TV3 and Maori Television to exchange weather presenters

As part of Te Wiki o Te Reo Maori (Maori Language Week), TV3 and Maori Television will exchange weather presenters for the first time.

On Friday 27 July, viewers of TV3 News will be treated to Rahia Timutimu presenting a bilingual weather bulletin whilst Mike Hall will present the weather for Maori Television’s daily news programme, Te Kaea.

The two presenters will have the opportunity to rehearse their routines only twice before going live.

For Rahia Timutimu, a Te Kaea reporter and fluent reo speaker, this is not just an exciting opportunity to focus on the correct pronunciation of place names, it’s also a chance to present the weather conditions in Maori. Ready for the challenge, Rahia says “I give full credit to weather presenters; it’s a lot more difficult than it looks in terms of reading and timing the clicker – I hope I don’t mess it up!”

Meanwhile, popular TV3 weather man Mike Hall is enthusiastic about the challenge of presenting on Maori Television’s flagship daily news programme. Keen to brush up on his reo skills, Mike says “I’m always impressed when I hear people speaking Maori. But there’s a big difference between speaking it, and speaking it well. Hopefully this will give me the opportunity to lean towards the latter”.

The idea came from Te Kaea producer Mihingarangi Forbes – an ex-TV3 reporter who now works at Maori Television. Keen to do something different for Maori Language Week, Ms Forbes saw it as an opportunity to share the reo with a wider audience and manaaki (support) those who are willing to learn. ”I know Mike from my days at TV3”, she says. “Good on him for giving it a go. We’ll be supporting him 100 per cent on Friday”.

- Maori Television

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