Freeview claims big lift in tuner uptake
Freeview boss Steve Browning is claiming a big increase in the number of Freeview tuners sold in the three months to the 1st September. Uptake has increased 37,980 during the period and now stands at 160,496.
He went on to say that in total Freeview is available in 10% of homes and delivered either by satellite or terrestrial transmission. This 10% together with the 42% of people with subscriptions to the Sky satellite digital services adds up to 52 % of New Zealanders having access to digital TV.
In the past the Government has said that it will set a date for analogue switch off when the digital TV take-up reaches 60%.
Clicking the following source link should access the full article in the New Zealand Herald.
Source: New Zealand Herald
Item added: 6th October 2008



Continued growth for Freeview
New Zealand’s free-to-air service broadcast direct from both satellite and terrestrial DTT continues to attract viewers.
By the end of June 123,903 receivers were sold, up from 100,000 in mid-April.
Now around 300,000 New Zealanders, 8% of the population, have access to Freeview  in their homes, 15 months after its launch.
Freeview on the DTT network has attracted 7,594 viewers since its launch in April and DTT viewer numbers are expected to increase with the recent launch of Sony Bravia V and W series DTT receivers with integral HD decoders, in the country.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 15th July 2008



Engineering parameter update
The recently launched New Zealand DVB-T, DTT service operates in Bands IV/V between 502-806 MHz in 8 MHz channels.
It uses the 8k FFT mode with 64 QAM modulation, a guard interval of 1/16 and an FEC of 3/4.
MPEG-4 part 10 (H.264, AVC) is used for the video codec and for audio three audio codecs are used:
MPEG-4 HA AAC (up to mono and stereo level 2 bitstream only)
MPEG-1 Layer II/Musicam, audio mode stereo. Sampling rate 32, 44.1 and 48kHz
Dolby Digital (AC-3) 32, 44.1 and 48kHz
The screen formats are 1080i25 and 720p50 for HDTV services and 576i25 for SDTV.
Source: tvnz.co.uk
Item added: 6th May 2008



New Zealand DTT network launched
The New Zealand DTT network successfully launched on the 2nd April 2008, on time and on budget, according to local reports.
Three multiplexes, TVNZ, TVWorks and Kordia are in operation delivering a mixture of SD and HD free-to-air services, all coded in MPEG-4, H.264 AVC for vision and HE AAC MPEG-4 for audio.
TVNZ also uses  DVB-SSU for remotely updating STB software as well as EBU-teletext and DVB-Subtitles
MHEG-5 is used for the EPG, delivering a comprehensive 8-day schedule.
HD DTTV STB’s also seem to be selling at a very high rate and in some areas at a higher rate than SD only boxes according to reports.
Now that the Freeview DTT alternative is available and working so well, Sky Pay TV Satellite subscriptions may well take a hit.
Main source: tv.co.nz
Item added: 8th April 2008

Freeview on DTT soon!
Freeview New Zealand is promising to start its digital-terrestrial TV (DTT) service in April although a definitive date has not been given, reports Rapid TV News.
In September TVNZ announced that it would begin broadcasting HDTV transmissions from TV1 and TV2 on the DTT Freeview network by July 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympics in August.
At the moment the Freeview platform is only broadcast from satellite in standard definition.
The report goes on to say that transmission company Kordia has now completed the DTT network, which covers 75% of the population and is testing the system prior to launch.
Initially DTT broadcasting will be in urban areas only.
Main source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 26th February 2008

Freeview NZ in 5% of homes
Freeview New Zealand has penetrated 5% of New Zealand homes after only eight months of being available on the satellite platform.
Steve Browning, general manager of Freeview, announcing the platform’s new figures, said: “We're quietly confident that with the new services and innovations we have scheduled for launch this year, such as the Digital Terrestrial service and High Definition, take-up figures will continue to track well above forecast. The DTT roll-out is progressing well with the transmission infrastructure in place and rigorous testing already underway"
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 29th January 2008



New Zealand outlines analogue TV switchover process
New Zealand’s Broadcasting Minister, Trevor Mallard has outlined the process for managing the country’s switch to digital television.
” The switchover is still some years away but the cabinet has signed off on the transition process to make sure good planning is in place.
At the moment about 45% of households receive digital television and the final date for analogue switch-off will be finalised once that figure has reached 75% of television households or in 2012, whichever occurs first” Mallard said.
He went on to say that switchover is likely to occur progressively on a region-by-region basis during a one-year transitional period. There will also be trial switch-offs in some areas to test the consumer and industry responses.
A steering group made up of industry and government representatives will be formed to manage the transition, ensuring that there is good public information and to address issues of consumer interest before the final switch-off.
Source: Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union
Item: Cabinet paper on switchover
Item added: 4th December 2007



Free-to-air platform exceeds targets
The current satellite only free-to-air platform is reported to have exceeded its own targets in the first six months of operation. The platform achieved sales of 21,000 digital receivers in the last three months taking the total number of homes receiving the platform to 62,000. This represents a penetration of 4% and total viewer numbers of around 150,000.
The Digital Terrestrial version of the free-to-air platform will be launched in early 2008 and is expected to offer 12 to 15 channels by the end of 2008.
Source: Rapid TV News
Item added: 20th November 2007


TVNZ announces HDTV plans for the DTT platform
The New Zealand public service broadcaster, TVNZ, has announced that it will launch two HDTV services, TV1 and TV2, on the DTT platform by July 2008, in time for the Beijing Olympic Games.
The HD services will use 720p coded in the MPEG-4 H.264 AVC video compression format.
According to a TVNZ spokesman 2 HD channels and 3 SD channels will be statistically multiplexed in a data stream of 23Mbits/s.
The full DTT platform is expected to be launched in March or April of 2008.
Main source: TVNZ
Item added: 2nd October 2007

Freeview boxes must be approved in New Zealand
According to an article in the New Zealand Times a ruckus is brewing over who will be allowed to supply Freeview boxes and who will not.
Set-top box distributors are reported to be angry, saying that they are being excluded from an accreditation programme set up by the Freeview consortium which comprises of the companies that will implement free-to air digital TV.
Two or three set-top box manufacturers and local distributors are said to have been given 12 month of exclusivity in the supply of STB’s for the new service. However it looks like one of the major stumbling blocks for other STB suppliers is that these units must be able to use MHEG-5 middleware for interactive services before they can be considered for accreditation by Freeview. To read the full article click on the following source URL.
Source: New Zealand Herald
Item added: 1st August 2006.

Free-to-air Digital TV by early next year
Viewers throughout New Zealand will soon have access to free-to-air digital television, it was announced during a press conference in Wellington on June 15th.
A Hybrid system is planned using both Terrestrial and Satellite Broadcasting to cover the whole country as soon as possible. The DTT coverage is expected to be 75% and will hopefully be extended to cover the whole population when funding permits. The replicated signal available from satellite will enable the whole population to receive the new channels but the view at present is that having to rely on a satellite only broadcasting is too risky. Satellite failure would be catastrophic to broadcasting and for this reason Terrestrial broadcasting is still seen as the major means of digital TV delivery in the near future.
Six of the channels will be operated by TVNZ, six by CanWest and the remaining six by other operators. It is expected that 75% DTT coverage will be achieved in 12 to 18 months and analogue switch off in 6 to 10 years.
The majority of the conference can be viewed by clicking a link on the TVNZ website.
Source: TVNZ
Item added: 16th June 2006 (modified 7th July with additional input direct from TVNZ)

Progress towards Freeview DTT continues
Steve Maharey, The Broadcast Minister, has accepted a paper proposing a Freeview DTT model for New Zealand which would be similar to the one used in the UK.
The paper, presented by a group of media companies suggests a jointly run DTT platform.  The group calls itself the Freeview group and the members include TVNZ, TV3, Maori Television and Radio New Zealand.
Maharey is reported as saying that the cabinet will begin consultation on the issue next month and a decision should be made on how to go forward in July. With a positive decision development of the DTT service could begin later in the year.
Main source: Digitag
Item added: 1st May 2006

Free-to-air services likely to go ahead
The New Zealand government is expected to give the green light to proposals for a DTT service moulded on the UK's Freeview according to a recent article on Digital Spy.
The proposals are being developed by TVNZ, the countries public broadcaster and is likely to be presented for approval next month. The plan would allow NZ consumers to be able to access a number of free digital terrestrial channels just by purchasing a Set Top Box.
Digital Spy goes on to say that a point of contention is the funding required to establish the new network. This is estimated at £100-200 million. Other terrestrial broadcasters have backed the idea but Sky the dominant satellite service are said to be against the planned free service. If approved the service could be on the air by late 2007 or early 2008.
Source: Digital Spy
Item added: 6th March 2006

Action urged on New Zealand digital
New Zealand's government must make a policy decision on how and when the country's broadcasters move to digital TV delivery, according to a recent item on the Advanced-television.com website. If they don't then they risk the viability of public broadcasting a report prepared for the broadcast minister is said to advise. The web item also indicates that local press reports say that a decision by early 2006 has been recommended.
TVNZ has had the support of all the free-to -air broadcasters in its attempts over the last five years to launch digital services but the government still needs to make some key decisions before this can go ahead. Whether the government will subsidise any of the broadcasters costs is one key point still to be decided. Satellite pay-TV operator Sky New Zealand is already delivering its own DVB-S satellite digital service in New Zealand.
Item added: 12th December 2005
Source: Advanced-Television.com

Free-to-air broadcasters slow on digital TV
An article on the web log Stuff.co.nz laments the slow start for digital television in New Zealand.
Sky has been transmitting DVB-S programmes to NZ since 1998 and has a very healthy audience according to the article.
Various agreements between NZ broadcasters have not yet resulted in any competition to Sky.
To read the complete article click on the following source link.
Source: Stuff
Item added: 11th October 2005

Background

New Zealand has chosen the DVB family of standards for digital TV. At present digital satellite TV is the main area of development and New Zealand television broadcasters have yet to determine when digital terrestrial services will be introduced. Source: ABU Technical Committee, Annual Meeting, 20-23 September 2004.

The information provided comes from many sources and whilst DVB believe it to be correct we cannot guarantee its accuracy.
If you have more up to date information or corrections please send them to  dvb@dvb.org

Last page update: 6th October 2008, Barry Tew