Four (New Zealand TV channel)
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2014) |
SDTV) | |
Timeshift service |
|
---|---|
Ownership | |
Owner | TVWorks (1997 Original) MediaWorks New Zealand (2011 relaunch) |
Sister channels | |
History | |
Launched | Original (as TV4) 29 June 1997 Relaunch (as FOUR) 6 February 2011 |
Closed | Original (as TV4) 3 October 2003 Final (as FOUR) 2 July 2016 |
Replaced by |
|
Former names | TV4 (1997 - 2003) |
Links | |
Website | www |
Availability | |
Terrestrial | |
64-QAM on band IV |
Four (stylised as FOUR; formerly TV4) was the second New Zealand television channel owned and operated by MediaWorks New Zealand, broadcast via the state-owned Kordia 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
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
History
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
On 6 February 2011, TV4 returned as Four. MediaWorks announced this in October 2010, and said the new network would focus on children's programming during the day and a range of shows aimed at the 18-to-49-year-old audience in the evening. The first programme to air on Four was The Simpsons episode "Elementary School Musical" (not coincidentally featuring New Zealand band Flight of the Conchords).
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, Family Guy, Glee 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 from TV3 to Four also lost the NZ On Air funding that is given to TV3 to get EIA-608 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. At 10:50 pm on Saturday 2 July 2016, the channel closed with Feist singing "1234" (the same Sesame Street 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
References
- ^ "Mediaworks dumps FOUR for new reality channel Bravo". Stuff.
- ^ "MEDIAWORKS TV ANNOUNCES FOUR PLUS 1". 29 May 2014. Archived from the original on 23 June 2016.