Sky Open (formerly known as Prime) is a New Zealand

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

television network. It airs a varied mix of programming, largely imported from Australia, the United Kingdom and the United States. It was originally owned by

Prime Television Limited Prime Media Group Limited (formerly Prime Television Limited) was an Australian-based media corporation that formerly owned regional television network Prime7 in eastern Australia and GWN7 in regional Western Australia. It also owned ishop TV, ...

in Australia. Prime later entered into a joint-venture agreement with

Nine Entertainment Co. Nine Entertainment Co. Holdings Limited is an Australian publicly listed company with holdings in mass media radio and television broadcasting, publishing and digital media. It uses Nine as its corporate branding. The entity is largely a succ ...

(Nine Network Australia) in February 2002, causing the network's graphics to look like the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

. On 8 February 2006, the

Commerce Commission The Commerce Commission () (sometimes shortened to ComCom) is a New Zealand government agency with responsibility for enforcing legislation that relates to competition in the country's markets, fair trading and consumer credit contracts, and r ...

gave

Sky The sky is an unobstructed view upward from the planetary surface, surface of the Earth. It includes the atmosphere of Earth, atmosphere and outer space. It may also be considered a place between the ground and outer space, thus distinct from ...

clearance to purchase the station for NZ$31 million. Prime's analogue terrestrial signals had covered 91% of the population via the state-owned

Kordia Kordia is a New Zealand state-owned enterprise. It provides a range of services, including connectivity, cloud and cyber security services, as well as managed IT, field services, broadcast and safety of life communications. Kordia owns and op ...

transmission network. It is currently available free-to-air on

on satellite and

on terrestrial.

History

Prime (1998–2023)

During early 1998, the

United Christian Broadcasters United Christian Broadcasters (UCB) is an international Christian broadcasting and media group, founded by Rhema Media. Through affiliates in twenty five countries, it operates radio and television stations and publishes and broadcasts Bob G ...

purchased 34 TV licences of UHF spectrum from TVNZ that had been used for the defunct Horizon Pacific and

MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...

channels. Then during June 1998, Prime Television Limited in Australia purchased the unused 34 TV licences from United Christian Broadcasters for approximately A$3.6 million. The licences covered all major cities and towns, mainly on

UHF Ultra high frequency (UHF) is the ITU designation for radio frequencies in the range between 300 megahertz (MHz) and 3 gigahertz (GHz), also known as the decimetre band as the wavelengths range from one meter to one tenth of a meter ...

, except for the Gisborne area, which is served via a VHF signal. On 30 August 1998, Prime Television New Zealand began broadcasting at 6.30 pm with ''

Two Fat Ladies ''Two Fat Ladies'' was a British cooking programme starring Jennifer Paterson and Clarissa Dickson Wright. It originally ran for four series – twenty-four episodes – from 9 October 1996 to 28 September 1999, being produced by Optomen, Optom ...

''. Originally the station broadcast classic British programming, documentaries, sports and dramas aimed at the 30 years and above age bracket. In

Waikato The Waikato () is a region of the upper North Island of New Zealand. It covers the Waikato District, Waipā District, Matamata-Piako District, South Waikato District and Hamilton City, as well as Hauraki, Coromandel Peninsula, the nort ...

and

Christchurch Christchurch (; ) is the largest city in the South Island and the List of cities in New Zealand, second-largest city by urban area population in New Zealand. Christchurch has an urban population of , and a metropolitan population of over hal ...

, Prime produced a half-hour nightly news programme. Although these programmes rated well, they were unprofitable. In February 2002, Prime New Zealand entered into an agreement with Australian media mogul

Kerry Packer Kerry Francis Bullmore Packer (17 December 1937 – 26 December 2005) was an Australian media tycoon, and was considered one of Australia's most powerful media proprietors of the twentieth century. The Packer family company owned a controlling ...

's PBL (parent of the Nine Network). Under this five-year agreement, Nine agreed to provide the station with content it owned the rights to, expertise and an amount of cash. In return, Nine was given the right to acquire 54% of Prime New Zealand at the end of the contract. If Prime New Zealand continued to lose money, Nine could choose not to take this up. After this deal, Prime took on a broader and more expensive programming mix and axed the local content to cut costs. This increased ratings and profits significantly. This new format was modelled closely on the

Global Television Network The Global Television Network (more commonly called Global, or occasionally Global TV) is a Television in Canada, Canadian English language, English-language terrestrial television, terrestrial television network. It is currently Canada's se ...

in Canada, whose parent company

Canwest Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place (now called 201 Portage). It held radio, ...

happened to own

TV3 Channel 3 or TV 3 may refer to: Television *Canal 3 (Burkina Faso), a commercial television channel in Burkina Faso * Canal 3 Niger, a commercial television channel in Niger * Canal 3 (Guatemala), a commercial television channel in Guatemala * Can ...

at the time. Almost immediately, some Australian programmes produced by Nine Network and shown on Prime NZ took on a slightly New Zealand flavour. For example, one New Zealander per week began to appear on the Australian version of ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

'', and weather details for New Zealand cities appeared on the Australian ''

Today Today (archaically to-day) may refer to: * The current day and calendar date ** Today is between and , subject to the local time zone * Now, the time that is perceived directly, present * The current, present era Arts, entertainment and m ...

'' breakfast programme. Localisation of Australian programmes increased, with New Zealander

Charlotte Dawson Charlotte Dawson (8 April 1966 – 22 February 2014) was a New Zealand–Australian television personality. She was known in New Zealand for her roles as host of '' Getaway'', and in Australia as a host on '' The Contender Australia'' and as a ...

becoming the presenter of a New Zealand version of Nine travel programme '' Getaway'' (Dawson left this position at the end of 2006). Many Australian programmes were simply broadcast on Prime without any adaptation for New Zealand audiences, however. The new line-up was comparable to TV2, as the British programming was replaced largely by made-for-TV movies and infotainment programmes. In addition to Nine's content, Prime had an output deal with Paramount for films and TV series. During 2003–2004, the number of Australian programmes broadcast decreased. These were largely replaced with more expensive (and higher rated) British and American programmes, such as a Sunday evening British drama slot. On 2 November 2004,

TVNZ Television New Zealand (, "Te Reo Tātaki" meaning "The Leading Voice"), more commonly referred to as TVNZ, is a New Zealand state-owned media company and Crown entity. The company operates a television network, streaming service, and news se ...

presenter Paul Holmes announced that he was resigning from his ''Holmes'' programme on the state broadcaster and beginning a new one on Prime in 2005. This new programme, called ''Paul Holmes'', began on 7 February 2005. The arrival of Holmes was seen as a major sign of Prime's rise in status, from a small, second-tier network to a major player on the New Zealand scene, joining TVNZ and TV3 in this regard. The programme, however, did not rate well. In June 2005, Prime moved the show to 6 pm, directly following ''Prime News'', in an attempt to increase ratings. This was ultimately unsuccessful and Prime TV cancelled the programme on 8 August 2005 due to poor ratings. Holmes returned to host a one-hour weekly current affairs/interview programme, which was still called ''Holmes'', and screened on Thursday evenings. In 2006, the show was relaunched as a strictly entertainment-oriented talk show and screened on Wednesday evenings. It did not return in 2007, but two "specials" were filmed. For most of 2007, Holmes' work for Prime consisted solely of a weekly opinion segment, broadcast Sunday nights as part of Prime News. In late December 2004, Prime announced it had acquired New Zealand broadcast rights for the new series of ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

'', one of its highest-profile imported shows, which went on to screen in June 2005 to generally good ratings until December 2017 when

TVNZ 2 TVNZ 2 () is the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by the state-owned broadcaster Television New Zealand (TVNZ). It targets a younger audience than its sister channel, TVNZ 1. TVNZ 2's line up consists of dramas, comedie ...

took over the broadcasting rights to the show. In 2005, Prime announced that it would broadcast a minimum of 5.5% of local programmes, following recommendations from

NZ On Air NZ On Air (NZOA; ), formally the Broadcasting Commission, is an Crown entity, autonomous Crown entity and commission of the New Zealand Government responsible for providing funding for broadcasting and creative works. The commission operates l ...

. From 6 October 2005, Prime showed a weekly programme called ''

New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers ''New Zealand's Top 100 History Makers'' was a weekly television programme first shown on Prime Television New Zealand on 6 October 2005. 430 notable New Zealanders were ranked by a panel to determine the 100 most influential in New Zealand hi ...

'', where a brief biography of notable New Zealanders was shown as ranked by a panel of experts. The final episode, screened on 17 November 2005, showed the rankings of these people as a result of votes collected from the public via text and Internet. In November 2005, Sky Television purchased Prime for

NZ$ The New Zealand dollar (; currency sign, sign: $; ISO 4217, code: NZD) is the official currency and legal tender of New Zealand, the Cook Islands, Niue, the Ross Dependency, Tokelau, and a British territory, the Pitcairn Islands. Within New Zeal ...

30 million. The deal was subject to

approval and undisclosed conditions. On 8 February 2006, following receipt of Commerce Commission clearance, Sky Television purchased Prime New Zealand from Australian-based

Prime Television Prime7, formerly Prime Television and other names, was an Australian television network. Prime Television launched on 17 March 1962 as '' CBN-8'' in Orange, and later expanded to cover regional New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Ca ...

. The acquisition of Prime by Sky Television saw a range of shows screened on Sky channels now included on Prime, these shows included ''

American Chopper ''American Chopper'' is an American reality television series that airs on Discovery Channel, produced by Pilgrim Films & Television. The series centers on Paul Teutul Sr. (frequently called ''Senior''), and his son Paul Teutul Jr. (also know ...

'' and ''

MythBusters ''MythBusters'' is a science entertainment television series created by Peter Rees (producer), Peter Rees and produced by Beyond International in Australia. The series premiered on the Discovery Channel on January 23, 2003. It was broadcast in ...

'', which screen on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel, known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery, is an American cable channel that is best known for its ongoing reality television shows and promotion of pseudoscience. It init ...

. The move was seen with some concerns from the local television industry, under the grounds that Sky's money would be used to buy content for it. In December 2005, it was announced that Prime had secured the 2006 free-to-air delayed broadcast of

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

from TV3. On 4 September 2006, the network relaunched with a modified logo, already seen in print advertisements, and new on-air branding. In April 2008, Prime switch to broadcasting in a lower quality

anamorphic widescreen Anamorphic widescreen (also called full-height anamorphic or FHA) is a process by which a widescreen image is horizontally compressed to fit into a storage medium (photographic film or MPEG-2 standard-definition frame, for example) with a narr ...

16:9 format following the lead of other Freeview and Sky channels. Previously they had opted to use the more proportionally scaled

letterboxed Letter-boxing is the practice of transferring film shot in a widescreen aspect ratio to standard-width video formats while preserving the film's original aspect ratio. The resulting video-graphic image has mattes of empty space above and belo ...

format for 16:9 content. They like other Kordia

PAL Phase Alternating Line (PAL) is a color encoding system for analog television. It was one of three major analogue colour television standards, the others being NTSC and SECAM. In most countries it was broadcast at 625 lines, 50 fields (25 ...

analogue broadcasters are using a 14:9 letterbox format on their PAL

simulcast Simulcast (a portmanteau of "simultaneous broadcast") is the broadcasting of programs or events across more than one resolution, bitrate or medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at exactly the same time (that is, simultaneously) ...

. Prime signed a deal with

CBS Television Distribution CBS Media Ventures, Inc. (formerly CBS Paramount Domestic Television and CBS Television Distribution) is the television broadcast syndication arm of CBS Studios, a division of the CBS Entertainment Group, in turn a division of Paramount Global, ...

to air exclusive first run content from 1 January 2013. On 13 February 2016, Prime underwent a brand refresh and began permanently broadcasting in High Definition. In 2018, ''

Love Island Love Island may refer to: Film * ''Love Island'' (1952 film), an American film directed by Adam Lloyd starring Todd Wathen and Eva Gabor * ''Love Island'' (2014 film), directed by Jasmila Žbanić Music * ''Love Island'' (album), a 1978 album ...

'' started showing on this channel shifting from TVNZ 2. On 28 March 2023, Prime updated with a new look featuring the outline version of the 2016 logo. On 17 August 2023, it was announced that Prime would change its name to Sky Open on 23 August 2023.

High Definition

In 2010, Prime HD was temporarily launched only on Sky TV Channel 140 to cover the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

. Prime HD was only available during every Olympics or Commonwealth games on Channel 444. Freeview HD viewers did not have the option to see the Olympic or Commonwealth games in high definition. On 13 February 2016, Prime underwent a brand refresh and began permanently broadcasting in High Definition. On 11 December 2019, Prime was made available in HD to Freeview DTT viewers.

Freeview

On 7 May 2007, a consortium of broadcasters including

, MediaWorks (owners of

and C4), Maori Television Service, and

Radio New Zealand Radio New Zealand (), commonly known as RNZ or Radio NZ, is a New Zealand public service broadcaster and Crown entity. Established under the Radio New Zealand Act 1995, it operates news and current affairs station, RNZ National, and a classi ...

launched the non-profit,

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), a ...

service, the nationwide digital free-to-air system in New Zealand. The service was initially broadcast via the

Optus D1 This is a list of the satellites operated by Optus, an Australian telecommunications company. The satellite communications facility is located at Belrose on Sydney's Northern Beaches. Optus' satellites are divided into 4 classes A, B, C and D. As ...

satellite in standard definition only, but in April 2008 extended to a high definition digital terrestrial service which is broadcast in main centres only. Prime was widely expected to be included in the initial group of Freeview channels, but Sky Television had consistently refused to take part, citing poor economics. Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman then asked officials to invite Sky, Freeview and state-owned transmission company

to meet him to discuss the matter, but Sky TV spokesman Tony O'Brien was quoted as saying "It is not economic for Prime to be on Freeview at this time." The economics had to do with non-government-owned broadcasters paying less for transmission costs on the government-owned Kordia network. A deal between TVNZ and Sky to have

TVNZ 6 TVNZ 6 was a digital-only, commercial-free television channel operated by Television New Zealand. It launched in September 2007, and was available in 60.3% of New Zealand homes on the Freeview and SKY Television Digital platforms. TVNZ 6 was ...

and 7 available to Sky subscribers in exchange for Prime finally being launched on Freeview with a

virtual channel In most telecommunications organizations, a virtual channel is a method of remapping the ''program number'' as used in H.222 Program Association Tables and Program Mapping Tables to a channel number that can be entered as digits on a receiver's ...

assignment of 10 on 17 August 2009. If Prime would have joined at launch then they may have been able to get a lower assignment, however

assignments are only enforced on ''certified'' receivers. It is also noted virtual channel 10 is not far off its usual tuning to push-button 9 on analogue television sets, due to its historic links with the Nine Network, its allocation on Sky's former analogue terrestrial service, and for compatibility with video recorders using the G-Code scheduling system. Prime joined

on 17 August 2009 and is broadcasting in the clear on both the satellite and terrestrial services. From October 2013, Sky ceased the encryption on the three regional satellite feeds for Prime, so they could be used for channel locked, Freeview certified satellite receivers. However, TVNZ is still only linking to the Auckland regional feed for all areas. Prime swapped Freeview positions with Te Reo, on 1 March 2023, with Prime moving to channel 15, and Te Reo moving to channel 10.

News First

From launch Prime broadcast local newscasts in Christchurch and Hamilton on weeknights at 5:30pm. Christchurch's bulletin was anchored by Vanessa Rawson, with Mei Taare anchoring Hamilton's bulletin. Both bulletins ran for half an hour, but due to intense competition for local news in Christchurch and a lack of viewership, both bulletins were cancelled. Prime launched a nightly news bulletin – branded as Prime News – First at 5:30, from 2004. Unlike their early foray into local news, the new bulletins were screened nationwide and as a result, held a stronger national focus. It was confirmed on April 10 of 2024, News First at 5:30PM would cease production due to Warner Bros. Discovery's closure of the

Newshub ''Newshub'' (stylised as Newshub.) was a New Zealand news service that operated from 1989 to 2024 and served as the local news division of Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand until its closure. The division, known as ''3 News'' until 2016, had ...

newsroom. It is unknown whether the newscast "could be salvaged, whether or not it was under the Newshub banner," according to Stuff NZ, however the newscast ceased broadcasting on the same day as Newshub.

Hosts

* Weekdays – Eric Young 2006 – 2024 * Weekends – Janika ter Ellen 2015 – 2023 * Substitute – Janika ter Ellen

Former hosts

* Suzy Clarkson (née Aiken) 2004 – 2010 *

Ross Karl Ross may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ross (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Ross, as well as the meaning * Clan Ross, a Highland Scottish clan Places Antarctica * Ross Sea * ...

(Sports) * Kelly Swanson-Roe *

Karen Rutherford Karen may refer to: * Karen (name), a given name and surname * Karen (slang), a term and meme for a demanding white woman displaying certain behaviors People * Karen people, an ethnic group in Myanmar and Thailand * House of Karen, a historic ...

Alistar Wilkinson Alistar is a given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: *Alistar Boyd, former Australian rugby union player *Alistar Fredericks, former South African field hockey player *Alistar Jordan (born 1949), former New Zealand cricketer ...

Charlotte Bellis Charlotte Bellis is a New Zealand journalist who previously reported for Al Jazeera. Bellis attracted media attention in August 2021 after interviewing a senior Taliban leader Abdul Qahar Balkhi following the fall of Kabul. In early 2022, Bellis ...

* Wayne Hay *

Garry Wilkinson Garry may refer to: Names *Gary (given name) or Garry *Garry (surname) Places * Cape Garry, South Shetlands *Fort Garry, Winnipeg, a district in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada * Garry Lake, Nunavut, Canada * Rural Municipality of Garry No. 245, ...

Presentation

2004–2006
Launched in February 2004 as ''Prime News – First at 5:30'' and was presented on weeknights by former ''Getaway'' (

version) presenter and

ABC (US) The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast Television broadcaster, television and radio Radio network, network that serves as the flagship property of the Disney Entertainment division ...

reporter Suzy Clarkson (née Aiken) and was produced in Sydney by

Sky News Australia Sky News Australia is an Australian news channel owned by News Corp Australia. Originally launched on 19 February 1996, it broadcasts rolling news coverage throughout the day, while its prime time lineup is dedicated to opinion-based programs fe ...

, using the resources of Sky News Australia and

Newstalk ZB Newstalk ZB is a nationwide New Zealand talk radio, talk-radio network operated by New Zealand Media and Entertainment, NZME Radio. It is available in almost every media market, radio market area in New Zealand, and has news reporters based in m ...

broadcasting from a

chroma key Chroma key compositing, or chroma keying, is a Visual effects, visual-effects and post-production technique for compositing (layering) two or more images or video streams together based on colour hues (colorfulness, chroma range). The techniq ...

ed studio.
2006–2015
In 2006 Prime and Sky TV moved to a new broadcast hub in Albany near Auckland New Zealand, A new studio and host Eric Young coincided with the move and a relaunch of Prime. Prime News, and used the same graphics and music as its sister bulletin

Sky News Sky News is a British free-to-air television news channel, live stream news network and news organisation. Sky News is distributed via an English-language radio news service, and through online channels. It is owned by Sky Group, a division of ...

, it also sourced more local content sourced primarily from

3 News ''Newshub'' (stylised as Newshub.) was a New Zealand news service that operated from 1989 to 2024 and served as the local news division of Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand until its closure. The division, known as ''3 News'' until 2016, had ...

. The role of sports newsreader was held by Suzy Clarkson (née Aiken), and newcomers Kelly Swanson-Roe and Ross Karl, with Clarkson also reading the weekend news. Political coverage was provided by

political editor Barry Soper, along with several other Wellington-based reporters, at this stage Prime had no full-time South Island reporters. During the Rugby World Cup 2011, Prime News hosted several bulletins from the

ANZ Viaduct Events Centre The Viaduct Events Centre is a stand-alone, multi-purpose events centre built on the Halsey Street extension wharf, Wynyard Quarter of Auckland, New Zealand. It was owned and operated by Regional Facilities Auckland, an organisation under the con ...

in Central Auckland. During the 2012 London Olympic Games Prime News broadcast from a temporary shared space with Sky Sport.
2015-2023
On 23 January 2015 it was announced that Prime News will be Produced by MediaWorks (now produced by Warner Bros. Discovery NZ), and it was confirmed that Janika ter Ellen, and Wayne Hay will replace Eric Young due to his current commitments he was unable to present the show. The new look show debuted on Sunday 1 March presented by Janika ter Ellen. On Monday 13 April Eric Young returned as Weekday Anchor, with Wayne Hay moving to 60 Minutes and Janika ter Ellen staying at weekends. On 16 February 2016 a new look logo was launched and news began being presented and broadcast in High Definition. As part of the rebranding to Sky Open on 23 August 2023, Prime News was rebranded as News First.

Current affairs

Current affairs is provided as a New Zealand-hosted version of the CBS show ''

60 Minutes ''60 Minutes'' is an American television news magazine broadcast on the CBS television network. Debuting in 1968, the program was created by Don Hewitt and Bill Leonard, who distinguished it from other news programs by using a unique style o ...

'' with the bulk of the stories coming from the foreign show. Hosts included: 2015 :

2016 :

Alistair Wilkinson Alistair is a male given name. It is an Anglicised form of the Scottish Gaelic name ''Alasdair''. The latter is most likely a Scottish Gaelic variant of the Norman name Alexandre or the Latin name Alexander, which was incorporated into English in ...

Programming

Sports

With Prime 100% owned by

Sky Network Television Sky Network Television Limited, more commonly known as Sky, is a New Zealand broadcasting company that provides pay television services via satellite television, satellite, media streaming services, and broadband internet services. Sky had 1,0 ...

, it has access to a large selection of sports content that Sky broadcasts, this content is typically delayed with some live coverage of certain events to fulfill free-to-air requirements, as Sky is effectively selling them to itself. Prime used to broadcast a weekly Sunday afternoon sports highlights show called ''Ultimate Sport Sunday'', which included highlights of cricket,

, NRL,

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

WRC WRC may refer to: Broadcasting stations * WRC-TV, a television station (virtual channel 4, digital channel 34) licensed to Washington, D.C., United States * Several radio stations in the Washington, D.C. area: ** WWRC, a radio station (570 AM) l ...

and

Moto GP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the highest class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start ...

. Prime was also granted the rights to broadcast the free to air screening of

Euro 2008 The 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2008 or simply Euro 2008, was the 13th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by the member nations of UEFA (the Union of European ...

. Free to air coverage of the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Olympics was seen on Prime with Sky being the new rights holder. Prime is the Free TV broadcaster of the

ANZ Premiership The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netbal ...

and shows highlights weekly. Prime also broadcasts one-hour versions of

WWE Raw ''WWE Raw'', also known as ''Monday Night Raw'' or simply ''Raw'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It currently airs Live television, live every Monday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on Netflix. The show fe ...

WWE NXT ''WWE NXT'', also known simply as ''NXT'', is an American professional wrestling television program. It is produced by the American professional wrestling promotion WWE, featuring wrestlers from the promotion's NXT brand division. The show c ...

and

WWE Smackdown ''WWE SmackDown'', also known as ''Friday Night SmackDown'' or simply ''SmackDown'', is an American professional wrestling television program produced by WWE. It airs Live television, live every Friday at 8 p.m. Eastern Time (ET) on USA Netwo ...

NZ On Air funded

Native concept

* ''

Back Benches ''Back Benches'' was a New Zealand political interview show, presented by Wallace Chapman and Damian Christie. It was primarily filmed at the Backbencher pub, across the street from Parliament Buildings in Wellington. The show was cancelle ...

'' * ''

The Brokenwood Mysteries ''The Brokenwood Mysteries'' is a New Zealand television detective drama series that premiered on Prime (now Sky Open) in 2014. Each of the first six series comprises four episodes. From Series 7, seasons were extended to six episodes. The progr ...

Locally made programmes

The following shows are screened for most of the year (normally only excluding summer months)

Past/ended locally-made programmes

Past news programming

Prime used to broadcast

Australia's early morning news programmes such as ''

'' and, until 6 February 2007, '' National Nine News: Morning Edition'' when the Nine Network had ownership. Overnight, and during important international news events such as the

2008 US Presidential Election Presidential elections were held in the United States on November 4, 2008. The Democratic ticket of Barack Obama, the junior senator from Illinois, and Joe Biden, the senior senator from Delaware, defeated the Republican ticket of John Mc ...

, it has relayed the international feed of US news channel

Fox News The Fox News Channel (FNC), commonly known as Fox News, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conservatism in the United States, conservative List of news television channels, news and political commentary Television stati ...

Output contracts

Paramount Global Distribution Group Paramount Global Content Distribution is the international television distribution arm of American media conglomerate, Paramount Global, originally established in 1962 as the international distribution division of Desilu Productions. With the s ...

(exclusive) * NBCUniversal International Television Distribution (non-exclusive) * Lionsgate Worldwide Television Distribution Group (first-option with Sky and Prime channels) * Warner Bros. Worldwide Television Distribution (from 2019)

Sky Open +1

Sky Open +1 is an hour delayed

timeshift channel A timeshift channel or time-shift 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 its parent: the term ''timeshift'' does not ...

of the Sky Open broadcast. It was launched on 1 February 2017 as Prime Plus 1. It is available on Sky channel 514 or can be manually tuned to free-to-air satellite-signal receivers.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Television channels in New Zealand Television channels and stations established in 1998 English-language television stations in New Zealand