Written by Leane Wheeler -
One of the memories of most of my clients is when they first watched television. Often only one family in the street would be lucky enough to have a television and many people remember gathering at the neighbours to watch the telly as they called it.
TV broadcasts had begun in London 24 years before our government of the day introduced TV to New Zealand 1st June 1960 in Auckland, 1961 in Christchurch and Wellington and 1962 in Dunedin. The first night’s broadcast lasted just three hours starting at 7.30pm and it included an episode of The Adventures of Robin Hood, a live interview with a visiting British ballerina and a performance by the Howard Morrison Quartet.
At first television was black and white but in 1973 broadcasting in colour began in readiness for the 1974 Commonwealth Games which were to be held in Christchurch in January 1974. TV3 was launched in 1989 and the following year Sky TV was launched as a subscription based service offering us so much choice that eventually most people would subscribe.
Now nearly sixty years later how do we watch television? Over the last few years On-Demand TV and Movie streaming services have become increasingly popular. They have changed the way that we watch television.
As well as the big and obvious free platforms from our major broadcasters, such as TVNZ On-Demand and 3Now, there are also lesser known on-demand streaming services, offering both Free and Subscription based Movies and TV show.
Connected devices, including Smart TVs, games consoles and portable devices, have opened up a world of media to us all, allowing us to watch what we want and when we want it. We no longer have to record the latest episode – we can simply watch it when it’s convenient.
The most popular streaming service is Netflix but there are so many more and most offer a free trial.
Here is a small selection:
Acorn TV – Subscription Movies and TV from the UK and Australia
Amazon Prime – Subscription Movies and TV
Curiosity Stream – Subscription Documentaries, Interviews
Fan Pass – Subscription Sports
Neon – Subscription Movies and TV
The Story of Stuff – Free Documentaries
Tubi TV – Free Movies and TV
TVMucho – Subscription UK direct
Happy viewing everyone.