The Caledonia TV crew in 2023 before budget constraints caused the workforce to be cut by 25 percent.
By Michelle Curran
Executive Communications Manager, PCBL/Pasifika TV
Championing social connection and diversity, the citizen-focused Caledonia TV aims to bring New Caledonians closer.
Driving this ambition since 2023, is Chief Executive Officer Pierre Welepa alongside his dedicated Caledonia TV crew.
Originally from Maré, a small island in New Caledonia, Pierre says he began his television career as the presenter of a Caledonian history programme, broadcast on another local channel.
“This experience later led Caledonia’s Board to entrust me with leading the organisation through a period of transformation…I was appointed on the occasion of its 10th anniversary,” Pierre says.
“Caledonia is a television channel that brings communities across our country together by sharing stories of everyday life, culture, and society.
“I joined the Caledonia team to help build, collectively, a shared and living cultural heritage.”
Caledonia was originally established as the privately funded NCtv, which started broadcasting in December 2013, was based in Koné, North Province.
The next decade saw many changes for the broadcaster, including a name change for the channel, and now Caledonia is now primarily publicly funded and widely regarded as a civic tool, catering to all New Caledonians, regardless of their age, province, origin, or opinion.
Pierre says Caledonia TV’s close connection with local communities allows the channel to share and promote New Caledonian identity and ways of life.
“Our editorial approach also highlights the cultural diversity of New Caledonia, with a particular focus on Kanak culture,” he adds.
Although the TV channel’s content is mostly focused on what is happening in New Caledonia, it has a long-term goal to become a leading television network in the Pacific.
However, Pierre says like many small television broadcasters in the Pacific, Caledonia TV faces ongoing constraints in terms of local financial, technical, and human resources.
“Our economic model therefore relies on several complementary strategies, including securing sustainable funding, investing in training, and modernising our equipment,” he says.
“At the same time, New Caledonia is undergoing a period of reform linked to its decolonisation process, and our channel is evolving alongside this broader transformation.”
Throughout the years, Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL) has played a key role in supporting Caledonia TV, particularly by helping the organisation access channels from across the region, and support in securing broadcast rights for major events, he says.
“Thanks to this partnership, we have been able to produce a Pacific news programme and to broadcast major sporting and cultural events from across the Pacific.
“Looking ahead, further support in accessing subtitled content would be particularly valuable, given our French-language broadcast context and our commitment to making regional content accessible to our audiences.”
It has been a tumultuous time in New Caledonia, politically, which has been unsettling for communities.
Pierre says Caledonia TV’s workforce has been reduced by approximately 25 percent due to budget constraints following the events of 2024, where deadly riots broke out in Nouméa, hugely affecting the country’s economy and social fabric.
Yet, the ambition to serve New Caledonians and promote unity among its residents remains the same for the CEO and his team.
Caledonia TV is one of PCBL’s 30 valued partners, who PCBL is proudly supporting to create sustainable business models and take ownership of its stories, while delivering its content to Pasifika TV, screened region wide.
