TV 2 (New Zealand)
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TVNZ 2 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Rua) is the second
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster
Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solo ...
(TVNZ). It targets a younger audience than its sister channel,
TVNZ 1 TVNZ 1 ( mi, Te Reo Tātaki Tahi) is the first national television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It is the oldest television broadcaster in New Zealand, starting out from 1960 as indep ...
. TVNZ 2's line up consists of dramas, comedies, and reality TV shows. A small number are produced in New Zealand which are either of a comedic, soap opera or reality nature, with rest of the line-up imported from mostly a
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or
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or
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catalogue or a
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or
Hasbro Hasbro, Inc. (; a syllabic abbreviation of its original name, Hassenfeld Brothers) is an American multinational conglomerate holding company incorporated and headquartered in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Hasbro owns the trademarks and products of K ...
or Endemol soap opera/reality TV catalogue. TVNZ 2 is New Zealand's second-oldest television channel, formed in 1975 following the break-up of the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation into Radio New Zealand, Television One and Television Two. It began broadcasting on 30 June 1975, and for most of the 1970s was known as South Pacific Television. In 1980, it became a part of TVNZ when South Pacific Television and Television One merged, and reverted to the name TV2. The channel was renamed TVNZ 2 in October 2016. The channel is broadcast on the government 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 ...
terrestrial network as well as on one of the two Kordia satellite transponders, which is included in channel packages on the
Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...
and
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platforms. Sky also make the channel available on one of their own satellite transponders.


History

TV2 was formed following the dissolution of the
New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation The New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation (NZBC) was a publicly owned company of the New Zealand Government founded in 1962. The Broadcasting Act 1976 then reformed NZBC as the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ). The corporation was ...
on 1 April 1975, with the corporation splitting into Radio New Zealand and two television channels: Television One and Television Two. Whereas Television One took over WNTV1 in Wellington and DNTV2 in Dunedin as well as the existing channel frequencies, Television Two took over AKTV2 in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
and CHTV3 in
Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon Rive ...
, broadcasting on channel 4 in Auckland and channel 8 in Christchurch. TV2 began broadcasting in Auckland at 1pm on Monday 30 June 1975. Broadcasting began in Christchurch five hours later at 6pm, due to extra time being needed to fix an aerial fault at the city's
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transmitter. The opening weekend saw the country's first
telethon A telethon (a portmanteau of "television" and "marathon") is a televised fundraising event that lasts many hours or even days, the purpose of which is to raise money for a charitable, political or other purportedly worthy cause. Most telethons f ...
, raising over $485,000 for the St John Ambulance Service. As there was only one national link at the time, and Television One had priority, TV2 used the link overnight to feed the next day's programmes between Auckland and Christchurch so they could be broadcast simultaneously. During its first year, TV2 introduced the
Goodnight Kiwi The ''Goodnight Kiwi'' is an animated short which has been used to signal the end of nightly broadcasts on Television New Zealand channels. The ''Goodnight Kiwi'' features two characters: the eponymous Goodnight Kiwi (later also called TV Kiwi), a ...
cartoon for its closedown, although it was not until 1980 that it assumed its most recognised form. TV2 began broadcasting in the
Waikato Waikato () is a local government region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipa District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsul ...
on 1 September 1975. TV2 began broadcasting in
Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...
in November 1975 after the city's infamous winds hampered aerial installation at the
Mount Kaukau Mount Kaukau () is a large hill in the northern suburbs of Wellington, New Zealand near Johnsonville, Khandallah and Ngaio. The summit is 445 metres above sea level and is the most visible high point in the Wellington landscape further acce ...
transmitter. The channel had branded itself as "TV2 South Pacific Television" since its launch. In 1976, it dropped the TV2 moniker and was renamed simply
South Pacific Television South Pacific Television (SPTV) was a television channel in New Zealand, which operated between 1976 and 1980. History The channel, then known as TV2, first went to air on 30 June 1975. It was the second national government television channel ...
. This also reduced confusion in Auckland and Dunedin where Television One broadcast on channel 2 (TV2 broadcast on channel 4 in both centres). Along with Television One and Radio New Zealand, South Pacific Television became part of the Broadcasting Corporation of New Zealand (BCNZ) in 1977. In 1980, South Pacific Television and Television One merged to form
Television New Zealand , type = Crown entity , industry = Broadcast television , num_locations = New Zealand , location = Auckland, New Zealand , area_served = Nationally (New Zealand) and some Pacific Island nations such as the Cook Islands, Fiji, and the Solo ...
(the channel was renamed "Television Two" and, later, "TV2" in 1982), with the promise of 'complementary programming'. In 1981, tenders were called for the supply of programmes for TV2's morning slot. The following year Northern Television began producing programmes as the first private enterprise TV broadcaster in the country. In 1983 Northern TV was forced to close due to high costs and low advertising revenue. The National government debated selling off TV2 to a private enterprise in 1983, but this did not happen. By mid-1987, TV2 was rebranded as "Network Two". In 1988 the Labour government dissolved BCNZ, and deregulated the broadcasting market. With the launch of TV3 in 1989, Network Two (now rebranded "Channel 2") moved away from complementary programming and repositioned itself as an entertainment channel, leaving more serious programming to TV One. In January 1992, Channel 2 introduced 24-hour television overnight which lasted three months. It went back to a nightly closedown but 24-hour programming was reintroduced by mid-1993, initially on Fridays and Saturdays. By mid-1994, 24-hour programming on Channel 2 was extended to Thursdays to Sundays, and on 19 October 1994, Channel 2 began broadcasting non-stop, 24 hours a day. In 1995, Channel 2 reverted to its old name, TV2. TV2's highest-ever rating broadcast was the BBC '' Panorama'' interview with Diana, Princess of Wales, which screened on 21 November 1995. 1.517 million New Zealanders tuned in, or 41 percent of New Zealand's population (3.706 million). The broadcast remained the country's most watched television broadcast until 31 August 1997, when TV One's breaking news of Diana's death gained 1.703 million viewers. On 22 September 2007, TV2 went into 16:9 widescreen on
Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...
24 hours a day. On 2 September 2010, TV2 changed from broadcasting in
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high definition to
1080i 1080i (also known as Full HD or BT.709) is a combination of frame resolution and scan type. 1080i is used in high-definition television (HDTV) and high-definition video. The number "1080" refers to the number of horizontal lines on the scre ...
. On New Year's Day 2012, TV2 introduced a new look graphics package with a new theme song for the network. At the same time, the TV2 digital on-screen graphic logo moved from the top right hand corner of the screen to the bottom right hand corner of the screen, for the first time since 2003. From 19 August 2013, TV2 reacquired broadcast rights for '' Home and Away'', after outbidding TV3. On 1 October 2016, the channel was renamed TVNZ 2.


Programming

Long-running TVNZ 2 programmes include children's show ''
What Now ''What Now'' is a New Zealand children's television programme that premiered on Saturday 9 May 1981. It is currently filmed before a live audience at a different school in New Zealand, which is selected every week. The show airs every Sunday at ...
'' (since 1981; on TVNZ 2 since 1989) and soap opera ''
Shortland Street ''Shortland Street'' is a New Zealand prime-time soap opera centring on the fictitious Shortland Street Hospital, first broadcast on TVNZ 2 on 25 May 1992. It is New Zealand's longest-running drama and soap opera, being broadcast continuously ...
'' (since 1992).


TVNZ 2+1

TVNZ 2+1 was launched to Freeview and Sky customers on 1 September 2013 as TV2+1. It is a channel with a one-hour time shift of the Auckland TVNZ 2 feed. The channel is available on Channel 7 on Freeview and 502 on Sky. This channel replaced U, which was an interactive youth-orientated channel. When the channel was launched, TV One Plus 1 (now TVNZ 1+1) moved to Channel 6 on Freeview, while TV2+1 took over Channel 7. It was rebranded as TVNZ 2+1 on 1 October 2016.


Home Learning TV

Home Learning TV was launched on 15 April 2020, and broadcast on the channel from 9am to 3pm on weekdays instead of a timeshift of TVNZ 2. From 12 June, it was shifted to TVNZ 2, broadcasting from 8:15am to 9am on weekdays. It was part of the government's efforts to encourage continued educational engagement during the nationwide lockdown that had closed all New Zealand schools. The content was hosted by various New Zealand educators.


References


External links

* {{Subscription television channels in New Zealand TVNZ New Zealand television channels Television channels and stations established in 1975 English-language television stations in New Zealand