchover environment 18
5. PROGRAMME BENEFITS 18
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5.1. Building a stronger economy 18
5.2. Reduced transmission costs 19
5.3. Enhanced television viewing 19
6. PROGRAMME WORKSTREAMS 19
6.1. Key programme workstreams 19
6.2. Related workstreams 27
7. OTHER PROJECT FACTORS 29
7.1. Christchurch earthquakes 29
7.2. Accessible television receiving equipment 30
8. KEY PROJECT OUTCOMES 30
8.1. Digital switchover achieved 30
8.2. Digital dividend realised 30
9. PROJECT STRENGTHS 31
10. PROJECT LEARNINGS 32
11. NEXT STEPS 33
12. RECOMMENDATIONS 34
13. APPENDICES 35
13.1. Post implementation review participants 35
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1. Introduction 1.1. Programme overview
Going Digital was a significant four-year programme that was responsible for driving the country's transition from analogue to digital television by the end of 2013. It touched almost every household in a way that no other programme has since the introduction of decimal currency in 1967. Viewers needed to buy equipment to make every television go digital, if they wanted to keep using it.
New Zealand went digital in four stages beginning on 30 September 2012 with Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast of the South Island and ending on 1 December 2013 with the upper North Island (north of Taupo). All of New Zealand is now a digital-only television zone.1
Going Digital was established as a stand-alone programme in May 2010. It was administered within the Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH) but with an independent brand and profile and a clearly defined remit to complete the transition to digital television in a simple and straightforward way. Going Digital’s campaign was publicly launched in November 2010 to give viewers plenty of time to prepare for the change.
Going Digital delivered a nationwide community outreach programme supported by comprehensive marketing and targeted assistance for disadvantaged households. This made sure New Zealanders were aware of the country’s move to digital television, and encouraged households to go digital before the digital switchover occurred.
Going Digital was a major contributor to the Government’s objective of building a stronger economy. Switching off analogue transmission signals freed up radio spectrum in the 700 MHz band and enables the deployment of fourth generation (4G) mobile communications services. 4G mobile services in the 700MHz band provide wider coverage and faster speeds at lower prices than if the services are deployed in other bands.
As well as delivering a direct return to the Crown from the sale to telecommunications companies of radio spectrum used previously by analogue services, Going Digital is expected to deliver significant benefits to the economy at large from the downstream economic impacts of rolling out 4G mobile services.
1 Minor exceptions exist in Queenstown where a local tourist information channel is still broadcasting in analogue and in the Far North where Te Hiku has an analogue licence until December 2014 (on VHF, not UHF).
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1.2. Purpose of the post implementation review The purpose of this post implementation review is to evaluate the Going Digital programme. This includes: reviewing whether the programme met its objectives reviewing whether the programme achieved the benefits that were expected comparing the programme’s financial performance against the budget identifying programme strengths so they can be incorporated into future projects, and identifying programme learnings as well as weaknesses or possible areas for improvement.
1.3. Review scope In scope components
The scope of this review includes the following:
programme purpose and objectives governance programme structure and management implementation technical solutions key milestones benefits to date (and future) programme strengths and critical success factors programme learnings, and impact of the Christchurch earthquakes.
Out-of-scope components
The scope of this review refers to but excludes detail of the following:
TV TakeBack funding to assist regional broadcasters, and spectrum allocation.
1.4. Review methodology The MCH Media Policy Team completed this review. The review included examining key documents such as Cabinet papers, regular updates and briefings to Ministers, strategic plans, communications and marketing plans, operational guidelines, issues and risks registers, findings from a pilot regional roll-out of Going Digital, and analysis of roll-outs in subsequent regions.
Input was sought from key MCH and Going Digital personnel and from key programme stakeholders such as the Treasury and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), broadcasting sector and consumer group representatives, and creative agencies. See Appendix 1 for a full list of those consulted.
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2. Overall findings This document confirms the key objectives of Going Digital were achieved. These objectives were: to ensure New Zealanders were aware of the need to go digital (with a target of 99 per cent awareness) to inform New Zealanders how to go digital to ensure particular vulnerable and disadvantaged households were not left behind and also went digital, and to ensure New Zealand converted to digital television by the end of 2013 (with a target of 98 per cent of analogue households going digital in each switchover region).
Going Digital achieved these objectives on time and significantly under budget. Going Digital had the benefit of being able to learn from similar switchover programmes overseas. Prior to developing its programme, officials sought out international lessons learned (particularly in the UK and Australia). Going Digital also learned new lessons along the way and put these into practice as the campaign progressed. Going Digital also had the benefit of a ‘tail wind’ in the form of decreasing prices for large-screen digital televisions. This helped incentivise and increase the number of households that went digital on their own and, in turn, this reduced the number (and cost) of households requiring Going Digital’s Targeted Assistance Package.
Nevertheless, the Treasury has indicated that Going Digital’s programme management was a notable success. It successfully rolled out a high-profile digital switchover programme with easy to understand messaging and with comprehensive targeted assistance. The Treasury also noted Going Digital was extremely successful at managing a technology change affecting a large proportion of the population, with minimal disruption or complaint.
As a consequence of Going Digital, the clearance of the 700MHz band enabled the sale of analogue spectrum space and the proceeds of this exceeded expectations.
3. Programme summary 3.1. Purpose The primary purpose of Going Digital was to enable the clearance of the 700MHz band. This was to realise an estimated $100 million in revenue for the Crown through auctioning off this spectrum space for use by other telecommunication purposes such as next generation mobile phone services. In addition, analogue technology is costly, inefficient and becoming increasingly obsolete around the world.
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3.2. Objectives Objective Was objective achieved? Completed New Zealanders are aware of the need Yes. By December 2013, quarterly to have gone digital by the regional Digital Tracker surveys undertaken by switchover deadline and are aware of Colmar Brunton showed 99 per cent how to stay digital of New Zealand households were aware of the need to go digital – up from a pre-programme launch base level of 35 per cent in 2010. New Zealanders have the information Yes. Going Digital operated a they need to go digital successfully and nationwide community outreach have access to easy to understand programme. This was supported by information (0800 number, supply comprehensive and easy to understand chain, providers, online resources) marketing and communications. Going Digital established two freephone numbers, a contact centre and a website. It provided information sheets in 10 different languages and a video clip with sign language and captions. Going Digital worked with consumer groups, the supply chain and the broadcasting industry to ensure viewers knew how to go digital. Yes. The Targeted Assistance Package Targeted Assistance Package is provided 31,979 eligible households successfully delivered within budget and with the necessary equipment to the required timeframes convert one television to go digital. Over 90 per cent of installations were completed within 14 days (with the average installation time just under 10 days). There were 138 written compliments and 19 complaints. A total of $18.749 million was budgeted to assist eligible households. To date, the actual cost of this assistance is $10.405 million - $8.344 million under budget.
New Zealanders have gone digital within Yes. By December 2013, post the required timeframes switchover research showed the proportion of New Zealand households watching digital television was 98 per cent – up from a pre-programme launch base level of 61 per cent in 2010.
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3.3. Governance Going Digital was a business unit within MCH and there was no formal governance group. However, it was accountable to the Minister of Broadcasting. Whilst not a typical ICT project, given its significance and scale, Going Digital was monitored from early 2012 by the Major Projects Monitoring Group (initially located at the State Services Commission, then at the Treasury). In addition, a Senior Officials Group was established to ensure effective co-ordination between relevant departments.
Going Digital worked closely with the Broadcasting Sector Group (BSG) over policy and implementation, and regularly attended its meetings to exchange views about the programme and to receive advice. The BSG was established in 2010 to represent the interests of the national free to air networks, regional broadcasters, transmission providers and pay television companies. BSG members included TVNZ, Mediaworks, SKY, Māori Television, Kordia, JDA, NZ Racing Board, and a representative of regional broadcasters.
3.4. Management The programme was administered within MCH, in order to minimise overhead costs. The Chief Executive of MCH remained ultimately responsible for the delivery of the programme. However, the programme office had an independent public profile, as well as a direct relationship with Ministers that enabled advice to be provided on the implementation of the switchover and the management of programme risks. National Manager The National Manager’s role was to oversee strategy and programme management, act as the main spokesperson for the Going Digital programme, manage risk, and liaise with Ministers, the BSG and other stakeholders such as community groups and local government.
Other staff A small number of Wellington-based staff was responsible for delivering the Going Digital programme, with support from a team of regionally based community advisers.
The Wellington team, which evolved over time, comprised:
a Marketing Manager a Community Outreach Manager a Procurement and Contracts Manager a Communications Adviser a Programme Co-ordinator and an Administrator.
Community advisers were the local contacts for community groups and were charged with getting the message out using grass-roots networks and direct engagement with the public. They were also responsible for delivering a minimum number of substantive contacts with stakeholders.
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Outsourced work Significant aspects of Going Digital’s work were outsourced to:
MBIE, to answer and respond to Going Digital’s two 0800 freephone help lines (one line for general information and the other line for households eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package) Hills SignalMaster, to install the necessary equipment for those eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package and to offer on-site instructions and after-service assistance Liverton, to develop a customer database to manage the Targeted Assistance Package Designworks, to develop Going Digital branding, logo, mascot and website OMD, to provide media strategy and buying Draft FCB, to develop the television campaign Ideas Shop, to provide public relations Moxie Communications, to provide design and print services, and Colmar Brunton, to undertake Digital Tracker research (a quarterly telephone survey tracking awareness, conversion and intention to convert to digital television).
Going Digital closely monitored all outsourced work, and partner organisations were considered to be part of the programme team. Going Digital held weekly work-in-progress meetings and contract meetings as required and ensured accountability and delivery by suppliers.
Related work Going Digital worked closely with: MBIE, to move a number of existing digital television channels into a lower portion of the spectrum (a process known as restacking), and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE), to help promote TV TakeBack (a subsidised programme designed to encourage the safe disposal of analogue televisions).
3.5. Stakeholders A Consumer Reference Group (CRG) was established to provide advice on marketing, communications, and community outreach. The CRG comprised senior membership from organisations such as Consumer NZ, Deaf Aotearoa, National Foundation for the Deaf, Disabled Persons’ Assembly, Grey Power, the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, the Association of Blind Citizens, the Federation of Family Budget Advisory Services, SeniorNet and learning disabilities group PeopleFirst. The Māori Women’s Welfare League was also invited to participate.
There was regular communication with the head offices of major retail chains (such as Noel Leeming, Bond and Bond, DTR and Harvey Norman), with local stores, digital equipment installers and technicians, and with operations/supply managers for communal dwellings such as apartments, hospitals, rest homes, boarding schools, university hostels and prisons.
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3.6. Budget Going Digital had a total budget of $47.403 million over four years to fund a programme of activities including:
a targeted consumer and supply chain communications campaign across all media channels a Targeted Assistance Package to provide receiving equipment and practical support for particular disadvantaged and vulnerable households a community outreach programme to provide practical support to those households requiring assistance but not eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package the extension of digital terrestrial television (DTT) services and the restacking of television licences assistance for regional broadcasters to go digital (via a fund administered by NZ On Air), and quarterly Digital Tracker research.
The actual total cost of delivering the overall Going Digital programme was $37.591 million. This was $9.812 million (21 per cent) under budget.
Item Budget Total cost Variance
Programme costs $28.654 m $27.186 m $1.468 m Targeted Assistance $18.749 m $10.405 m $8.344 m Package Total $47.403 m $37.591 m $9.812 m
Going Digital’s budget was relatively modest compared to overseas programmes. In Australia the total budget (including its help scheme) was AUD346.7 million, and in the UK the budget was £831.6 million. On a per household basis, New Zealand’s budget was half that of the UK.2
Country Budget Number of households Cost per household (in NZD) (in NZD) New Zealand $47.403 m 1.6 m $29 Australia $369.500 m 8.7 m $42 United Kingdom $1,607.000 m 26.7 m $60
2 Comparisons are based on March 2014 currency conversions and subject to fluctuation.
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4. Programme implementation 4.1. Pre-digital switchover environment Free to air digital television has been available in New Zealand (alongside traditional analogue transmission) since the launch of Freeview in 2007. Digital television was also available through SKY since 1998 and through TelstraClear (later Vodafone) 3 in Wellington and Christchurch.4 At the time the Going Digital programme was established, 61 per cent of New Zealand households were already watching digital television either through Freeview, SKY or TelstraClear. 5 This relatively high take-up was driven by the decreasing price of large-screen digital televisions as well as SKY’s success in penetrating the market. These viewers were already set up for the switchover and did not need to do anything further (unless they had secondary sets to convert). The remaining 39 per cent of analogue television viewers needed new equipment to go digital but not a new television. The challenge for Going Digital was that these viewers included vulnerable households and hard-to-reach groups, and there was a risk they would lose access to television – and their sense of social connectedness – following switchover. It was estimated that as many as 41 per cent of households also had a secondary television set that required conversion to digital. The focus of the programme was on ensuring each household had at least one television that went digital. While Going Digital provided advice and support, it did not focus on secondary televisions either in a primary household or another dwelling.
4.2. Overseas experience Most developed countries have gone or are going digital. The Netherlands and Luxembourg were the first to do so in 2006, followed by Sweden in 2007. The US went digital in 2009. All of Europe is expected to go digital by the end of 2015. Australia began its digital switchover earlier than New Zealand but finished slightly later. Its programme was undertaken over three years with completion on 10 December 2013, compared to a 16-month roll-out in New Zealand and completion on 1 December 2013. The UK took five years to roll out its switchover, completing this in 2012. New Zealand’s programme was informed by overseas experiences, particularly those of the UK and Australia. Key Going Digital personnel visited Australia in 2010 and 2011 and met senior officials from the Australian Digital Switchover Taskforce. From New Zealand, teleconferences and meetings were also held with Digital UK staff.
3 Vodafone acquired TelstraClear in October 2012, a month after the first regions (Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast) went digital. 4 From December 2012, New Zealand households could also receive digital terrestrial television through Igloo. 5 As at June 2010.
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In both Australia and New Zealand, television was recognised as a critical medium for social interaction and as a way of bridging distances between communities. In Australia, pay television had penetrated fewer homes and Australia started its switchover programme from a lower take-up base of 49 per cent digital television conversion (compared to New Zealand’s 61 per cent).
The key advice from the UK and Australia was to adhere to strict switchover deadlines and to be clear about the consequences of viewers not going digital in time. UK research indicated around 15 per cent of viewers just would not convert unless they had a firm date.
Other learnings from the UK and Australia included: undertaking a regional roll-out to digital switchover (beginning with a pilot region) having a help scheme with clear eligibility criteria to assist disadvantaged and vulnerable households to go digital using community advisers to work locally with those who needed assistance but who were ineligible for the help scheme, and close tracking and monitoring of levels of digital television awareness, take-up and intention to take-up digital television.
Overseas experience also informed Going Digital’s layered communications model which included national media but focused particularly on local media and on local communities in the lead-up to each region’s switchover date. This approach more sharply focused attention and resources in the relevant switchover region but also helped to cumulatively increase national media attention and ‘word-of-mouth’ awareness and conversion.
4.3. Going Digital’s strategy Going Digital's strategy was one of deep grass-roots community engagement, supported by above- the-line communications and marketing activity. A team of community advisers was embedded in communities throughout New Zealand and charged with delivering the Going Digital message directly to viewers, as well as getting other organisations to promote this message. A substantial investment in marketing and communications activity supported community engagement by raising awareness of the programme. A Targeted Assistance Package was later introduced to provide direct support for those groups considered likely to face the greatest financial and technical challenges in going digital.
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4.4. Regional roll-out Phased approach The first regions to go digital were Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast in September 2012. The rest of the South Island went digital in April 2013. The lower North Island went digital in September 2013 and then the upper North Island followed this in December 2013.
The regional roll-out was informed by overseas experience. It provided an opportunity to pilot the switchover in one or two areas before rolling it out further. While countries such as the USA, Finland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands went digital nationwide at the same time, regional roll-out occurred in places such as Australia, Austria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK. Based on overseas experiences, officials and the industry considered that a phased approach reduced risk (for example, of technical issues affecting a large number of viewers) and increased public awareness (which had the knock-on effect of reducing Going Digital’s costs as people began to convert to digital television on their own, ahead of the switchover and ahead of the Targeted Assistance Package). A phased approach also enabled Going Digital to learn and amend its marketing and communications as each regional roll-out progressed. The BSG supported a regional roll-out – although it did debate which regions to include in the pilot and the number of switchover regions. With the exception of the pilot regions, the three subsequent switchover regions were generally (but not totally) aligned with television advertising regions.
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Pilot regions The BSG extensively discussed, from a technical viewpoint, whether Hawke’s Bay or the West Coast should be the first region to go digital. Ultimately, both Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast were chosen as pilot switchover areas. This was because they involved a mixed DTT/satellite area (Hawke’s Bay) and a satellite only area (West Coast). It subsequently transpired that broadcasters could not isolate the two areas from surrounding areas for television advertising (or for onscreen messaging purposes) so Going Digital’s advertisements also ran at that time in the whole of the South Island and across the lower North Island. Had this issue been known at the time, officials would have recommended that Going Digital regions were more aligned with television advertising regions. By the end of 2010, only 70 per cent of Hawke’s Bay households and 81 per cent of West Coast households were digital. The conversion target was 98 per cent. Research showed that two weeks after switchover 97 per cent of Hawke’s Bay households and 99 per cent of West Coast households had gone digital. Consistent with overseas experience, there was a last minute rush, with anecdotal evidence that Hawke’s Bay installers could not meet demand in the last week of September and the first week of October. Going Digital took a strategic decision to over-communicate in the two pilot areas. This included: extensive advertising across all media radio promotions and competitions in-store advertising significant editorial engagement door knocks in Hawke’s Bay extensive use of direct mail including two unaddressed flyers, three semi-addressed mail- drops in Hawke’s Bay and five on the West Coast targeting households without digital television (in Hawke’s Bay, mailing lists excluded SKY customers and those identified as digital by the door knock, while on the West Coast, only known SKY customers were excluded) two specifically-addressed mail-drops which went to households who could be eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package to go digital – the mailing lists were provided by the Ministry for Social Development (MSD) distribution of brochures and information sheets setting up information stands (and a caravan) at public areas with high foot traffic, and analogue crawlers that were seen across the Lower North Island and South Island telling viewers that analogue services in Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast would be ending on 30 September 2012.
Going Digital worked with community organisations such as Age Concern, Grey Power, Budget Advisory Service and others, to help get the message out. In Hawke’s Bay, where digital take-up lagged behind the West Coast, Going Digital staff door knocked on 21,400 households and used an iPad application which linked to NZ Post’s addressing database (and to known digital television viewers). The information gathered was used to target at-risk households and to further refine other direct mail-drops. SKY Television supported the campaign by allowing Going Digital’s mailhouse to access its customer database for the purpose of excluding SKY customers in Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast from both the door knock and direct mail. This was done under strict confidentiality arrangements, and Going Digital was never provided with a list of SKY customers.
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Subsequently, Colmar Brunton research showed Going Digital advertising had a 95 per cent unprompted recall in Hawke’s Bay (compared to 58 per cent for a typical campaign), and 94 per cent of respondents considered the advertising was easy to understand (compared to 75 per cent for typical campaigns). However, 54 per cent of respondents were fed up with seeing the advertising (compared to 27 per cent in a typical campaign). This was expected by the programme team, given Going Digital’s strategic decision to over-communicate.
The key learning from the pilot was to ease back on the marketing and to start later in subsequent regions (that is, 100 days out from digital switchover rather than six months). Targeted analogue crawlers (on screen messages targeted seen only by analogue television viewers) were also introduced – while these had been used in Hawke’s Bay and on the West Coast, in these regions the crawlers also had a much broader audience.
Other learnings from the pilot included promoting the need for households to go digital sooner rather later and to avoid pressure on the supply chain (mainly caused by those who waited until the last minute). Going Digital messaging in subsequent regions focussed more on technical issues (including how to make recording devices digital) and there was improved targeting of communal antennae users such as rest homes, apartments, hospitals, and prisons. 4.5. Key milestones All regions went digital on time and under budget. The biggest milestone was when the Minister of Broadcasting Hon Craig Foss switched off the last analogue transmitter at Waiatarua Television Tower at 2am on Sunday 1 December 2013. The key milestones are outlined below:
Date Milestone Completed November 2010 Brand launch
April – May 2011 Oldest Telly competition
June 2011 TV advertising launch
June – July 2011 Extended DTT network goes live to 87 per cent of New Zealanders August 2011 Expressions of interest/RFT process begins for Targeted
Assistance Package 29 August 2011 Kapiti restack completed
January 2012 Contract signed with Targeted Assistance Package provider
24 January 2012 Dunedin restack completed
31 January 2012 Hawke’s Bay restack completed
February 2012 Targeted Assistance Package opens for Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast 13 March 2012 Manawatu restack completed
30 March 2012 ‘6 months to go for Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast’ campaign begins 28 April 2012 ‘1 year to go for the rest of the South Island’ campaign begins
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Date Milestone Completed May 2012 Hawke’s Bay door knock concludes
8 May 2012 Waikato/Bay of Plenty restack completed
19 June 2012 Wellington restack completed
22 June 2012 ‘100 days to go for Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast’ campaign begins 24 July 2012 Canterbury restack completed
14 August 2012 Nelson restack completed
August 2012 Targeted Assistance Package opens for the rest of the South Island 30 September 2012 Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast go digital
18 January 2013 ‘100 days to go for the rest of the South Island’ campaign
begins February 2013 Targeted Assistance Package opens for the Lower North
Island March 2013 Targeted Assistance Package opens for the Upper North
Island 28 April 2013 Rest of the South Island goes digital
21 June 2013 ‘100 days to go for the Lower North Island’ campaign begins
23 August 2013 ‘100 days to go for the Upper North Island’ campaign begins
29 September 2013 Lower North Island goes digital
1 December 2013 Upper North Island goes digital
3 March 2014 Final application date for Targeted Assistance Package
31 March 2014 Post implementation review of Going Digital programme
completed
4.6. Programme risks Given the pervasive and popular place of television in New Zealanders’ lives, going digital was a significant transition and posed a number of significant risks. If households were confused about the options and costs of going digital – and resented the compulsion – there was a risk they would not go digital in time. There was a similar risk for public institutions, apartments, rest homes and other multi-dwelling units with shared antennae, unless there was effective planning and communication with property managers and residents about going digital. Some disadvantaged and vulnerable households might also be unaware of the need to go digital or would not understand how to do so, which meant they could not continue viewing television past the switchover. At particular risk were people over 75 years old, people with disabilities, lower socio-economic groups, single-income households, and those whose primary language was not English.
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There was a risk some existing television broadcasters (especially smaller regional ones) would go off air at the switchover date, unless they changed to digital transmission equipment in time. It was possible they would not understand the technical requirements of converting or upgrading their equipment (or they could not afford to do so). Going Digital was established to mitigate these risks. The programme provided:
general and targeted advertising, marketing and community outreach activity to increase awareness and conversion to digital television high Going Digital visibility in each region as the switchover deadline neared extended DTT services (from 75 per cent population coverage over New Zealand in 2010, to 87 per cent coverage by 2012) – this provided greater access to Freeview HD (for those in line-of-sight of a transmitter), incentivised households to go digital and provided a digital platform for most regional broadcasters support via New Zealand On Air for regional broadcasters to buy digital transmission equipment a Targeted Assistance Package for those groups likely to face the greatest financial and technical challenges in going digital, which included free installation, instructions and 12 months’ after-care customer support, and quarterly telephone surveys tracking digital awareness and conversion by specific household types and identifying barriers to conversion.
4.7. Programme methodology No formal project methodology was applied in the early stages of the programme but Going Digital did apply standard programme management tools, including:
strategic and project planning risks and issues registers communications and marketing plans key milestones and targets financial projections monitoring project and financial progress monthly key metric reporting weekly highlights project reporting assessing progress and reviewing or updating planned activity where required scope management, and project closure including post implementation review.
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4.8. Post digital switchover environment At the end of the Going Digital campaign in December 2013, 98 per cent of New Zealand households with televisions had gone digital – up from a pre-campaign launch base of 71 per cent.6 Households that remain without digital television are likely to be using alternative technologies to access television content (such as online streaming or video-on-demand) while some households will have opted out of television altogether.
5. Programme benefits 5.1. Building a stronger economy There was a direct fiscal benefit to the Crown from the sale of spectrum freed up by the closure of analogue services. It was estimated that $100 million would be received when MBIE auctioned off licences. In fact, the spectrum sold for $259 million. In addition, Going Digital is expected to deliver significant benefits to the economy from the downstream economic impacts of rolling out 4G mobile services. The benefits of this will impact on every government portfolio, not just the Broadcasting portfolio.
Research indicates that, by freeing up the spectrum and using it for 4G mobile networks, New Zealand can expect economic benefits of up to $2.4 billion over the next twenty years.7
Spectrum auction conditions will ensure that at least 90 per cent of New Zealanders will have access to a 4G network and fast mobile broadband coverage within 5 years. 4G mobile broadband services are capable of speeds up to 10 times faster than existing mobile data networks.
If the 700 MHz band had not been made available to meet the sharply rising demands for mobile data services, telecommunication companies would have had to use existing 3G and 4G technologies on higher frequency bands. This would have required two to three times more cell sites and, consequently, greater network costs. These network costs ultimately would have been reflected in user charges.
6 As at November 2010. 7 Research prepared for the Ministry for Economic Development by Venture Consulting. This research was based on Australian and European analyses.
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5.2. Reduced transmission costs The transmission costs of digital services are substantially cheaper than analogue. Across all broadcasters, these savings were estimated to be between $30-40 million per annum.
5.3. Enhanced television viewing All television viewers can now experience:
better pictures and sound quality a greater number of channels a greater number of international programmes (which are increasingly being produced in digital format only), and more onscreen features such as electronic programme guides and audio description.
6. Programme workstreams 6.1. Key programme workstreams Digital terrestrial extension In 2010 the government agreed to fund the cost of extending DTT coverage from 75 per cent to up to 87 per cent of the population, 8 reaching nine additional centres (Whangarei, Rotorua, Gisborne, Taupo, Whanganui, New Plymouth, Wairarapa, Nelson, Timaru and Invercargill). The DTT extension enabled an additional 160,000 households to more easily link to Freeview and to its enhanced viewing features. Combined with the Rugby World Cup in 2011, this incentivised people to go digital early.
DTT extension cost a total of $5.5 million. After a Request for Information (RFI) process, Kordia and JDA were invited to negotiate long-term transmission contracts with broadcasters, via a contract between MCH and the transmission providers. The RFI process was chosen because pricing was sought before funding was confirmed, and legal advice suggested a RFI was the appropriate response. A panel comprising operational and policy staff from MCH and MBIE undertook consideration of the RFIs. While the procurement process was ultimately successful, this could have been improved by: greater clarity to RFI respondents that their pricing was likely to be accepted if government funding was made available a formal requirement that proposals had to first have the support of broadcasters engaging a procurement specialist to run the RFI process, and seeking probity assurance from Audit New Zealand.
8 New Zealanders who remain outside of DTT coverage areas can still receive digital television but require a satellite dish and a satellite set-top box.
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Going Digital community outreach Overseas experience confirmed that community outreach would be crucial to the success of the switchover. Going Digital employed regionally based community advisers and information officers to network and offer advice, to convey Going Digital messaging and to encourage others to pass on these messages, and to support people to go digital. Community outreach worked in tandem with: a comprehensive marketing programme featuring Seymour the digital dog extensive advertising across all media over 500,000 letters sent to people who were eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package door knocks in Hawke’s Bay before that region went digital analogue crawlers (on screen messages that ran only on analogue television sets) significant editorial engagement including community newspapers promotions and competitions demonstrations on how to turn your television digital mobile information stands newsletters and brochures, and information sheets (in 10 languages).
Going Digital’s community outreach programme helped mitigate the risk that the Targeted Assistance Package could be perceived as discriminatory due to its limitation to certain groups (an issue which initially arose in the UK). Community outreach provided practical support to everyone, including those who were ineligible for the Package which meant that, overall, advice was available to everyone. The Ministry of Justice confirmed that the combined approach of this assistance and community outreach was consistent with New Zealand’s human rights legislation. The community outreach team delivered over 20,000 community engagements. While this exceeded targets, it was a relatively imprecise measure as it equally considered one-to-one interactions (including door knocking), group presentations (irrespective of the number of attendees) and shopping mall (or other high foot-traffic) promotions (also irrespective of the number of people reached). Going Digital’s marketing and communications campaign supported the community outreach activities of the community advisers and information officers. This included informational collateral. Effective collateral was the key to successful community engagement, particularly in the early days of the campaign.
Communications Going Digital maximised every possible opportunity to promote the digital switchover. It focussed on a range of media angles and opportunities, including national or international days, holiday periods, regional or national digital switchover targets reached, and the consequences of not going digital. Going Digital had internal targets to ensure that 80 per cent of all media coverage was positive or neutral and to deliver nearly 400 proactively placed media articles over the life of the campaign. Overall, 97 per cent of media coverage was either positive or neutral and over 600 articles were proactively placed.
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The Going Digital website provided interactive and helpful information which guided people through a series of questions to check what they were already watching and to see if their household was already digital. If they were not digital, the website outlined the steps they needed to undertake – this included being able to enter a street address to see which digital options applied specifically to that household. The website linked to the Going Digital information sheets and a video clip with sign language and captions. To date, a total of 831,792 website visits have been recorded. Going Digital set up two 0800 freephone numbers (one for general programme enquiries and one for Targeted Assistance Package enquiries). The contact centre was provided by MBIE and located in Christchurch.9 It ran from Monday to Friday from 8.30am to 5.00pm and on the weekend of each region’s switchover. The contact centre has responded to 137,446 calls to date – 59,427 general calls and 78,019 Targeted Assistance Package calls. In total, callers have been provided with over 11,250 hours of Going Digital assistance. The most frequent questions to the contact centre were: what was Going Digital? what equipment did households need to go digital? who was eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package? when were the regional switchover dates?
Going Digital’s two 0800 numbers and website will remain operational until 30 June 2014, although a decision on their long-term future will need to be made. Competitions In April 2011, Going Digital launched ‘New Zealand’s Oldest Telly’ competition. This was designed to show that any television set (no matter how old) could go digital. Nearly 300 entries were received and 105 media stories were generated. Going Digital partnered with TVNZ to promote the competition by sponsoring weather segments on the ‘Breakfast’ programme. This generally worked well but a recommendation would be to require tighter control over messaging in exchange for future sponsorships.
In April 2012 Going Digital and Hills SignalMaster launched a ‘Community Groups Going Digital’ competition that offered community groups free equipment and installation to make their existing television go digital. There were 19 winners throughout New Zealand. While this competition was promoted via media and the community outreach team, it proved hard to leverage, and generated only a relatively small number of media stories. Going Digital marketing Going Digital implemented a significant multi-media marketing campaign. This raised awareness, supported community outreach and generated conversion to digital television. Marketing company Designworks developed Going Digital’s brand, logo, mascot and website. These were specifically intended to be relevant and friendly to viewers and to be seen as independent of existing brands in the market. As part of this, Going Digital’s brand deliberately used the goingdigital.co.nz website address.
9 A satellite contact centre was later established by MBIE in Auckland.
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In addition to Designworks, Going Digital worked on marketing and communications with:
OMD on advertising strategy and buying Draft FCB on the television campaign Ideas Shop on public relations Moxie Communications on design and print services
Going Digital’s marketing included national awareness advertising and specific regional campaigns. The full range of media was applied including television, radio, newspaper, internet, social media and direct mail, and outdoor media such as adshels, billboards, bus backs and vehicle side panels. Direct mail proved to be particularly useful in engaging core target markets – and contact centre volumes peaked in line with direct mail drops. One innovation was that radio announcers, through a paid ad-lib arrangement, were given free rein to promote the Going Digital message in the best way for their audiences. While this involved an element of risk, it was successful overall and meant that, from the consumers' point of view, the message was being heard in different and engaging ways. This was in line with Going Digital’s strategic objective to be seen and heard everywhere. Five television advertisements were recorded ahead of Going Digital’s launch with the intention that these would last the course of a 16 month public campaign. While this made sense given the specific creative execution chosen, it did limit Going Digital’s flexibility. The budget for television production was used upfront which meant it was not possible to make significant changes if required (for example, to reflect actual patterns of awareness and conversion or to address particular barriers that might have emerged or to take a particular regional angle). It would have been preferable to retain greater flexibility over the life of the campaign, to accommodate the potential for circumstances to change, and for marketing to be more agile and responsive to learnings from a phased-in regional approach. Going Digital’s television advertising campaign focussed on positive messaging (such as the viewing features and benefits of digital television) so initially there was no ‘consequences’ advertisement. To address this gap, Going Digital developed a ‘static screen’ advertisement in-house. This attracted attention by disrupting viewing and clearly demonstrating the consequences of not going digital. This was used in the last 100 days of each regional campaign and had the greatest recall of all Going Digital’s television advertising.10
Going Digital regularly liaised with the supply chain (manufacturers, retailers and installers). This included encouraging retailers and broadcasters to use the Going Digital brand in their own collateral (to help encourage households to go digital or to help inform these households that they were already digital). Broadcasters using the Going Digital brand included Freeview and SKY, and retailers included Noel Leeming, Bond and Bond, DTR, and Harvey Norman. The advertising by broadcasters such as Freeview and SKY extended Going Digital’s marketing reach. Broadcasters helped promote digital switchover, albeit with a focus on encouraging a switch to their particular digital platform. Being open to others using the Going Digital brand did create ‘brand integrity’ issues and there were instances where some companies used the brand inappropriately or incorrectly to imply some form of Going Digital programme endorsement.
10 To some extent this may have been because it was the most recent advertisement survey respondents had seen.
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Going Digital could have restricted the use of its brand to endorse or accredit particular receiving equipment, retailers or installers. Endorsement could have provided quality assurance and guidance to households deciding on which products or installation services to use. Both the UK and Australian switchover programmes included endorsement schemes. However, in New Zealand, Freeview already offered a ‘Freeview-approved’ endorsement, so the marginal value of an additional Going Digital scheme would have been limited. Going Digital regularly sought the CRG’s advice on marketing and communications. The CRG met a number of times throughout the campaign and its advice was usually taken on board. However, Going Digital could have established the CRG earlier and sought its input at the development stage. In addition, while Going Digital had been working with the Ministry of Pacific Island Affairs (MPIA) and the Office of Ethnic Affairs (OEA), there may also have been value in extending CRG membership to include ethnic community representatives. Given the more diverse populations in Auckland and Wellington, Going Digital placed translated advertising and editorial in Pasifika and Asian media (including newspapers, radio and online) and worked with MPIA and the OEA to distribute information through their networks. These communities were also a focus of community adviser activity. Going Digital was active on Facebook over the life of the campaign – but with just under 600 ‘likes’, this communications channel was used more for questions and answers rather than as a marketing tool. For a short time, Going Digital also paid for its advertisements to appear on others people’s Facebook pages but these had low ‘click-through’ rates and proved ineffective. It is possible the potential of Facebook and other social media may have been untapped but it is more likely that other (more traditional) media had a larger role to play because Going Digital’s key target audience was typically not that technologically aware. Going Digital’s marketing campaign won a Gold Quill award from the International Association of Business Communicators in 2013, and a Silver Media Award for the ‘Most Effective Campaign’ from the Communication Agencies Association NZ (CAANZ) in 2013. It was also a finalist (in 2012 and in 2013) in the Public Sector Excellence Awards run by the Institute of Public Administration New Zealand (IPANZ).
Targeted Assistance Package Eligibility for assistance
A total of $18.749 million was budgeted over four years for the non-Departmental costs of assisting particular people who at the date their region went digital had only an analogue television which needed to go digital and were either:
aged 75 or over with a Community Services Card, a recipient of a Veteran’s Pension or a Supported Living Payment for Health Reasons (formerly the Invalid’s Benefit)11 or a former Veteran’s Pension or Invalid’s Benefit recipient who had transferred to New Zealand Superannuation at age 65 or over.
11 MSD renamed the Invalid’s Benefit on 15 July 2013. This meant Going Digital material (including targeted direct mail) had to be amended from this date onwards.
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People meeting these criteria were considered to be more reliant on television for information and entertainment as a result of social isolation and disadvantage. They were also at risk of not going digital due to barriers such as technical difficulties, disability or cost.
Going Digital facilitated a Memorandum of Understanding with MSD that enabled the transfer of confidential data. This included obtaining the approval of the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
MSD provided Going Digital with confidential data to identify potentially eligible people. A customised database enabled contact centre staff to confirm eligibility, and tracked all customer management and engagement between Going Digital, Hills SignalMaster (the installers) and NZ Post (which facilitated direct mail-drops to potentially eligible households). All data was transferred securely.
Opting-in for assistance
Going Digital generally sent two letters to every potentially eligible household in New Zealand (a total of more than 500,000 letters) to advise them they may be eligible for assistance and to encourage them to use an 0800 freephone number to opt-in to receive assistance. Specific provision was made for people to opt-in via a third party or, in specific situations (such as hearing impairment), via email. Language Line was available to allow people to talk to Going Digital in their own language via interpreters.
Eligible households could apply for assistance for up to six months before their region went digital and for up three months after. The last regional closing date for the Targeted Assistance Package was on 3 March 2014, three months after the upper North Island went digital.
Installation package
Going Digital’s Targeted Assistance Package provided full installation, similar to help schemes in Australia and in the UK. Other countries such as the US and Italy provided assistance via coupons to purchase receiving equipment only. Coupons tended to drive up the price of equipment, however, with no incentive for retailers to reduce their prices. Going Digital took account of UK and Australian research that found technical assistance (such as the installation and instructions) was more important to disadvantaged and vulnerable groups than financial assistance per se, and New Zealand’s Targeted Assistance Package therefore encompassed both elements.
The Package provided (free of charge) the receiving equipment needed to convert one television in a household to digital, full installation of this equipment, training in how to use it, a standard warranty service and access to a technical support line for 12 months in case of any questions. This financial and technical assistance ensured disadvantaged and vulnerable sections of the population continued to have access to the same free-to-air television that they had before their region went digital. Unlike in the UK, eligible households in New Zealand were not asked to contribute to costs.12
Eligible people in rental homes were able to apply (providing they had the landlord’s permission to install an aerial or satellite dish). Assistance to install set-top boxes was also available to eligible people in multi-dwellings such as apartments and rest homes although property managers or owners were responsible for installing or upgrading shared antennae and cabling. In some situations, Going Digital installed one aerial between two semi-detached dwellings.
12 In the UK, most households receiving assistance were each asked to contribute £40. In New Zealand, however, it was considered that the administrative costs of collecting a contribution would be greater than the contribution itself.
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Going Digital undertook a competitive two-stage process to determine the successful tenderer to install the necessary equipment in eligible households that had opted in for assistance. Going Digital first called for Expressions of Interest, followed by a Request for Tenders (RFT). Expressions of interest were received and a shortlist of seven companies was invited to tender. Five tenders were received. Going Digital awarded the nationwide contract to Auckland-based Hills SignalMaster which in turn contracted local installers in each region. Probity assurance on this procurement was provided by Audit New Zealand.
Managing the costs of the Targeted Assistance Package
A key risk was that the costs of delivering the Targeted Assistance Package would be higher than the available budget. While a budget of $18.749 million was available, there was a risk that costs for the Package could be as high as $32.6 million. The cost of the Package was dependent on: the charges negotiated with the suppliers and installers the actual level of take-up by eligible households, and the proportion of households requiring a full installation package (a set-top box, cable, and a UHF aerial or a satellite dish and associated cabling) or a partial installation (a set-top box only).
Early calculations by MSD estimated that there were around 177,000 households that potentially could be eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package. Early Going Digital budgeting was based around Digital Tracker results showing that 24 per cent of these households had not yet gone digital and were therefore likely to take up the Package. However, later analysis suggested that the number of potentially eligible households was closer to 262,000.13 This created a risk that the budgeted costs could be exceeded.
The cost of the Package was also significantly influenced by the average cost of installation. Budgeting was informed by advice from respondents to the Request for Tenders that most households would already have appropriate antennae, and that between 10-15 per cent of households would require a full installation. While this may be broadly correct when considering the population at large, it proved to be a significant underestimate in the population eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package: in total, 65 per cent of all customers required a full installation. This had the effect of increasing the average cost per installation from $311 to $356.14 Going Digital worked closely with the service provider and installers throughout the life of the programme to audit activity and to ensure that full installations were in fact required.
13 Additionally, there were significant weekly fluctuations in the number of potentially eligible households, as people came on and off eligible benefits. This made it hard to track take-up rates and increased the complexity of managing the Targeted Assistance Package budget. 14 This is the full cost of installation, including the cost of the contact centre, data verification, direct mail to targeted households, a database to manage customer opt-ins, and staff to manage the assistance package. Excluding these costs, the average cost per installation was $327.
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Targeted Assistance Package budget risks were effectively mitigated by:
close contract management activity, including a quality assurance process a community outreach programme, coupled with decreasing market prices for televisions, which incentivised many potentially eligible people to go digital without support, and lower levels of opt-ins than were originally envisaged.
The non-departmental cost of administering the Targeted Assistance Package was ultimately $10.405 million – $8.344 million (45 per cent) under budget.
Overall, across New Zealand, a total of 12.2 per cent of all eligible households opted in for assistance, around half the budgeted estimate of 24 per cent. The number of households opting in for assistance progressively dropped during each regional roll-out of Going Digital, as follows:
To date, 13 installations remain outstanding. These are in the Upper North Island region (the last region to go digital and where applications for assistance have only recently closed) or where there are other issues such as difficulty contacting households to arrange a suitable time for installation. All outstanding installations are expected to be completed by 16 April 2014. Other risks There were significant risks associated with the delivery of the Targeted Assistance Package, given that installations were provided in-home to potentially vulnerable people. It was important to safeguard privacy, and ensure that in-home installers were fit and proper people. Criminal history checks were required of all installers and training was provided in dealing with vulnerable clients.
Budget and risk management The key budget control mechanism was constant monitoring of all costs during the life of the Targeted Assistance Package. This included monitoring projected and actual eligible household opt-in levels, and closely monitoring the ratio of full to partial technical equipment installations
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(and whether full installations were in fact needed in particular cases). Going Digital also monitored and compared the relative costs of each region’s (and each installer’s) installations, querying (and sometimes refusing to pay for) unexplained discrepancies.
Various other strategies were also used to manage and mitigate risks associated with the Targeted Assistance Package. These included: weekly reporting to key stakeholders monthly face-to-face contractual meetings with Hills SignalMaster weekly telephone meetings between Hills SignalMaster, Going Digital and the contact centre de-brief meetings following each regional digital switchover meetings with MSD regarding the ongoing transfer of confidential data to Going Digital (and liaising with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner to develop privacy protocols, and an MOU between Going Digital and MSD to protect this data) developing, maintaining and protecting the integrity of the customer database, known as the Targeted Assistance Installation List or TAILs, and maintaining weekly issue and risk registers which were discussed with relevant stakeholders – this included positive outcomes, as well as areas requiring attention
6.2. Related workstreams Freeview subsidy In 2006, the government provided a subsidy of $25 million over five years to help meet the costs incurred by broadcasting in simulcasting signals in digital as well as analogue. This was due to end towards the end of 2011/12. In 2010, the government agreed to extend this to the end of 2013, allocating an additional $7.9 million.
The Freeview subsidy was one way to help secure the co-operation of the broadcasting sector in going digital. Together with contributing to restacking costs and to establishing a fund to support the transition of regional broadcasters to digital transmission, the Freeview subsidy helped build early engagement between the government and the broadcasting sector, and helped create ownership and buy-in to the rest of the Going Digital programme. Feedback from the BSG confirmed that getting this co-operation was crucial – and challenging given that broadcasters and transmission providers each had their own dynamics and commercial imperatives. The BSG further confirmed that without industry co-operation and without centralised Going Digital management and resolution of issues, the entire digital switchover programme could have easily gone off track.
Restacking
Prior to digital switchover, television was transmitted in the 550-800 MHz range. To free up the 700 MHz range for new technology and to realise the economic benefits of going digital, it was necessary not only to end analogue transmission but also to move or ‘restack’ a number of existing digital terrestrial television licences into the lower portion of the spectrum (under 686 MHz). Instead of being scattered across the spectrum, frequencies were restacked to sit side by side in a single block. The Ministry for Economic Development (MED) assigned the affected licences in 2006. This was on a temporary basis at no cost to broadcasters until New Zealand went digital and on the condition licences would need to be restacked to suitable long-term frequencies at some stage before the
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switchover. Restacking costs (estimated at $1.3 million) were legally the responsibility of broadcasters. In 2010, to demonstrate good faith and to help build digital switchover co-operation from the broadcasting sector, the government agreed to contribute to restacking costs as long as this occurred well in advance of New Zealand’s digital switchover. Approximately $780,000 of Going Digital’s budget was allocated to purchasing the technical equipment required for restacking and to paying for communications activity.
Restacking was undertaken on a regional basis, beginning with a pilot in the relatively contained area of the Kapiti Coast in August 2011. In total, the process potentially impacted on around 500,000 households (out of a total of 1.6 million households in New Zealand) who (depending on the exact equipment they used) may have needed to retune their Freeview equipment. Regional roll-out of restacking ensured no more than 100,000 households were affected at any one time. The roll-out excluded the period of the Rugby World Cup (to minimise potential television viewer disruption). Restacking excluded Auckland (where it was not immediately required).
Restacking meant some viewers had to retune their receiving equipment to a different frequency. Freeview initially advised officials that viewers would be unaffected, as retuning would occur automatically. This proved not to be the case and all affected Freeview households had to initiate a manual re-scan, which was a significant communications challenge particularly as the specific action required by each household depended on the make and model of its television. Not all households were affected – those with Freeview satellite, SKY or Telstra Clear required no action on their part to retune their equipment. The restacking communications campaign was run under the Radio Spectrum Management (RSM) brand, to avoid confusion with Going Digital. MBIE (within which RSM operates) used a help line and a website to explain restacking and to provide households with technical assistance (if required). Going Digital community advisers also conveyed restacking information during their community engagements. Key to the success of the restacking programme was an intrusive on screen message provided to affected digital viewers which advised households of the need to rescan. Restacking was completed by August 2012. Regional television There was a risk that regional broadcasters would be adversely affected by the digital switchover, particularly if they were unable to meet the costs of moving to digital transmission. Broadcasters who were outside the DTT coverage area could have been left with no viable transmission option as the cost of satellite transmission was likely to be beyond their means.
Going Digital was able to assist to some extent, by extending DTT coverage up to 87 per cent of New Zealand’s population but this did not provide cost-effective transmission options for all regional broadcasters.15
To ensure regional content remained available, the government initially agreed to fund an aggregated regional-content national channel. This was not well supported by the industry, however, and the government amended its assistance to instead provide up to $850,000 to help
15 Anecdotally, some regional broadcasters have indicated the costs of transmission via Kordia are a significant issue for their businesses.
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regional broadcasters to switch to digital transmission. NZ On Air administered this assistance and provided up to $70,000 per regional broadcaster for equipment and other costs.
NZ On Air allocated just over $500,000 of its available funding and assisted eight regional broadcasters (Te Hiku in Kaitaia, Channel North in Whangarei, TV Rotorua, TV Hawkes Bay (TVHB), Mainland TV in Nelson, CTV in Christchurch, Channel 39 in Dunedin, and CUE TV in Invercargill). Not all regional broadcasters required funding support. Some had already gone digital. Some did not qualify for support but went digital anyway (on their own), while one regional broadcaster went online instead. Another very small regional broadcaster did not make the transition, and permanently went off air.
TVHB went digital in the days leading up to the 30 September 2012 switchover deadline but experienced significant technical difficulties and later went off air for several weeks. TVHB had been attempting to set up its own multiplex, and to not slot into an existing one. This proved to be far more complex than anticipated for both TVHB and Freeview, and there were significant technical issues that took time to resolve.
TV TakeBack The likely increase in unwanted old televisions as a result of the digital switchover presented a significant environmental challenge. In September 2012, ahead of the first regional switchover rollout in Hawke’s Bay and the West Coast, MfE launched a TV TakeBack programme. This was funded through the Waste Minimisation Fund and enabled people to recycle their old televisions for no more than $5. The Going Digital National Manager was on the TV TakeBack Project Board, and Going Digital promoted TV TakeBack as part of its community outreach programme.
7. Other project factors 7.1. Christchurch earthquakes Awareness and conversion
Christchurch went digital without incident on 28 April 2013, at the same time as the rest of the South Island (excluding the West Coast which was already digital).
Leading up to its switchover, awareness and conversion levels in Canterbury consistently trailed those of other regions at comparable points of the Going Digital campaign, and there was a last minute rush in Christchurch as viewers went digital. However, these trends were not directly attributed to the earthquakes, because they had pre-dated the first major earthquake in September 2010. The initially low interest in going digital was most likely because the terrain of the Canterbury Plains meant the region already had a relatively high quality analogue signal.
Going Digital’s campaign in Canterbury focussed less on advertising and more on community outreach and working in the community.
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Impact on the Going Digital’s national programme
The February 2011 earthquake in Christchurch impacted on Going Digital’s national campaign because the contact centre was based there. An early learning was that it was essential to have clearly documented and well-understood business continuity plans in place.
7.2. Accessible television receiving equipment Talking set-top boxes may improve television accessibility for blind and visually impaired people (as they allow users to hear the on screen features and capabilities of digital television). In Australia and the UK, talking set-top boxes were installed free-of-charge for vulnerable households but they were not available in a form that was fully compatible with New Zealand’s technical standards. Going Digital actively sought tenders for talking set-top boxes but no company was able to provide them. It was not possible to commission and develop a box within the timelines required. In addition, it was estimated their free provision could cost up to $2.3 million (depending on whether they were available only to those considered legally blind or to everyone eligible for the Targeted Assistance Package).
8. Key project outcomes 8.1. Digital switchover achieved Going Digital successfully ensured New Zealand switched to digital television within the required timeframes. After a phased regional roll-out process beginning in September 2012, New Zealand switched to completely digital television transmission in December 2013.
Completing the digital switchover by the end of 2013 enabled the early deployment of 4G mobile telecommunication services. Its completion resulted in a direct return to the Crown (the value of the released spectrum, otherwise known as the digital dividend) and it brought forward an estimated $2.4 billion of downstream economic benefits for New Zealand over the next 20 years. Digital switchover completion also enabled New Zealand to keep pace with Australia and most other developed nations which have also gone digital or are about to do so.
8.2. Digital dividend realised The key outcome of Going Digital was to contribute to the government’s objective of building a stronger economy. Switching off analogue transmission signals freed up radio spectrum in the 700 MHz band, enabling the deployment of faster and cheaper new generation mobile communications services. MBIE auctioned off the freed spectrum space. Auctions in October 2013 and January 2014 resulted in a direct return to the Crown of $259 million (excluding GST) from the sale to telecommunications companies of radio spectrum used previously by analogue services. This was well in excess of the $100 million estimated prior to the launch of Going Digital. Whilst the estimate was intentionally cautious, by the time of the auctions, freed up spectrum space had become considerably more desirable (and valuable) due to the very rapid growth in mobile data usage.
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9. Project strengths Going Digital’s key strengths were:
a risk management approach that allowed risks to be regularly assessed and opportunities maximised its grass-roots community outreach activity which enabled greater awareness and conversion levels its quarterly Digital Tracker research which focused decision-making and resource allocation on statistical information, and close engagement with the industry (through the BSG).
Other project strengths included:
the government’s cross-portfolio support for the digital switchover the high priority placed on securing the co-operation of the broadcasting sector developing relationships with other key stakeholders including providers, retailers, installers and viewers the government’s provision of sufficient and secure funding over four financial years developing an independent, platform-agnostic, factual and consumer-friendly Going Digital brand and profile implementing a regional roll-out of the digital switchover (preceded by a pilot and learning from experience) announcing firm digital switchover dates providing both financial and technical support through the Targeted Assistance Package, to help disadvantaged and vulnerable households go digital community outreach which complemented the Targeted Assistance Package and ensured that, overall, everyone who needed help received it comprehensive marketing and communications which supported community outreach and included a readily recognisable Going Digital mascot, brand and logo consistent and easy to understand messaging designed to raise household levels of digital television awareness and conversion the programme’s flexibility and openness to fine-tune its marketing and communications if research pointed to particular issues or in response to learnings from each regional roll-out, and effective project development, planning and monitoring which included strict budget (and risk) management, targets, milestones and constant evaluation and maximisation of opportunities.
At the final BSG meeting, the consensus view was that Going Digital was a ‘textbook case’ of how this type of project should be implemented. The BSG also considered Going Digital to be a very positive example of the government and the broadcasting sector partnering together to achieve an optimal outcome for New Zealanders.
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10. Project learnings The Going Digital team was small given the scale of its tasks. While it successfully delivered the programme, it was frequently stretched to do so. Greater in-house resourcing (particularly marketing support) could have delivered better results and with less reliance on external creative agencies. Having multiple creative agencies involved, however, did allow Going Digital to benefit from their combined expertise, as each agency worked to its core strength but was able to collaborate with the other agencies and debate and strengthen aspects of the Going Digital campaign. The agencies were also well informed by Digital Tracker research and on-the-ground community advice. Going Digital was well-served by its agencies, particularly when there was a direct relationship between programme staff and the actual agency people doing the work. The grass-roots community outreach programme was a real strength of Going Digital. However, there were challenges in its administration. Staff were regionally based, and mostly worked alone and from home. This presented IT challenges as well as challenges in communication and team-building. Going Digital learned the importance of frequent communication via in-person meetings, specific projects involving the team in each region, teleconferences, regular updates from the National Manager, and regional visits by management. Fixed term contracts can sometimes present difficulties in attracting and retaining staff with the right mix of skills, particularly without a significant premium being attached. However, a key learning for future programmes is that greater flexibility be retained over contract lengths, to ensure the right mix of skills is available at the right time. The community outreach programme could have been streamlined by applying greater central resourcing to better support regional activity in terms of messaging, training and planning.
The focus of Going Digital’s messaging was on the choice of service providers but it would have been useful to provide consistent and appropriate material and other resources for staff or other advocates to run workshops demonstrating how people could install their own equipment. Some workshops were run in the regions, both by Going Digital staff and by organisations such as SeniorNet. Had Going Digital developed and delivered or supported a structured programme of community workshops, it could have explained the full range of digital platforms and could have better controlled the accurate delivery of its key messages.
Going Digital carried out eight major procurement exercises. These included the brand and the website, public relations, design and print, media strategy and placement, the DTT extension, the Targeted Assistance Package, the Targeted Assistance Installation List, and the delivery of community engagement in Auckland shopping malls. Later procurement exercises were particularly well planned and managed, but earlier procurement processes could have been improved by engaging specialist expertise to manage all procurement, ensure compliance with procurement policies and provide probity assurance to all concerned.
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Other project lessons included: the importance of earlier and more proactive engagement with consumer representatives to ensure effective consultation and greater ability to respond to their feedback, and consideration of wider representation of consumer representatives to include the views of significant ethnic communities the importance of earlier communication with the operations/supply managers of communal dwellings such as apartments, hospitals, rest homes, boarding schools, university hostels and prisons to ensure uninterrupted viewing in multi-antennae dwellings the importance of flexible marketing, communications and community outreach so as to be able to respond as circumstances change and to address regional variations in awareness and conversion the need for collateral, especially if this is mainly developed at the beginning of a programme, to not date, be overtaken by events or otherwise become irrelevant the importance of sufficient lead-in time between funding and launching a programme so as to improve planning and develop systems and software, and to develop workshop or other demonstration material, and the importance of accurate financial modelling to better estimate the funding required.
11. Next steps This post implementation review will be presented to the Minister of Broadcasting and its key findings will then be presented to Cabinet. The review will also be shared within MCH. All project documentation will be filed by MCH.
Many of Going Digital’s learnings – and many of its strengths – could apply to any significant government programme, and consideration should be given to wider publication or promotion of this review. This could include placing project closure information (and other key documents) on the internet and presenting the review (or key elements of it) to other interested parties as, for example a project management case study.
The contract with Hills SignalMaster will run until at least March 2015, 12 months after the last installations. This contract will continue to be managed by MCH. Going Digital’s two 0800 freephone numbers will remain operational until at least 30 June 2014. However, consideration may need to be given to these numbers remaining operational (or at least being diverted to MCH) until the contract with Hills SignalMaster expires.
The clearance of spectrum space to allow for new technologies was estimated to have downstream economic benefits of $2.4 billion over the next 20 years. This was based on research commissioned by MED (now MBIE). The Treasury’s Major Projects Monitoring Group has suggested consideration could be given to MBIE updating this research, to assess or confirm actual economic impacts.
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12. Recommendations It is recommended that:
MCH engages procurement expertise – and economic modelling expertise – at the earliest opportunity for all stand-alone or significant projects in the future, particularly those carrying significant political and financial risk MCH projects adhere closely to formal PRINCE 2 project methodology and include (at least) strategic and project planning, risks and issues registers, communications and marketing plans, key milestone planning and target setting, robust financial projections, close monitoring of project and financial progress, monthly key metric reporting, weekly highlights project reporting, regular assessments of progress and reviewing and updating planned activity where required, and careful scope management
MCH projects adhere to standard project closure requirements that include undertaking a post implementation review that tracks and shares project strengths and learnings and consults with team members and key internal and external stakeholders MCH projects establish clearly documented business continuity plans that are well-understood MCH consider wider publication or promotion of this review to assist its own project management capability building and to share its findings (particularly its strengths and learnings) with other interested parties, and MCH consider maintaining an ongoing Going Digital website presence to include project closure information (and other key documents).
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13. Appendices 13.1. Post implementation review participants
Name Position
Lewis Holden Chief Executive, Ministry for Culture and Heritage (MCH)
Greg Harford Formerly National Manager, Going Digital
Mark Whitaker Formerly Procurement and Contracts Manager, Going Digital
Keri Bloomfield Formerly Community Outreach Manager, Going Digital
Cat Chappell-Harrison Formerly Senior Marketing Adviser, Going Digital
Ryan Edwards Formerly Senior Marketing Adviser, Going Digital
Fiona Gregson Senior Policy Advisor, Media Sector, MCH
Ingrid Kamstra Senior Policy Advisor, Media Sector, MCH Review author Len Starling Manager, Policy and Planning, Radio Spectrum Management, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) Tim Roper Senior Analyst, The Treasury
Niki Lomax Analyst, The Treasury
Mel Wallwork Senior Advisor, Major Projects Monitoring Group, The Treasury Jeff Hayward General Manager, Business Transformation, TVNZ Chair, Broadcasting Sector Group Grant Sideaway Executive Officer, SeniorNet Member, Consumer Reference Group Edd Lucas Business Director, OMD
Kane Kapernick Senior Designer, Moxie Communications
Sam Halstead Associate Partner, Ideas Shop
Page 35 Post Implementation Review – Going Digital 31 March 2014