Chinese Television joins Freeview

PRESS RELEASE: Monday, 29th September 2008

Chinese Television joins Freeview

New Zealand viewers are set to benefit from the arrival of ChineseTV8 on Freeview|HDTM channel 28. The channel will launch in early October.

ChineseTV8's engaging programme line-up includes news and current affairs from mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan, popular drama series, variety shows of diverse formats, documentaries with an Asian emphasis and a wide range of Asian focused `infotainment'.

Steve Browning, General Manager, Freeview says Chinese TV8 is an exciting addition to the current array of content available on Freeview|HDTM, _which was launched in April 2008 and is available to 75% of New Zealand homes.

'There are approximately 150,000 ethnic Chinese in New Zealand and almost 75% of those citizens live in the greater Auckland area. Given that ChineseTV8 content will be broadcast predominantly in Mandarin we think there will be a strong demand for it and we're delighted to have it on our platform," he says.

"And in the next couple of weeks we're releasing our latest batch of quarterly figures which will reaffirm the fact that Kiwis (throughout the country) want access to free digital TV. More than 120,000 households (over 280,000 people) had already gained access by the end of June this year," he adds.

Henry Ho, CEO of World TV Limited, which is responsible for ChineseTV8 and various other Asian media channels, is equally enthusiastic about the imminent arrival of the channel on Freeview|HDTM

"We firmly believe that Freeview is the next generation platform for broadcasting in New Zealand and we're partnering with them because it will help improve our reach, our quality and our proposition. It is a very exciting development for the Chinese community, for our business, and for all New Zealanders," he says.

ChineseTV8 joins an ever increasing list of Freeview|HDTM channels which are available via digital terrestrial (via a UHF aerial) including TV ONE, TV2, TV3, C4, Maori Television, TVNZ6, TVNZ7, TVNZ Sports Extra, Parliament TV, tvCentral (Waikato/BOP only), Radio New Zealand National and Radio New Zealand Concert.

ENDS

More information regarding the current Freeview service and future plans can be found on Freeview's website: www.freeviewnz.tv.

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