TV in New Zealand

It is strange what you miss when you move to a new country, and one of the things that most Brits mention when they move to New Zealand is that there is not much on TV.

One of the first things you'll notice about New Zealand TV is the number of ads - up to 15 minutes per hour. There is a good range of New Zealand, Australian, North American and British programming, but programs your friends in the UK are raving about may air a couple of years later - on the flip-side, US programs sometimes air much sooner in NZ than in the UK. We often find ourselves setting the recorder to avoid the game shows, reality shows, soaps and adverts that dominate prime-time TV - but we had to do this in the UK too!

In New Zealand there are two state funded TV channels, TV One and TV Two and a number of local TV channels in various centres. In addition there are two other general TV channels; TV3 and Prime plus a music only channel C4 and the Maori channel. Sky operate a pay TV network with a wide range of channels available at reasonable rates - they even have a channel that exclusively shows re-runs of UK TV series, UK TV. 

New Zealand TV Watershed

The watershed (when adult programming is allowed) is 8.30pm for free-to-air channels and 8pm for pay TV. This does not seem to be as rigorously enforced as in the UK, and there are occasionally promos for adult programming on early in the evening. There are some hard-hitting road safety, alcohol abuse and water safety adverts on New Zealand television, which are inappropriate for younger viewers, but they are generally on after the watershed.

New Zealand TV Licenses 

You do not need a TV licence in New Zealand. State funding of broadcasting is arranged via New Zealand on Air. 

Will your UK TV set work in NZ? 

To find out whether your UK TV set will work in New Zealand, please see our article on What to Bring with you. 

Digital Television - Freeview

Digital TV and radio was introduced to NZ in May 2007, with most of the free-to-air channels TV and Radio NZ National and Radio NZ Concert available via Freeview. More "digital only" channels are being added over time. The transmission is free and available nationwide, but you need to buy a set-top box and possibly a satellite dish to receive transmissions.

The next stage of the Digital TV roll-out is Freeview via aerial, which has been available since partway through 2008. You still need the set-top box, and a UHF aerial. This service is not available in remote areas.

The New Zealand and UK formats for Freeview are incompatible, so your UK Freeview box will not work in New Zealand.

The analogue TV broadcast in New Zealand is due to be switched off in 6-10 years. For more information see http://freeviewnz.tv/.

TiVo

TiVo is due to be launched in New Zealand by the end of 2009. All of New Zealand's free-to-air digital TV channels will be available through TiVo without the need to purchase a separate Freeview box. For more information check the TiVo NZ website .

New Zealand Radio

State-owned network Radio New Zealand has two advertising-free stations with nationwide coverage, with news and current affairs on the National Programme and classical music on the Concert Programme.

In addition there are a lot of commercial radio stations and the B Net channel of student oriented stations, including RDU,  95bfm and MoreFM .

New Zealand Newspapers

Most provincial cities and larger towns have their own newspaper. The main newspapers are the NZ Herald which is based in Auckland and is the primary newspaper for the top half of the North Island; the Dominion Post in Wellington, The Press in Christchurch and the The Otago Daily Times in Dunedin.

The standard of journalism in the major papers generally seems to be pretty high, and subscribing to a local paper is a great way of getting to know what is happening in your area. You may miss your favourite Sunday paper, as the offerings here are very light.

Broadbase International will work with you every step of the way to help you make a confident start to your new life in New Zealand. Please contact us if you have any questions about the financial side of life in New Zealand, and don't forget to order your free copy of our comprehensive New Zealand Guide.