Prime Minister John Key has confirmed that the Television New Zealand charter is to be axed.
The charter requires the state broadcaster to screen high-quality non-commercial programmes that reflect New Zealand.
In July last year, the National Party flagged it would do away with the charter, which it described as "just a bunch of meaningless mission statements".
The National-led Government will make $15 million of charter funding contestable through New Zealand On Air to state and privately owned broadcasters.
Mr Key says he does not believe scrapping the charter will make a lot of difference to TVNZ's local programming.
He says there have been a number of reviews of the charter and results show it has made no discernible difference to programming on TVNZ.
Mr Key expects the state broadcater will win back most of the charter money available through NZ on Air.
Labour Party leader Phil Goff is concerned that removing the charter will lead to lower quality news and current affairs reporting.
Green Party broadcasting spokesperson Sue Kedgley says the demise of the charter will erode the quality of programmes and believes the Government is preparing to sell TVNZ at some stage.
