TVNZ and SKY will launch a new TV channel on the pay operators platform in June.

 

The new channel, named TVNZ Heartland, will be New Zealands first channel with 100% local content and will be available to all subscribers to the SKY basic package.

 

Chief Executive Rick Ellis said TVNZ Heartland would be a showcase of New Zealands best home-grown television.

 

Heartland will be a celebration of New Zealand and New Zealanders through some of our finest TV shows some classics and some more recent shows.

 

Mr Ellis said the move to include pay TV in the companys portfolio of platforms was a logical extension of TVNZs strategy Inspiring New Zealanders on Every Screen, which began in 2006.

 

Were delighted to be entering the pay TV market in partnership with SKY TV, as a complement to our free-to-air business, he said.

 

SKYs enthusiasm for the idea has given us an opportunity to build a commercially-viable channel that will bring first class New Zealand content to a big audience. Without the SKY pay platform, this project would not have gone ahead.

 

John Fellet, CEO of SKY Television, is equally delighted.

 

This vault of content which includes some of New Zealands most beloved shows is the biggest untapped resource since the Maui oil fields, he said.

 

The Heartland programme schedule will be released in May.

 

 

 

Contact:

Megan Richards

TVNZ Corporate Affairs

021 804 123

 

Tony OBrien

Director of Communications

SKY Network Television Ltd

09 579 9999

021 497 830