Eden (New Zealand TV channel)

Eden
CountryNew Zealand
HeadquartersAuckland, New Zealand
Programming
Language(s)English
Picture format1080i HDTV
(downscaled to 16:9 576i for the SDTV feed)
Timeshift serviceEden+1
Ownership
OwnerWarner Bros. Discovery International
ParentWarner Bros. Discovery New Zealand
Sister channels
History
LaunchedAs Choice TV
28 April 2012 (2012-04-28)
Relaunch as eden
21 March 2022 (2022-03-21)
Former namesChoice TV
Links
WebsiteOfficial site
Availability
Terrestrial
DVB 64-QAM on band V

Eden (stylized as eden and formerly known as Choice TV) is a privately owned, national free-to-air television channel in New Zealand and has been on air since 2012. The channel features programs on topics such as: lifestyle, news, travel, reality, movies, entertainment, comedy, game shows and drama.

The channel and its sister network HGTV New Zealand were acquired by Discovery, Inc. (now Warner Bros. Discovery) in 2019. On 21 March 2022, Choice TV was rebranded as Eden. Also, on 21 March 2022 Eden+1 was launched.[1]

History

Original Choice TV logo.

Choice TV was launched on 28 April 2012, at 5 p.m. It was created and co-founded by Alex Breingan, Julia Baylis, Laurie Clarke and Vincent Burke.[2] It is broadcast nationally on the Freeview digital TV network Channel 12 and on Sky Channel 13.

Vodafone also carries the channel for their IPTV subscribers. According to the Nielsen ratings, the channel's four-week cumulative audience is about 1.8 million people since January 2014 - New Zealand's population being 4.8 million.[3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

The January 2013 season began with exclusive content including ITV Granada's Jonathan Ross Show and Sony Pictures Television's made-for-TV movie series Jesse Stone, starring Tom Selleck. During March 2013, Sony Pictures Television aired the short-lived ABC sitcom Mr. Sunshine and the daytime drama Days of Our Lives, which had been discontinued by TVNZ two years earlier when its contract with Sony Pictures expired. Days of Our Lives picks up from the 2011 season (season 47), 1+1⁄2 seasons behind the then-current United States' NBC season. TVNZ had previously been more than five years behind the United States's programming. From April to August 2013, reruns of the Sony Pictures Television 1996 drama Early Edition aired weekdays and was then replaced by the ITV Granada show Wild at Heart. The show Being Erica, distributed by BBC Worldwide and produced by CBC, began airing on Saturday, 10 August 2013. From September 2013, Choice TV started playing the second season of the Australian TV comedy Twenty Something.

Days of Our Lives went on a summer hiatus until 10 February 2014, just before the end of season 47. The last few episodes aired on Friday, 20 December 2013 and Sunday, 22 December 2013. On 25 April 2014, Choice TV announced that they would suspend their decision to order more seasons of Days of Our Lives. Being Erica's second season premiered on 23 January 2014 in the daytime weekday slot while Days of Our Lives was off-air. Vexed's second season premiered in late March 2014 for New Zealand viewers. Choice TV also began playing Better Man in late May 2014.

Choice TV logo used from 2015 to 2022.

In November 2014, Canada's Blue Ant Media bought a majority stake in Choice TV, marking the group's first international expansion.[10][11][12][13]

In late 2019, the channel was acquired by Discovery, Inc., along with sister network HGTV New Zealand.[14]

Choice TV On Demand closed in May 2021, and Choice TV programming was moved to ThreeNow.

On 10 November 2021, it was announced that Choice TV would be rebranded as Gusto in March 2022.[15] However, shortly before launch the name Gusto was scrapped and changed to "eden"[16] in order to avoid confusion with the former TVNZ OnDemand food channel of the same name. The rebranded channel would retain most of Choice's programming, with the major additions of Newshub Live at 8pm, an extension of Discovery New Zealand's news brand Newshub, and more drama programming.[17][18][19] The channel would host British dramas, game shows, and "intelligent" movies including Changing Rooms, Big Family Farm, Finding Alice, and a new local show called Great Southern Truckers.

Content

The Choice TV line-up included programs from the UK's BBC Worldwide, ITV Granada, Verve Productions, Zodiak Media, the Australian SBS, ABC, Fremantle Australia, as well as productions from Sony Pictures Television.

Together with Top Shelf Productions, Choice TV developed a local series which aired in the spring of 2014 on the channel's Thursday Food Night.[20]

From 17 October 2014, Choice TV aired their own New Zealand gardening show, Get Growing, as well as a programme called Cook the Books, which first aired on 30 October 2014.[21][22][23][24]

Programming

Originally Choice TV's prime time programming slot (7:30–10:30pm) featured a different daily theme:[25][26][27][28]

  • Monday – Travel: Our World
  • Tuesday – Property & Design
  • Wednesday – Great Outdoors
  • Thursday – Food
  • Friday – Home & Garden
  • Weekend – Entertainment

Additionally, Choice TV has produced several television shows, including:

Brunch

Main article: Brunch (New Zealand)

In September 2012, Choice TV aired its own TV morning show called Brunch with April Ieremia and former All Black rugby player Josh Kronfeld hosting.[37]

The first season finished on 21 December 2012 with a total of 65 episodes but was not renewed.[citation needed]

Eden+1

eden+1 logo

Eden+1 (stylized as eden+1) is a 1-hour timeshift channel. It was launched on 21 March 2022, replacing The Edge TV. eden+1 is available on Freeview Channel 18 and Sky Channel 505.

References

  1. ^ "Freeview Channel Changes 21 March 2022". Freeview. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
  2. ^ "Consumer Watch: Choice closes gap". The New Zealand Herald. 1 December 2013. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Freeview NZ has a new channel". Stuff. 25 July 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  4. ^ "Choice TV in Freeview fight for choosy audience". The New Zealand Herald. 1 May 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  5. ^ "Television: Hairy enthusiasts go the whole hog". The NZ Herald. 8 March 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  6. ^ "Paul Casserly gets distracted by meat man Anthony Puharich". The New Zealand Herald. 15 January 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  7. ^ "The top ten TV shows for 2013". Stuff. 10 December 2013. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  8. ^ "Freeview's new channel is choice". The NZ Herald. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  9. ^ "Chris Philpott: What to watch when TV is bad". The New Zealand Herald. 6 January 2014. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  10. ^ "Canada's Blue Ant Media Buys Majority Stake in New Zealand's Choice TV". The Hollywood Reporter. 3 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  11. ^ "Blue Ant takes majority stake in NZ's Choice TV". Real Screen. 4 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  12. ^ "Blue Ant Acquires Controlling Interest in New Zealand Broadcaster". Broadcaster Magazine. 4 November 2014. Archived from the original on 3 November 2014. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
  13. ^ "Choice TV | Blue Ant Media". Archived from the original on 14 April 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  14. ^ "Home". HGTV. Discovery New Zealand. 16 May 2021. Archived from the original on 16 May 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  15. ^ "What are the new TV channels Eden and Rush launching in New Zealand?". Stuff.co.nz. 10 March 2022. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  16. ^ Nealon, Sarah (10 March 2022). "What are the new TV channels Eden and Rush launching in New Zealand?". Stuff.
  17. ^ "Discovery NZ launching new channels Gusto and Rush, Newshub Live at 8pm and AM Early shows in 2022". Newshub. 10 November 2021. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 10 November 2021.
  18. ^ Pullar-Strecker, Tom (10 November 2021). "Discovery announces two new TV channels and 'record' volume of NZ shows". Stuff. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  19. ^ "Discovery NZ makes big play for TV viewers". Radio New Zealand. 10 November 2021. Archived from the original on 10 November 2021. Retrieved 11 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Choice TV Cook the Books with Mastercraft". Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
  21. ^ "Choice TV Facebook Page". Facebook. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  22. ^ "Get Growing on Choice TV". Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  23. ^ "Get Growing on Yates.co.nz". Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  24. ^ "Get Growing on palmersplanet.co.nz". Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  25. ^ "Choice TV pledges to move beyond imported shows". NBR NZ. 28 April 2012. Retrieved 19 May 2014.
  26. ^ "Choice TV Website". Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  27. ^ "Choice TV FAQ". Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  28. ^ "New free-to-air channel Choice TV unveils its content line-up—and a few of its sponsors". Stoppress NZ. 26 April 2012. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  29. ^ "Cook the Books premieres tonight on Choice TV". Throng.co.nz. 30 October 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  30. ^ "Cook the Books". 27 October 2014.
  31. ^ Croot, James (13 April 2015). "What's on TV: Tuesday, April 21". Stuff. Archived from the original on 23 August 2017. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  32. ^ "Palmers gets set to take to our screens". scoop.co.nz. 13 October 2014.
  33. ^ "Gardening franchise takes to TV with two new home shows". franchise.co.nz. 13 October 2014. Retrieved 3 November 2014.
  34. ^ "GARDENA hits the road with new-look TV show". 14 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  35. ^ Conchie, Sandra. "Teen's heavenly haven revealed". No. July 28, 2015. Bay of Plenty Times. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
  36. ^ Parkes, Melenie (25 November 2021). "TV Guide highlights: Saturday November 27 to Friday December 3". Stuff. Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  37. ^ "Choice TV gets morning show". Stuff. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 17 January 2022.