New Zealand Broadcasters: Smarter way to watch TV coming with FreeviewPlus

A smarter way to watch TV is heading into Kiwi homes thanks to an extended partnership of New Zealand broadcasters TVNZ, Mediaworks and Māori Television.

The trio with the support of Radio New Zealand launched Freeview in May 2007 to help Kiwis transition from free-to-air analogue TV to digital TV. Now eight years later, with that transition complete, another transformation is about to occur with the launch of FreeviewPlus mid-2015. 

FreeviewPlus will marry broadcast television with on-demand content allowing viewers to watch catch-up and premiere shows on their TV rather than solely a tablet or other connected device.The launch of FreeviewPlus is aided by the local release of highbrid broadcast broadband (hbbTV) TVs and set top boxes sold through all major electronics retailers.

FreeviewPlus will allow viewers to find, bookmark, watch or stream their favourite shows directly to their TV. The new electronic programme guide(EPG) will bring together all available content from TV One, TV2, TV3, FOUR, Māori Television, The Edge TV, Te Reo and the other 20 plus channels on Freeview|HD  as well as TVNZ OnDemand,  MediaWorks’ 3NOW and Māori Television OnDemand as one consolidated content library. 

FreeviewPlus is planned for release on the Freeview|HD platform in mid-2015.