Classic NZ TV Listings

Monday 3 April 1989
from the NZ Listener

Holmes made its debut at 6.30pm on TV One (now TVNZ 1), beginning with the infamous Dennis Conner interview. Over on Network Two (now TVNZ 2), Sale of the Century premiered at 7pm.

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Format of the listing seems very inspired by Radio Times in the UK, probably easier too when there’s only two channels.

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Not terribly surprising, given the Listener was created for the same purpose. All radio stations in NZ up until RNZ Commercial was sold off used to get a free one each week!

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Saturday 10 October 1992
from the NZ Listener

Would you like an ‘O’ for awesome?

Saturday night on Channel 2 (now TVNZ 2) began at 6.30pm with Nick Tansley and Suzy Aiken (now Suzy Clarkson) hosting It’s in the Bag from Taumarunui, followed by Full House (at 7pm). Then, it’s the Celebrity Hour.

Celebrity Face the Music (at 7.30pm) featured Phil Gifford, Ginette McDonald (aka Lynn of Tawa) and Jim Hickey, as celebrity guests played for their chosen charities. After the live Lotto draw (at 8pm) with Hilary Timmins and Grant Kereama, Celebrity Wheel of Fortune had Marlin Bay’s ‘lovable rogue’ Andy Anderson, Fair Go’s ‘consumer watchdog’ Rosalie Nelson and boxing legend David Tua, as celebrity guests attempted to win cash and prizes for home viewers.

The Celebrity Hour was followed at 8.35pm by the Saturday night movie Little Shop of Horrors.

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Interesting to see that Hey Hey It’s Saturday was screened over there. Although I wonder if NZ’ers understood some of the jokes on there.

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Saturday 12 August 1989
from TV Guide

Television One
7.00 My Little Pony & Friends (G)
7.30 Popeye & Son (G)
8.00 What Now? (G)
10.00 Muppet Show Command Performances (G)
10.30 New Adventures of Wonder Woman “Gault’s Brain”
11.30 Mr. Ed (bw)
noon The Virginian (G)
1.20 Dad’s Army (G)
1.50 Sport on One (Countrywide League baskeball semi-final highlights; PGA Championship highlights; live racing from Riccarton; Admiral’s Cup yachting report; FIS International men’s skiing from Mt Hutt)
5.45 Rugby Special: highlights of Counties-Canterbury and the Big 4 Schools Grand Final
6.30 Network News/Sport
7.00 Krypton Factor (G; contestants from Kaukapakapa, Galatea, and Auckland)
7.30 Hi De Hi “Trouble and Strife” (PGR)
8.05 McCormick Country (G)
8.35 NBL Final
10.35 Network News
10.50 Movie “Illustrious Energy” (PGR)
12.45 close

Television Two
11.30 Tagata Pasifika (G)
noon Munsters (G)
12.25 Movie “Follow That Dream” (G)
2.20 Man from UNCLE “The When in Rome Affair” (G)
3.10 Silver Spoons (G)
3.40 Entertainment This Week (G)
4.30 Alison Holst Microwave Menus
5.00 Batman “Tut’s Case is Shut” (G)
5.30 Space Knights (G)
6.00 RTR Countdown (G)
6.30 Growing Pains “Who’s Zoomin’ Who?” (G)
7.00 Head of the Class
7.30 Designing Women
8.00 Lotto
8.05 21 Jump Street “Orpheus 3.5”
9.05 Movie “Doing Life” (AO)
11.05 J.J. Starbuck “Miurder by Design” (PGR)
12.05 close

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An iconic moment in NZ TV that one from David Tua!
Two first-run NZ shows on a Saturday night is pretty impressive. Better than the dreck we sometimes see now on FTA.

Also, I’d always wondered what time slot Full House aired in originally. I only ever caught it in reruns later in the 1990s.

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Thursday 13 March 1991 (Daytime)
from the NZ Listener

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Thursday 13 March 1991 (Evening)
from the NZ Listener

At around 9.30pm on the evening of Thursday 13 March 1991, More Issues premiered on TV One (now TVNZ 1).

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So quaint for 1995

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Also odd that their CNN branded channel aired a mixture of CNN and BBC content

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Yeah they had some weird sort of licence when it was still on UHF that saw the channel branded as CNN but cut away for BBC.

Cartoon Network used to broadcast on Sky 1 from 6am-4pm each day, later Nickelodeon.

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Ah didn’t realise it wasn’t just satĂ©lite, when did they switch over or have both for a while?

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They had both for a while. UHF came in first in 1990, which was an encrypted signal (you could scan on your aerial and find the scrambled signal that you could hear but not see).
Satellite launched in 1998, but the two co-existed for at least a decade.

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When Sky came along on 18 May 1990, Sky News was a 24 hour news channel brimming with content from CNN and the BBC. Despite the similarity of the name shared with its UK/European equivalent, Sky News, there is no longer a connection between them.

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I remember Rima Te Wiata, she was in Sons & Daughters playing a very straight-laced character but showed us her comedic acting in Full Frontal

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Interesting One Network News had extended coverage of the Gulf war early in the morning, also 2 had aired ITN World News. Had no idea NBC Nightly News aired at 12.30 on 3 (possibly due to NBC having a stake in the channel at the time). Funny how Home and Away aired at 5.30pm in the early nineties on 3 but didn’t appear to help 3 National News’ ratings until the 2000’s.

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In December 1994, Sky launched a general entertainment channel known as Orange. It ran seven days a week from 10am until around 11.30pm when Juice TV took over broadcasting. By 1997, Cartoon Network ran from 6am to 4pm daily with Orange running from 4pm until around midnight, and Juice TV through the night until Cartoon Network at 6am.

At that point, Juice TV began broadcasting 24 hours a day by 1997 and became exclusive to Sky Digital by 1998.

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Ah didn’t realise you guys had pay-tv first, but I know our industry was so slow.

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All I remember from sky tv growing up in the 90s was HBO, Orange, Discovery, Cartoon Network and TAB trackside :joy:

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