Television arrives in New Zealand

Television arrives in New Zealand

New Zealand's first non-experimental television broadcast took place on 1 June 1960, though it only lasted three hours and you had to be in Auckland to see it. If you lived in the South Island, you had to wait a further two years. It had taken a while for television to finally arrive here – our early-adopting British ancestors had had it since 1936.

Kiwis had been experimenting with television since the 1920s, starting with Professor Robert Jack, who showed how pictures could be transmitted within his lab. Though the Government's committee to investigate the technology was mostly inactive in the 1950s, the New Zealand Broadcasting Service (NZBS) and several experimental stations trialled closed-circuit and broadcast transmissions, with varying levels of success.

Gradually, experience paid off and these stations were able to make regular broadcasts. Their experimental licences only allowed them to show programmes 'of an educational nature'. However, the Bell Radio-Television Corporation got around this by declaring that their entertainment shows were educational, as they provided training for technicians. In 1960 these technicians were put to work when the NZBS began official operations. By January 1961 programmes were being broadcast seven days a week.

Some of the popular programmes in the early 60s included Lassie, I Love Lucy, Danger Man and Perry Mason. Richard Chamberlain became a sex symbol playing Dr Kildare while The Flintstones lampooned modern life in a ground-breaking cartoon that appealed to adults as much as children. New Zealand-made programmes included the cooking show featuring 'galloping gourmet' Graham Kerr.

The four early New Zealand television broadcasters – AKTV2, CHTV3, WNTV1 and DNTV4 – operated separately and once programmes had been broadcast at one station, they were sent on to the next. Television advertising was introduced in 1963, but only on three nights of the week – it wasn't until 1989 that ads could be screened on Sundays or public holidays. Broadcasts were limited to evenings only on weekdays, and extended to 2pm starts from 1967. That year also marked the first season of the iconic Kiwi pop show C’mon.

In 1969, limited networking was introduced with live news broadcasts, though we had to wait until 1973 before the whole country was fully networked. That year also saw the introduction of colour television, in time for the Christchurch Commonwealth Games, in 1974.

A second channel, TV2, was introduced in 1975, run independently from TV1. New Zealand’s first privately owned channel, TV3, began broadcasting in 1989, ending the state monopoly. Pay television entered the market with Sky TV shortly afterwards in Auckland, though it wasn’t until 1996 that it was available throughout the country.

Find out more – The history of New Zealand television on NZHistory.net

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