Television New Zealand's controversial charter has been finally extinguished through a bill passed by Parliament tonight.

The Government announced in 2009 it was going to can the charter, which encouraged TVNZ to screen programmes which reflected New Zealand's culture and way of life.

Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman said tonight it had never worked because TVNZ couldn't function with the dual mandate of meeting the requirements of the charter and existing as a commercial broadcaster.

''For many, many years TVNZ has been predominantly commercially funded, more than 90 percent of its income is from commercial revenue,'' Dr Coleman said.

''TVNZ's charter wasn't workable for a commercial broadcaster...removing it is being honest, and not trying to pretend TVNZ is something it plainly is not.''

He said the Television New Zealand Amendment Bill replaced the charter with a set of clear requirements to be a successful company which maintained its commercial performance while providing high quality content.

''It can set its own priorities and compete without the encumberance of an unrealistic charter,'' Dr Coleman said.

Labour's Brendon Burns said New Zealanders wanted and deserved more than programmes which were simply the most popular.

''This bill says all TVNZ has to do is make a profit and return it to the Government,'' he said.

''There is no other consideration in this bill at all - all it is required to do is make more cash.''

Mr Burns said the Government was totally unconcerned about the quality of programmes screened by TVNZ.

''It doesn't give a darn about what sort of service is provided, it is downgrading TVNZ, it is dumbing it down, it is saying 'just make sure you give us the maximum amount of cash','' he said.

The Greens also opposed the bill, which passed its third reading on a vote of 64 to 56.

- NZPA