TVNZ has quietly ceased production of 30-year-old local series Praise Be, New Zealand's fourth longest-running TV show - and it happened more than a year ago.

The last new episode of the Christian choral show actually screened in late 2015, while the 2016 season - funded to the tune of $388,000 by NZ On Air - consisted of previously aired hymns compiled from Praise Be's back catalogue. Currently screened episodes are repeats.

While Praise Be is a NZ On Air-funded show, TVNZ did not apply for funding for the 2017 season.

A Kiwi choir in one of the last recorded episode of Praise Be during 2016.

"We didn't receive a production funding application from TVNZ for Praise Be. So it's their decision," said NZ On Air head of communications Allanah Kalafatelis.

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That decision has been met with dismay from viewers, including Kapiti Chorale president Carol Dyer, who is petitioning TVNZ to bring Praise Be back into production.

TVNZ Broadcaster Graeme Thomson who fronted Praise Be for nearly 30 years until his death in 2008.

Dyer contacted the national broadcaster directly, and has also written to MPs Simon Bridges, Minister for Communications, and Maggie Barry, whose portfolios include Senior Citizens and Arts, Culture and Heritage.

"She didn't want to know," says Dyer of Barry, who herself presented the long-running TVNZ series Maggie's Garden Show. "The reply from her secretary was pathetic."

Dyer says Praise Be is important "because it satisfies an interest in music and culture".

Praise Be presenter Chris Nichol.

"It's watched by a multitude of people, whether they are at home, in rest-homes or retirement homes, or anywhere else," she says. "It is a nod to the thousands of singers the length and breadth of New Zealand who have participated in the recordings undertaken by TVNZ because of their joy of music-making, regardless of their religious affiliation."

"Over the years Praise Be has involved young and old, Maori, Pasifika and others who make up the cultural diversity of this country. Not only that, but in areas where churches have been demolished or destroyed due to earthquakes, like the Canterbury Cathedral, it has been an historical record and part of our national heritage."

Asked why they had ceased production of Praise Be, a TVNZ spokesperson said, "it makes sense for us to focus our production resources elsewhere". According to ratings figures provided by the broadcaster, Praise Be has had an average audience of 25,000 people 5+ in 2017.

JOHN BISSET Filming of Praise Be at the Sacred Heart Basilica on Craigie Avenue in Timaru.

They also said TVNZ has no obligation to broadcast a certain amount of religious programming.

"In my opinion, what TVNZ has done is deceitful to say the least," says Dyer. "What publicity has been given to the demise of Praise Be? What other quality cultural programmes involving New Zealanders are available on TVNZ? No orchestra, no ballet, no opera, no choirs and now, no Praise Be."

"What do we need to do to get some action on this issue and get it reinstated?"

CHRISTINE CORNEGE Filming for Praise Be at Blenheim's Nativity Church.

Praise Be was first broadcast in 1986 and ran for 30 years, minus a two-year break in the mid-2000s.

Originally presented by veteran broadcaster Graeme Thomson, it was later hosted by presbyterian minister Chris Nichol, who took over after Thomson's death in 2008.