Details of new Sky, TVNZ service announced

Wednesday 07 Dec 2011
 New Zealanders will be able to access 11 television channels under a new partnership between TVNZ and Sky TV, TVNZ reports.

The two broadcasters announced last month that a joint TV service will be launched in the first half of 2012, with the name confirmed today as Igloo.

Hooking onto the service involves buying a set-top box, the price of which is expected to be under NZ$200 (US$155). Viewers get free-to-air channels and have the option of paying NZ$25 (US$19) for 30-day access to all 11 channels.

The channels will include Comedy Central, UKTV, Food TV, BBC World News and BBC Knowledge, MTV Hits, Kidzone24, National Geographic Channel, TVNZ Heartland, Animal Planet and Vibe.

Live pay-per-view sports events and movies and TV episodes can also be purchased.

The set-top box will include WiFi and Ethernet connections to access TVNZ’s OnDemand content.

The joint venture will run at a loss of NZ$3 million (US$ 2.3 million) a year for the first two years.