Three (), stylized as +HR=E, is a New Zealand nationwide television channel. Launched on 26 November 1989 as TV3, it was New Zealand's first privately owned television channel. The channel currently broadcasts nationally (with regional advertising targeting four markets) in digital free-to-air form via the state-owned Kordia on terrestrial and satellite. Vodafone also carries the channel for their cable subscribers in Wellington and Christchurch. It previously broadcast nationally on analogue television until that was switched off on 1 December 2013.
Three is a general entertainment channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery New Zealand, with a significant news and current affairs element under the banner of Newshub. Three carries a significant amount of local content, most of which airs at prime-time.
History
Establishment
Applications to apply for warrants to operate New Zealand's third national television network opened in early 1985 and closed on 29 March 1985. There were four regional channel warrants - Region 1 serving Auckland and Northland, Region 2 serving Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and Hawke's Bay, Region 3 serving Wellington, Manawatu and Taranaki, and Region 4 serving the South Island. Applicants for the warrants included Aotearoa Broadcasting System, Civic Enterprises (region 4 only), Energy Source Television Network, Impact Television, On-Shore Services (region 1 only), Southern Cross Television (except region 2), Tele-Vid Three group, and United Telecast Corporation (region 2 only). Hearings began in August 1985.
The Broadcasting Tribunal announced in August 1987 that the Tele-Vid Three group (TV3) had been awarded all four warrants. The four channels would be based in Auckland, Tauranga, Wellington and Christchurch, with a jointly-owned national news and current affairs service and a national advertising service. TV3 was proposed to launch in early 1989, with broadcasts initially covering 80 percent of the population.
There were numerous delays to the launch date of TV3. Litigation surrounded the granting of the warrant, as did the share market crash in October 1987, which wiped out a large proportion of the capital that TV3 required to establish the channel. These problems resulted in the ambitious regional plans being rationalised before being shelved completely. The network was to be based in Auckland with limited studios and news and sales teams in the other main centres. TV3 began broadcasting on Sunday 26 November 1989 at 8:00 pm with Governor-General Paul Reeves officially launching the station. This was followed by a two-hour special previewing the network's programmes, featuring comedians David McPhail and Jon Gadsby playing cameramen. TV3's initial slogan proclaimed 'Come Home to the Feeling'; a derivative of the 'Come Home to the Best, Only on NBC' slogan used by NBC in the United States at the time. At launch, TV3 could be received by an estimated 55 percent of the population, in Auckland, Waikato, Western Bay of Plenty, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.
Regular broadcasts began the following day, Monday 27 November 1989, at 7:00 am. The first programme was The Early Bird Show, interspersed by half-hourly news bulletins read by Joanna Paul.
Early in TV3's life, financial supporters of the network included ABC and NBC as a minority shareholding, who later sold their interest.
Westpac ownership
TV3 failed to gain ground against a recently revitalised TVNZ and was placed into receivership on 2 May 1990. TV3 continued to broadcast with the major creditor, Westpac, supporting the network by taking a large shareholding.
As TV3 needed investment during a climate of economic recession, the government liberalised the rules on foreign ownership of television stations (raising the 15 percent cap to 49 percent and later removing all restrictions), allowing TV3 to search for an investor overseas. In December 1991, Canwest took a 20 percent shareholding in TV3 and secured a management agreement allowing it full control to operate the station. Canwest introduced tighter controls on budgets while targeting the lucrative 18- to 49-year-old audience. TV3's audience share and advertising revenue steadily increased, leading to significant profits. TV3 also steadily increased its coverage within New Zealand, adding dozens of transmitters and translators, often with the assistance of New Zealand On Air. By 1998 about 97 percent of the population could receive the channel.