Television in New Zealand

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Television in New Zealand was introduced in 1960 as a state-run service.^[1] The broadcasting sector was deregulated in 1989, when the Government allowed competition to the state-owned Television New Zealand (TVNZ). There are currently three forms of broadcast television: a terrestrial (DVB-T) service provided by Freeview; satellite services provided nationwide by both Freeview and Sky; and an internet television service delivered over cable and fibre broadband.

The first nationwide digital television service was launched in December 1998 by Sky, who had a monopoly on digital satellite television until the launch of Freeview's nationwide digital satellite service in May 2007. The Freeview digital terrestrial service launched on 14 April 2008. A pay digital terrestrial service was launched in 2012 by Igloo and closed in 2017; this was a joint venture between Sky and TVNZ and provided Freeview UHF aerial channels along with eleven Sky channels. Broadband television currently operates from Vodafone. On July 2016, Sky announced that Igloo will be discontinued although Freeview channels will still be available.^[2][3] The Vodafone service includes all Sky channels and Freeview channels.

The digital changeover in New Zealand is now complete. It began on 30 September 2012, when Hawke's Bay and the West Coast (including parts of Tasman) switched off analogue television transmission. The rest of the South Island switched off analogue television transmission on 28 April 2013, followed by the lower North Island on 29 September 2013. The upper North Island (including the Waikato, Auckland, Bay of Plenty and Northland) was the last region to cease analogue transmissions on 1 December 2013.^{[citation needed]}

History[edit]

New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) filming in one of its studios, circa 1960s.

A colour television test at the Mount Kaukau transmitting station in February 1970. Colour television was formally introduced to New Zealand in 1973-1975.

Full-time television broadcasting was first introduced in New Zealand in 1960 and transmitted from the NZBC's existing 1YA radio broadcasting facility at 74 Shortland Street in Auckland, now home to the University of Auckland's Gus Fisher Gallery. The annual television licence fee was NZ£4.^[4] Prime Minister Walter Nash had made a surprise announcement (a surprise both to the NZBS and to other members of the Labour government) in London in November 1959 that New Zealand would have television within twelve months; the system was to be state-owned but to carry commercials, and would be introduced in stages in the four main centres. The first non-experimental programme was transmitted on Wednesday 1 June 1960.^[5]

Initially, programming was done on a regional basis, with different services broadcasting from the main cities, AKTV2 in Auckland, being the first on 1 June 1960, followed in 1961 by CHTV3 in Christchurch on 1 June and WNTV1 in Wellington on 1 July, and then DNTV2 in Dunedin on 31 July 1962. Today, however, programming and scheduling is done in Auckland where all the major networks are now headquartered.

National won the 1960 election, and the new Minister of Broadcasting, Arthur Kinsella in the new National government rewrote the Broadcasting Act of 1936, and set up the state-owned New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation in 1962 to control public radio and television (although the party had been polarised between having a state-owned, private enterprise or mixed system). ^[6]

Advertising was introduced to Aucklanders on 4 April 1961, and facilitated increasing transmission hours to twenty-eight per week. By 1962 there were 65,000 licences, by 1963 there were 80,000 licences and an estimated audience of 300,000 or one-eighth of the population, and by 1966 there were half a million licences. By the 1970s, almost every household had a set. ^[7]

Initially, the hours of transmission were from 5pm until close at about 10pm, later extending, in 1966, to 2pm opening. A test pattern was transmitted from 9am to allow for adjustment of TV sets in homes by technicians.

It was not until 1969 that the four stations were networked; the NZBC's first live network news bulletin was read by Dougal Stevenson on Wednesday 5 November.

The NZBC had asked the Government for the approval of a second TV channel as early as 1964, but this was rejected as the Government considered increasing coverage of the existing TV service to be of greater priority. By 1971, however, two proposals for a second channel were under consideration: that of the NZBC for a non-commercial service; and a separate commercial channel to be operated by an Independent Television Corporation, headed by Gordon Dryden.^[8]

Although the Broadcasting Authority had favoured the Independent Television Corporation bid, the incoming Labour government favoured the NZBC's application and awarded it the licence without any formal hearings beforehand. (Eventually, Independent Television was awarded NZ$50,000 in compensation.)^[9]

On Wednesday 31 October 1973, colour television using the Phase Alternating Line (PAL) system was introduced, in readiness for the 1974 British Commonwealth Games, which were to be held in Christchurch in January and February 1974. The final switchover for colour television wasn't until December 1975.

Reorganisation[edit]

The introduction of a second TV channel (then called TV2) on Monday 30 June 1975 also saw the reorganisation of broadcasting in New Zealand. The NZBC was dissolved in April of that year, with the two television channels, Television One and TV2, run separately from one another. TV2 was renamed South Pacific Television in 1976.

In 1978, the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ) was established, and in 1980, TV One and South Pacific (known once again as TV2) were merged into a single organisation, Television New Zealand (TVNZ).

Commercialisation[edit]

In 1988, following major economic reforms to the state sector, the BCNZ was dissolved. TVNZ and Radio New Zealand (RNZ) became separate "State-Owned Enterprises" (SOEs) which would have to compete commercially and return dividends to the Crown.

Rather than continuing to be used to directly fund TVNZ and RNZ, the licence fee, now called the broadcasting fee, was to be used for local content production and the state funding for non-commercial broadcasting in radio and television on a contestable basis. As part of wide-ranging reforms in the broadcasting sector, the Labour government of David Lange established the Broadcasting Commission, which became known as and finally called New Zealand on Air.

Broadcasting in New Zealand was deregulated in 1989. Restrictions on television advertising were also revised in 1989, so that TVNZ channels could show advertisements anytime except Christmas Day, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday, and between 6am and noon on Anzac Day.^[10] In that year, TV3 became the first privately owned TV station in the country, finally ending the state monopoly. Restrictions on foreign ownership were also removed, and TV3 was subsequently sold to Canada's CanWest. Sky TV, in which TVNZ originally had a small stake, began broadcasting New Zealand's first pay TV service on three UHF channels.

Other free-to-air commercial television operators now include TV3's sister channel Four (previously known as C4) and Prime TV. Sky TV remains the dominant pay-TV operator, now operating on satellite, although Vodafone also operates cable TV services.

Although TVNZ had to compete with its commercial rivals through the 1990s, it maintained a dominant market position and paid a significant amount of its profits to the Crown in dividends. By 1998–1999, the National Party–led coalition was moving to privatise TVNZ and announced that the broadcasting fee would be discontinued. Since the 1970s, the licence fee had been capped at NZ$100 a year, and was not allowed to increase with inflation. In real terms, this meant that public funding of broadcasting in New Zealand was greatly reduced by the time of the broadcasting fee's abolition.

However, the 1999 election saw a Labour-led coalition gain office. Over its next two terms, attempts were made to reintroduce public service functions to the sector. In 2003, TVNZ was restructured as a Crown-Owned Company with a public service Charter. The Charter, abolished by the Key National government in 2008, received a small amount of government subsidy, but TVNZ remains predominantly dependent on commercial revenue and is obliged to continue paying dividends to the Crown.

It can apply to NZ On Air (funded directly from the Government since 2000) for support in local content initiatives, such as drama and comedy, and funding of programming for minority groups such as gay, Christian and rural New Zealanders. The funding of Maori programming has since passed to Te Mangai Paho, the Maori broadcasting commission.

In 2004, the Maori Television Service was established to promote Maori language and culture. MTS is funded partly through direct government funding and partly through commercial advertising, but is eligible for contestable programming funds from Te Mangai Paho.

In 2006, the Government announced the introduction of two new non-commercial digital television services operated by TVNZ, offering drama, arts, documentary and children's programming called TVNZ 6 and TVNZ 7. However, after a change of Government, funding for the two channels was not renewed. In 2011, the children's channel, TVNZ 6, was replaced by the commercial youth channel TVNZ U, leaving New Zealand with no free to air children's television. TVNZ Kidzone 24 was subsequently established, but was only available behind a Sky TV pay wall before it ceased broadcasting in 2016. TVNZ 7 ceased broadcasting on 30 June 2012, with a number of its programs being picked up by other channels. In response, public broadcasting advocates announced plans to form a new lobby group.^[11]

Freeview[edit]

Freeview is a non-profit organisation providing free-to-air digital television and digital radio to New Zealand. The Freeview service is available via satellite throughout New Zealand. Freeview's terrestrial service is a high definition digital terrestrial television service available to 75 percent of the country's population, using DVB-S and DVB-T standards on government provided spectrum.

Analogue switchoff in New Zealand was completed on 1 December 2013. A major benefit of digital television is the ability to overcome the poor reception caused by New Zealand's rugged topography. Digital TV offers more channels, better pictures and sound quality and new services such as on-screen programme guides.

It was estimated that on 31 December 2008, 198,938 Freeview certified set-top boxes and IDTVs had been sold since the platform's launch (146,416 Satellite, 52,522 UHF). It is estimated that Freeview is in 12.6% of New Zealand homes (roughly 420,000 people).^[12] This makes it New Zealand's third largest television platform, and New Zealand's second largest digital platform. Freeview-certified set-top boxes and PVRs are available at most major New Zealand retailers. Cheaper, uncertified equipment can also be used.

Regional channels[edit]

New Zealand's deregulated broadcasting environment has led to many regional stations (either non-commercial public service or privately owned) that broadcast only in one region or city. These stations mainly broadcast free to air on UHF frequencies, although some are carried on subscription TV. Content ranges from local news, access broadcasts, satellite sourced news, tourist information and Christian programming to music videos. Over a dozen regional television stations in New Zealand are grouped by the Regional Broadcasters Association.^[13]

Free-to-air satellite channels[edit]

Many digital channels are broadcast into New Zealand via satellite. These include Freeview, Sky Television, and many Australian and other channels. Most can be received using a standard blind-scan capable set-top box in addition to the standard 60 cm satellite dish that is fitted to many houses.

Pay television channels[edit]

New Zealand has a number of television channels that are, or have been, only available on pay television networks.

• Sky Network Television: In 1990, Sky Network Television (then, and again now,^[14] unrelated to its UK namesake) launched three pay-TV channels offering movies, sport and news on UHF; these overtime expanded to five. In 1998 it launched a multichannel digital satellite TV service.
• World TV: a Digital Broadcasting Media company, which broadcasts widely on Chinese TV and radio shows and some in Korean and Japanese in New Zealand. WTV signals can only be received by digital set-top boxes serviced by Sky TV.
• Vodafone: currently operates a Broadband TV^[15] service delivered over cable and fibre broadband. Customers receive Freeview HD channels via a Digital TV recorder and can subscribe to Sky TV. No content is created by Vodafone itself except Vodafone Pay-Per-View channels.

Streaming[edit]

In 2014, streaming television entered the New Zealand market.^[16] About one quarter of the population now use streaming as a form of television. Service providers include:

• Lightbox
• Neon
• Netflix
• Quickflix
• Amazon Prime
• Fan Pass

Free providers include:

• ThreeNow
• TVNZ OnDemand

See also[edit]

• List of free-to-air TV channels in New Zealand
• List of television production companies of New Zealand
• List of New Zealand television series
• List of New Zealand television personalities
• Mediaworks NZ
• Sports broadcasting contracts in New Zealand

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Horrocks, Roger & Nick Perry (2004). Television in New Zealand: Programming the Nation. Auckland, N.Z.: Oxford University Press.

External links[edit]

• Television New Zealand history
• TV transmitter details: click on area then transmitter symbol