TV3 (New Zealand)
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Tv3logo.jpg
TV3, on air since November 26, 1989, is a commercial broadcaster in New Zealand owned by Canada's CanWest, which bought the station after it went bankrupt as an independent station. The station also operates the CanWest-owned C4 music channel and satellite real estate network Property TV.
It was New Zealand's first network that was not controlled by the government. Early in TV3's life, financial supporters of the network included The Walt Disney Company and NBC.
Its first broadcast was a two-hour special previewing the network's programmes and featuring comedians David McPhail and Jon Gadsby playing cameramen. The TV3 slogan proclaimed, 'Come home to the feeling.'
With hindsight, much of TV3's failure stemmed from trying to be everything to everyone, attempting to match the state broadcaster show for show, rather than finding things it could do well. High hopes were placed on domestically produced TV shows such as The Billy T. James Show, Issues, and Letter to Blanchy (only the pilot was aired at first though others were made). TV3 news anchorwoman Joanna Paul was one of the highest paid in the country at the time. It became apparent that the broad schedule meant that TV3 had used up its programmes too quickly. The state broadcaster, Television New Zealand, had been ready to take on the challenge.
One early triumph was TV3's free-to-air coverage of the Gulf War, which was regarded as superior to that sourced by the state broadcaster on TV One.
Eventually, TV3's success came from defining itself through its flagship news programmes, its domestically produced current affairs' programmes, and its entertainment programming.
Today, key programming includes The Simpsons, CSI, Malcolm in the Middle, That '70s Show, Everybody Loves Raymond, 20/20, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Rugby Union coverage, 60 Minutes, Law and Order, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Domestic shows fill many gaps, but programming is still largely of American origins.
Every weekday evening at 6 p.m., TV3 screens an hour-long news bulletin known as 3 News with a strong emphasis on sports coverage. For 7 years, this was presented by John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld. However, since February 21, 2005 this has been presented by Mike McRoberts and Hilary Barry while John and Carol moved to produce and present a 7 p.m. current events program, Campbell Live.
The late bulletin, Nightline, is one of the most-watched in its timeslot and has an emphasis on the arts.
The current Australian-designed TV3 logo, its second since launch, is three squares with a silver fern placed across the first two squares and the letter '3' written in the final square.
External link
- TV3 official website (http://www.tv3.co.nz/)
- New Zealand television timeline (http://nztvdb.tripod.com/timeline_history.htm)