Four (stylised as FOUR; formerly TV4) was the second New Zealand
television channel
A television channel is a terrestrial frequency or virtual number over which a television station or television network is distributed. For example, in North America, "channel 2" refers to the terrestrial or cable band of 54 to 60 MHz, with ...
owned and operated by
MediaWorks New Zealand
MediaWorks New Zealand is a New Zealand-based company specialising in radio, outdoor advertising and interactive media. It is jointly owned by U.S. company Oaktree Capital Management and out-of-home advertising company QMS. It operates nine ...
, broadcast via the state-owned
Kordia
Kordia is a New Zealand government-owned company, offering a range of technology services and solutions to businesses. It provides a range of services, including mission-critical connectivity, cloud and cyber security services, as well as manag ...
transmission network. The channel launched on 29 June 1997 as TV4 and was replaced by
C4 on 3 October 2003. It was relaunched on 6 February 2011 as a separate channel from C4.
On 2 July 2016, Mediaworks closed Four and replaced it with
Bravo
Bravo(s) or The Bravo(s) may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Music Groups and labels
*Bravo (band), a Russian rock band
* Bravo (Spanish group), represented Spain at Eurovision 1984
*Bravo Music, an American concert band music publishing company ...
as part of a deal with
NBC Universal
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are ...
.
In general, the channel's target audience was 18- to 49-year-olds and could be broader in its appeal, with programming which attracted a wider, and more mature audience. During early mornings and late afternoons the channel screened a range of children's programming such as ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
'' and in the evenings screened shows aimed at the mainstream audience. Overnight and late mornings – early afternoons the channel screened
Infomercials
An infomercial is a form of television commercial that resembles regular TV programming yet is intended to promote or sell a product, service or idea. It generally includes a toll-free telephone number or website. Most often used as a form of dire ...
and Auto TV (Car Commercials). Four broadcast mostly American programming, with the exception of ''Sticky TV'', ''
Four Live'', and ''Smash'', which were in-house produced Auckland-hosted youth shows, and the ''Pukana'' youth show, which was produced from a Maori language government fund. ''Pukana'' also airs on one of the two government funded Maori language channels.
History
![TV 4 original logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a5/TV_4_original_logo.gif)
The history of Four dates back to 1997 when TV3 decided to launch a second TV channel called TV4. TV4 was an entertainment network and screened a wide range of imported shows such as ''
South Park'', ''
Beverly Hills 90210'', ''
Beavis and Butthead
''Beavis and Butt-Head'' is an American adult animated series created by Mike Judge. The series follows Beavis and Butt-Head, both voiced by Judge, a pair of teenage slackers characterized by their apathy, lack of intelligence, lowbrow humor, an ...
''. After 2000, new programming was scarce, with the infiltration of 1980's and 1990's repeats. On October 3, 2003, TV4 was replaced by music channel
C4.
On 6 February 2011, TV4 returned as Four. MediaWorks announced this in October 2010, and said that the new network would focus on children's programming during the day and in the evenings will screen a range of shows aimed at the 18- to 49-year-old audience. The first programme to air on Four was ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'' episode "
Elementary School Musical" (not coincidentally featuring New Zealand band
Flight of the Conchords
Flight of the Conchords is a New Zealand musical comedy duo formed in Wellington in 1998. The band consists of multi-instrumentalists Bret McKenzie and Jemaine Clement. Beginning as a popular live comedy act in the early 2000s, the duo's come ...
).
At the end of 2012, Four began screening some new episodes of shows within seven days of the show being broadcasting in the United States under the ''Fast Four'' brand. Examples of shows include ''
The Simpsons
''The Simpsons'' is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical depiction of American life, epitomized by the Simpson family, which consists of Homer Simpson, Homer, Marge ...
'', ''
Family Guy'', ''
Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'' and ''
How I Met Your Mother''. New Zealand TV networks typically start screening most US television series around five months after the original release, usually first screening in late January or February at the end of the New Zealand summer, catching up to the US at the end of the season as all 22 episodes are broadcast week-after-week, not spread out over nine months as in the US. The transition of shows like ''
Glee
Glee means delight, a form of happiness.
Glee may also refer to:
* Glee (music), a type of English choral music
* ''Glee'' (TV series), an American musical comedy-drama TV series, and related media created by Ryan Murphy
* ''Glee'' (Bran Van 30 ...
'' from TV3 to Four also lost the NZ On Air funding that is given to TV3 to get
EIA-608
EIA-608, also known as "line 21 captions" and "CEA-608", was once the standard for closed captioning for NTSC TV broadcasts in the United States, Canada and Mexico. It was developed by the Electronic Industries Alliance and required by law to be ...
captions converted from source masters to the preferred Teletext format by TVNZ's Access Services. As New Zealand broadcasters are completely reliant on this process for program subtitling.
Closure
The final ever show to air on FOUR was ''
The Biggest Loser
''The Biggest Loser'' is a reality television format which started with the American TV show '' The Biggest Loser'' in 2004. The show centers on overweight and obese contestants attempting to lose the most weight; the winner receives a cash priz ...
''. At 10:50 pm on Saturday 2 July 2016, the channel closed with Feist singing "
1234
Year 1234 ( MCCXXXIV) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar.
Events
By place
Europe
* King Canute II (the Tall) dies after a 5-year reign. His rival, Eric XI (the Lisp and ...
" (the same ''
Sesame Street
''Sesame Street'' is an American educational children's television series that combines live-action, sketch comedy, animation and puppetry. It is produced by Sesame Workshop (known as the Children's Television Workshop until June 2000) ...
'' song that was used to relaunch the channel back in February 2011); the channel then faded to black.
Four Plus 1
Four Plus 1 was a timeshift service that MediaWorks launched on 27 June 2014. It was a standard hour-delayed
timeshift channel
A timeshift channel (sometimes referred to as a +1 channel) is a television channel carrying time-delayed reruns of its "parent" channel's programming. This channel runs alongside their parent: the term "timeshift" does not refer to a network br ...
of the Four broadcast. Four Plus 1 was initially only available on digital terrestrial with satellite launched a week later on Sky's fifth digital transport.
It was replaced by
Bravo Plus 1 on 3 July 2016, when Bravo replaced Four.
References
External links
Four's official website (archived)
{{Authority control
Defunct New Zealand television channels
Television channels and stations established in 2011
Television channels and stations disestablished in 2016
English-language television stations in New Zealand
2011 establishments in New Zealand
2016 disestablishments in New Zealand