Compared to analogue, digital provides a superior viewing experience with better quality pictures and sound and more channels than analogue. You will also get a Free 8 day on screen programme guide.

Digital switch over will take place sometime between 2012-2016. This means that every television in every home needs to “switchover” to digital to continue to receive television services.

While Freeview is not a direct competitor to pay TV (pay TV is always going to be a premium offering), free-to-air television competes with pay TV for audience share. Free-to-air television generates revenue by selling advertising and therefore needs audience share to ensure value for the advertiser. What this means is that the more people viewing pay TV, the smaller the audience share for free-to-air channels, which results in less revenue potential and therefore less money to purchase quality programming.

The more revenue generated (via subscriptions) by pay TV operators, the more money they have to outbid free-to-air Broadcasters for first-run programmes leading to a growing subscription base. If this cycle continues free-to-air television will struggle to survive and we may end up with a situation where all New Zealanders have to pay to watch television.

Previously if New Zealanders wanted to experience digital television they had to subscribe to a pay TV service and pay a monthly fee. Freeview offers a free alternative for viewing free-to-air digital television.

Digital Switch Over (DSO) will enable a reduction in broadcaster transmission costs and deliver a healthy dividend for the Government once the analogue spectrum is freed up.

Analogue switch off will enable a reduction in broadcaster transmission costs and deliver a healthy dividend for the Government once the analogue spectrum is freed up.

The Freeview satellite_® service covers nearly 100% of New Zealand.

Freeview|HD_® is available in nine major centres (Auckland, Hamilton, Tauranga, Napier, Hastings, Palmerston North, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin) covering 75% of New Zealand homes.

Check out the coverage map for your area.

By having an iDTV, you do not require a digital receiver if you are in the Freeview|HD® coverage area. If you are outside of the HD coverage area, you will need a Freeview Satellite receiver to get Freeview. To see if you are in the coverage area, please use our coverage tool here.

To record from Freeview, you can connect a recording device such as a MyFreeview|HD® digital television recorder. To find out more about this, please click here.

TVONE, TV2 and TV3 each screen selected programmes in high definition, with the balance of their schedules up-converted from standard definition material.