Four Pacific media professionals are set to tell the stories of Pacific athletes at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, on Pasifika TV.
By Michelle Curran
Executive Communications Manager, Pasifika TV/PCBL
While Pacific athletes get set to contest the 2026 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, four Pacific media professionals are preparing to follow the competitors’ journeys and tell their stories to the region.
Pacific Cooperation Broadcasting Limited (PCBL) has partnered with Sky New Zealand to make its extensive coverage of the Games, including coverage of Pacific athletes in action, available to Pasifika TV’s affiliated broadcasters across several Pacific countries.
Supported by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT), PCBL and Sky are welcoming the Pacific cohort to Aotearoa, to train alongside the Sky team, while gathering stories and producing daily highlights focused on Pacific athletes competing in Glasgow from July 23-August 2, for Pasifika TV.
Eager to get started on Games coverage, the cohort consists of Katokakala Lino, visual editor at Tonga Broadcasting Commission, Jone Tomuse, producer at Fiji’s Mai TV, Wari Ila, senior editor at National Broadcasting Corporation in Papua New Guinea, and Meli Ma’afu Fanua Laddpeter, sports journalist at Fiji Broadcasting Corporation.
Meanwhile, overseeing the training is Paul Vunituraga, a Pacific-based broadcast manager, producer and consultant, PCBL Regional Content Manager Tia Soakai, and PCBL General Manager Programming and Sport Tui McKendrick.
Faced with challenges from under-resourcing, geopolitical tensions and threatened story sovereignty due to global competition, a core focus for PCBL is building capability within a sustainable workforce, Tui says.
“Our Pacific people are fluent in the universal language of sport, and having more sports production specialists across the Pacific region producing their own sport and sport-related stories is essential,” Tui says.
Tui, who prior to working at PCBL, was the Executive Producer Sport at Sky Television, and she says the collaboration between Pasifika TV and Sky is very unique.
“This set-up is a rare opportunity for the media cohort to learn from some of the leading sports broadcasters in Aotearoa.
“It is hoped our Pacific cohort will take what they learn and use it to open future doors of opportunity – particularly with the Pacific Games in Tahiti next year being a qualifier event for the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028.
“Our aim is to see more Pacific athletes competing on the world stage, and more Pacific media telling their stories.”
Approximately 3000 athletes from 74 nations and territories will be competing in 10 sports, across four venues.
Pacific countries sending athletes include Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
To view the Commonwealth Games in the region, visit Pasifika TV or your local broadcaster.