Horizon Pacific Television was a network of four regional television stations operated by Television New Zealand from 1995 to 1997, with services in Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin on the UHF band. The service carried a mix of local programmes and simulcasts of BBC World. It was later shut down and replaced by a time-shifted feed of MTV Europe with local inserts.
History Horizon Pacific Television started on 19 March 1995 (Sunday) at 3pmNew Zealand Listener, 17-23 March 1995 as part of a diversification of TVNZ's business units post-deregulation. It was created following criticisms regarding the lack of regional programming on TVNZ's channels, and competed against established local services such as Max TV, Mainland Television and Eastland Television.
The network was composed of the following stations: ATV (Auckland) Coast to Coast (Hamilton) Capital City Television (Wellington) Southern Television (Dunedin)
These stations were joined by a fifth, Christchurch's Canterbury Television, which was an independent television station, in November 1995.
In April 1996, the network's audience share doubled to 4,3%.Album offers bonus for X-Files fans: [3 edition]. (1996, Apr 18). Evening Post In June, 25 staff were made redundant, five of which in Wellington.CESSFORD, C. (1996, Jun 20). Five made redundant as Capital TV moves news. Evening Post On 1 September 1996, the network started relaying One News live from TV One in an attempt to integrate the group into TVNZ.PETROVIC, H. (1996, Aug 22). CTV to take TVNZ news hour. The Press
In 1997, Television New Zealand announced that it was going to withdraw the operations of Horizon Pacific due to a lack of financial sustainability to continue. One of the proposals was to enable a Māori language service for primetime, as well as other niche public service offerings, similar to Australia's SBS.DRINNAN, J. (1997, Apr 20). Maori TV plan gains support. Sunday Star - Times The plan was strongly opposed by ethnic Māori because they weren't formally advised to have airtime there.ROBERTSON, C. (1997, Apr 22). Maori against horizon plan - congress chief. Evening Post Early in June, TV3 confirmed that the network was set to close in late June, which TVNZ denied.Regional network to close, says TV3. (1997, Jun 07). Dominion
TVNZ replaced it with MTV, which was seen as a more "competitive" alternative.Waikato Times, 27 June 1997, p.17 MTV would eventually become unprofitable and shut down less than a year later.The Press, 30 May 1998
The shutdown led to redundancies at TVNZ, some of which were compensated for gaining new jobs at TVNZ's news and current affairs division.
Programming At launch, Horizon Pacific carried news bulletins from BBC World, documentaries, drama series (such as Hill Street Blues), lifestyle and musical programming, as well as local programmes. From its launch day, BBC World began being carried overnight on TV One instead of closing down.
Although the channel pledged "regional public service television", critics of the service called the supposed statement of the service as an "oxymoron" due to the abundance of foreign content. In 1995, Capital Television of Wellington pre-empted some national programmes.
The network unveiled a new line-up on 23 January 1996, with the appointment of Maureen Sinton, formerly of TV One, as its new director of programming. Its news bulletins were expanded to a full hour, while the quantity of imported material, especially movies and mini-series, fell, with the hope of using the allotted time for these items for better quality productions. Sundays were given for arts programming, such as The South Bank Show.WAKEFIELD, P. (1996, Jan 23). Capital overhauls its line-up. Evening Post
In January 1996, Southern Television rejected the airing of Express Report, New Zealand's first gay and lesbian lifestyle programme, a move touted by its manager Bevan Rickerby as it could lead to concerns that it wouldn't be well-received by viewers and would jeopardise its advertising revenue. Dunedin mayor Sukhi Turner criticised the ban, as she thought Dunedin was stuck in the past, when, in reality, by then, it was an open-minded city. The other stations in the network aired it in a 10pm timeslot.CLARKE, B. (1996, Jan 21). Channel bans first gay TV show. Sunday Star - Times
With the cuts made at Horizon Pacific in June 1996, the local news bulletins reverted to the previous half-hour format from 1 July, moving from 7pm to 5:30pm. The new timeslot made it unable to compete with Holmes on TV One and Shortland Street on TV2. In July, it started broadcasting alternative British material for the youth such as Crapston VillasKENNEDY, E. (1996, Jul 08). Korean woman's day is never done. Dominion and Eurotrash.BOWRON, J. (1996, Jul 28). Steve-trashing boosts Alec's Street cred. Sunday Star - Times Maureen Sinton removed 60 Minutes repeats as it moved to TV One; the repeats, according to her, make sense because it aired on TV2.WAKEFIELD, P. (1996, Aug 14). String of British dramas screens in late-night slot. Evening Post In addition to the inclusion of One News relays, from September 1996, the line-up added repeated British comedy series, while the gay programme Express Report was renamed Out There and added a new segment, Lesbian Cooking.
Capital Television aired The Hellenic Time in early 1997, produced by the local Greek community and with material from the Hellenic Broadcasting Corporation. Said community showed their concern for moving it to a Friday midnight slot.KING, J. (1997, Feb 01). Greeks upset by TV show's shift. Evening Post After five months, the regional news services were restored in February 1997; Capital's service included a segment where viewers had their say on current topics.Region news back on Horizon. (1997, Feb 08). Dominion Out There was axed, with its last episode airing on 15 April 1997, a decision criticised by gay and lesbian groups.TVNZ slammed for axing gay show. (1997, Apr 03). Evening Post
After closing, its imported output moved to TV One. References