Cue TV

Last updated

CUE TV
CountryNew Zealand
Headquarters Invercargill
Programming
LanguageEnglish
History
LaunchedOctober 1996 (1996-10)
Closed10 April 2015 (2015-04-10)

Cue TV was a TV channel and production company based in Invercargill, New Zealand. It operated a full local service until 2015; from 2003 until its closure, it was also available on Sky.

Contents

History

Cue TV, a local television channel based in Invercargill [1] that aimed at serving the Southland Region, was started in October 1996 as Mercury TV. It was operated by CRT Southland. From March to November 1998, 50% of its shares were held by the Family Television Network. After FTN sold its shares, CRT only had 10%. [2] It rebranded to Southland TV in 2003. [3] In retrospect, owner Tom Conroy considered the rebrand to be a mistake, saying that the company was trying to attract an audience and advertisers from across the country, and naming it "Southland" would not help with that. [4] On 1 March 2007 the channel was rebranded again to Cue TV. [3] Starting in 2003, [5] a lot of the channel's programmes were produced by the Southern Institute of Technology, for the distance learning SIT2LRN programme. [3]

After working for Mobil, Tom Conroy became the manager of Mercury TV [6] and then in 2002 he bought the company from the owners in Britain. [4] In 2003 the channel was converted from analogue to digital [7] and joined Sky TV. [8] In 2009 Cue TV became the 10th channel to join the free digital television platform Freeview. [9] In 2012 Invercargill mayor Tim Shadbolt and Conroy on Cue TV broke the Guinness World Record for the longest TV interview—26 hours. [10]

In 2014 Cue TV revived the New Zealand version of television programme University Challenge after it had not been produced for 25 years. [11] The TV channel stopped broadcasting on 10 April 2015, moving the company to just a production company and a company that manages venues and event bookings. [12]

References

  1. ↑ "Regional TV rejigged". RNZ . 22 May 2016. Archived from the original on 15 August 2022. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  2. ↑ Peart, M. (1 December 1998). "CRT sells more shares". The Southland Times .
  3. 1 2 3 "History of TV". The Southland Times . 12 May 2016 – via PressReader.
  4. 1 2 "Phil McCarthy Confessions of a TV junkie". The Southland Times . 10 April 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2025– via PressReader.
  5. ↑ "How Southland Delivered Distance Learning by Recreating The Office". Issuu. Retrieved 18 February 2025.
  6. ↑ "A mayoral challenger emerges". The Southland Times .
  7. ↑ "Channel 9 discussing digital". Otago Daily Times . 4 February 2012. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  8. ↑ "Cue up a new future". The Southland Times . 2 April 2015.
  9. ↑ "Cue TV to join Freeview digital satellite service". The Southland Times . 18 February 2009. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  10. ↑ "Shadbolt breaks TV interview record". 29 April 2012. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  11. ↑ "University Challenge returns to NZ". The Southland Times . 1 July 2014. Archived from the original on 1 December 2024. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
  12. ↑ "Cue TV turns off transmissions". The Southland Times . 1 April 2015. Retrieved 15 February 2025.
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