Welcome to the thread for my dream TV network, Plus, and its sister networks, as well as the radio station Juice FM and their sister stations. We are (fictionally) trading under the name of Plus Media Ltd (NZX: PLU).
This is the place people can talk about, share, and provide feedback for everything to do with Plus, its schedules, the sister channels, and the branding of the channels.
DISCLAIMER: Plus (Plus Media Ltd) is a fictional broadcaster and will not broadcast to New Zealand, as it is fictitious and imaginary. Thank you for understanding.
Introduction to Plus
Plus would be a New Zealand free-to-air channel located on Freeview channel 17 (between Al Jazeera and Kordia TV) and Sky channel 26 (currently between The Shopping Channel and Sky Movies Premiere). It would operate 7 days a week, 365 days a year and would contain no infomercials as it would be privately funded. Without further ado, here is a schedule for the first few months on air.
PLUS SCHEDULE
Note: This schedule was deemed current until June 1st 2021. It has been kept here as a relic of the station’s beginning.
Monday-Friday
5:30am: Plus Early News
6am: Wakey-Wakey! (Preschool programming, mainly stuff from Disney and Nickelodeon but also reruns of Bumble and the Moe Show)
9am: GMTV (Lifestyle/news programme)
11am: Rachael Ray
12pm: Plus Midday News
12:30pm: Jeopardy!
1pm: TV Movie (something like Three currently does)
3pm: Toonattk PM (Weekday version of children’s block, stuff from CN, Nick and Disney)
5pm: Family Matters (US sitcom)
5:30pm: Neighbours
6pm: Plus News at 6
7pm: Evening programmes (Themed Nights)
Monday - Reality shows (Name that Tune, Top Chef, Supermarket Sweep)
Tuesday - Comedy night (The Office, Superstore, How I Met Your Mother)
Wednesday - Sci-Fi night (Buffy, Star Trek, Black Mirror)
Thursday - Drama/Documentaries (Downton Abbey, The Crown, How It’s Made, The Right Stuff)
Friday - Movie night (Family movie followed by blockbuster, limited commercials)
11:00pm: Friends (Monday-Wed)/30 Rock (Friday, can be pre-empted for longer movies)
11:30pm: Plus Late News
11:45pm: The Late Late Show with James Corden
12:45am: Robot Chicken
1am: Plus Nightscreen (Promos and information, with music from Juice FM)
Saturday/Sunday:
5:30am: Plus Early News
6am: Wakey Wakey!
7am: Toonattk (Children’s programmes, weekend version of Toonattk PM, same programming sources)
12pm: Plus Midday News
12:30pm: Full House
1pm: Golden Afternoons - classic programmes (e.g The Lone Ranger, Hogan’s Heroes, The Three Stooges)
5pm: Trouble Top 10 (Saturdays only)
6pm: Plus News at 6
7pm: Saturday - Animation Domination (animated shows e.g Family Guy, Futurama, The Great North, Bless the Harts)/Sunday - The Wonderful World of Disney (Disney movies/sneak peeks/specials).
10pm: Who’s Line is It Anyway? (Sunday only)
11pm: Plus Late News
11:15pm: Saturday - Last Week Tonight with John Oliver/Sunday - Ally McBeal
11:45pm: Aqua Teen Hunger Force
12am: Plus Nightscreen
@PaddyTePou has helped me by choosing anchors for Plus’s news programmes. Big thanks to him!
Plus News at 6:30pm
For Plus’s main evening news bulletin (at 6.30pm), it would be co- anchored by Mike McRoberts and Samantha Hayes (from Newshub, in real life). Eric Young (from Prime News) will be the sports anchor, and Dan Corbett (from TVNZ’s 1 NEWS) will bring the weather.
Melissa Chan-Green (from Newshub) will be the sole anchor of the weekend news (at 6.30pm) on Plus. Nicky Styris (from Newshub, in real life) will read the weekend sport and Heather Keats (from The Sound) will anchor the weather.
Jenny Suo (from TVNZ, in real life) will anchor Plus News Updates during the evening on weeknights (at approx 8pm, 9pm, 10pm and 11pm).
Plus Early News/GMTV
Susie Nordqvist (who left Newshub recently to join TVNZ and front a New Zealand version of A Current Affair on TVNZ 2) will anchor Plus’s early morning news bulletin (at 5.30am) and later in the day, Duncan Garner and Amanda Gillies (from The AM Show, in real life) will co-host GMTV from 9-11am. Alex O’Hara (from Newshub) will anchor the weekend edition of Plus’s early morning news.
Plus Midday News
Miriama Kamo (from TVNZ) will anchor Plus’s midday news bulletin (at 12pm). The one-hour format will bring viewers the latest breaking news and sport with live reports from around New Zealand and discussion on the big stories of the day. Ingrid Hipkiss (from Newshub) will anchor the weekend edition of Plus’s midday news, which runs for half an hour.
Hi @LiamP - before I focus more on my own dream network (Patrick Te Pou Enterprises Ltd, trading as PTV Network New Zealand), I have left you the logos for Plus Television as your dream network.
I created these using Microsoft PowerPoint (below). The official font for Plus is MarkPro, which is the same official font as Sky Network Television (in real life).
@LiamP Hi Liam - my dream network (Patrick Te Pou Enterprises Ltd, trading as PTV Network New Zealand) has a family of 7 channels (i.e. PTV1, PTV2, PTV3, PTV4, PTV5, PTV6 and CPTV) and @AK_NEWS’s WTV has 3 channels (i.e. WTV One, WTV Two, WTV Three).
Your dream network (Plus Television) has only one channel. Will you be interested in creating a family of free-to-air channels in the future?
ALF will no longer be found on weekdays. It will now move to Sundays at 12:30pm, replacing Beverly Hills 90210’s spot. BH90210 will still air on Saturdays.
Also, as ALF is only a half-hour programme compared to BH90210’s hour long length, it will be joined by the classic ABC sitcom Full House at 1pm.
In ALF’s place will be Brain Games, the Nat Geo series that tests how good your brain reflexes are in a series of fantastic mind-boggling puzzles that you at home can play along to. Brain Games will air Monday-Friday at 5pm, serving as a nice transition between Toonattk PM’s children programming and the more adult-oriented programming, starting with Neighbours.
Brain Games consists of 66 half hour episodes (from 2011 to 2016) but returned last year (2020) with an hour-long special and 8 hour-long episodes. When the half hour episodes run out, will there be a replacement programme in the 5pm slot?
THE “NIGHTS” SYSTEM
On Plus, each night will be themed to a different genre of TV shows, both new and old. Here is a sample of what you could see on weekdays nights:
Monday - Reality Night
7pm - Name that Tune (NEW)
8pm - Supermarket Sweep (NEW)
9pm - Who Wants to Be A Millionaire US (NEW)
10pm - Top Chef
Tuesday - Comedy Night
7pm - Malcolm in the Middle
7:30pm - Superstore (NEW)
8pm - Young Sheldon (NEW)
8:30pm - Mom (NEW)
9pm - The Office (US, DOUBLE EPISODE)
10pm - MadTV
Wednesday - Sci-Fi Night
7pm - Doctor Who (NEW)
8pm - Star Trek: The Original Series
9:00pm - Rosewell: New Mexico (NEW)
10pm - Black Mirror (FREE-TO-AIR PREMIERE)
Thursday - Drama/Documentary Night
7pm: How It’s Made
7:30pm: The Toys That Made Us (Netflix series, NEW)
8:30pm: Downton Abbey
9:30pm: The Crown (FREE-TO-AIR PREMIERE)
10:30pm: Russian Doll (NEW)
Friday - Movie Night
7pm - Family movie (non-Disney, those will be saved for Sundays)
9pm - Blockbuster movie
Saturday - Animation Domination
7pm - Futurama
7:30pm - King of the Hill
8pm - Bob’s Burgers (NEW)
8:30pm - The Great North (NEW)
9pm - Family Guy (NEW)
9:30pm - American Dad (NEW)
10pm - Paradise PD (NEW)
10:30pm - Brickleberry (NEW)
Sunday - The Wonderful World of Disney
7pm - Disney movie/specials
9pm - The Imagineering Story (NEW)
Of course, these shows will change as the channel airs more new content.
Wednesday - Sci-Fi Night (PS: Charmed and Roswell: New Mexico are, in fact, hour-long series - not half hours - and I had to remove Charmed from the schedule.)
Thursday - Drama/Documentary Night (PS: Although Plus’s evening lineup finishes at around 11pm, Russian Doll is, in fact, an hour-long series - not a half hour - and finishes at 11.30pm.)
I had to put the classification symbol (as of 1 May 2020) on the right side of each picture. It’s important to know that all free-to-air television programmes in New Zealand must be appropriately classified (i.e. rated) and broadcast in the appropriate timeband. There are five classifications: G, PG, M, 16 and 18.
G and PG programmes may be screened at any time. Programmes classified G are approved for general viewing while PG programmes recommend parental guidance for younger audiences.
M programmes may only be screened between 9am-3pm weekdays (except during school and public holidays, as designated by the Ministry of Education) and after 7.30pm until 5am. The M classification indicates that programmes are suitable for mature audiences 16 years and over and may contain content that some children and parents find challenging (i.e. violence, sexual content, offensive language, adult themes, nudity etc), as well as content with a moderate impact and themes that require a mature outlook.
Programmes classified 16 may only be screened after 8.30pm until 5am. The 16 classification indicates that programmes should not be viewed by people under 16 years and contain stronger material or special elements which are outside the M classification, such as a greater degree of sexual content, offensive language, realistic violence and stronger adult themes.
Programmes classified 18 may only be screened after 9.30pm until 5am. The 18 classification indicates that programmes should not by viewed by people under 18 years and contain themes which may be challenging or offensive even to some adult viewers.
In the meantime, keep writing. You’re doing great.
From your pal, Patrick Te Pou (Paddy)
PLEASE NOTE: Plus Television New Zealand Ltd (trading as Plus) is a fictional broadcaster and will not broadcast to New Zealand, as it is fictitious and imaginary. Thank you for understanding.
