Eyeworks chief executive and reality television queen Julie Christie has resigned her position saying it was time to hand over the reins.

A statement from Christie was published on television blog Throng this afternoon, in which she fired a parting shot at the television funders and broadcasters with which she had worked so successfully since forming Touchdown in 1991.

Christie was behind such classic reality TV formats as This is Your Life, My House My Castle, Treasure Island and more recently The Block.

‘‘The recent trend of caring so much more about ‘‘carriage’’ – how content is distributed – rather than building an industry that produces great NZ content, means that our television is amidst very troubled times,’’ Christie’s statement said.

‘‘I leave still with a love of television, and hoping that the funders and broadcasters come to realise [sic] that all the platforms in the world neither monetarise nor make great Kiwi content which we can share on the screen in our lounge!

‘‘‘Local’ is the real competitive advantage in a commercial and fast-changing television market.’’

Christie did not name her successor for Eyeworks’ New Zealand operation but said John McAvoy would take sole charge of the Australian business.

Christie also had success with her reality platforms on overseas television networks and in 2006 Touchdown was bought by Eyeworks Group which is registered in the Netherlands.

- © Fairfax NZ News