Kordia has renewed its satellite agreement with Optus for 10 years, extending Freeview satellite broadcasting in New Zealand for another decade.
The collective ongoing commitment and investment from leading New Zealand broadcasters in the future of free-to-air has been instrumental in the renewal of this agreement. The deal will see all Kordia’s current broadcast customers continuing to transmit their channels over satellite on Freeview, including TVNZ, Discovery New Zealand, Māori Television, RNZ, Parliament TV, Prime, Firstlight and the Hope Channel.
“We’re delighted to be able to secure another 10 years of DTH broadcasting services via the Optus satellite,” says Dean Brain, Head of Media at Kordia.
“Our DTH broadcast coverage is available for close to 100% of the country, making it one of the most accessible forms of media for many New Zealanders. The resigning with Optus will allow our media customers to continue to reach audiences into the next decade.”
Acting General Manager for Freeview, Leon Mead, recognises this as an outstanding result for both viewers and public broadcasting in New Zealand.
“This is great news for all Kiwis. Satellite transmission allows us to reach the entire range of diverse communities throughout Aotearoa, which is incredibly important for Freeview since it’s our core belief that everyone should have easy access to subscription-free TV. With the renewal of this agreement between Kordia and Optus, viewers tuned in via their satellite dish will continue to have unfettered access to a great selection of local and global content across the most popular channels,” concludes Mead.
Kordia will be initially utilising the Optus D1 satellite, transitioning to the new Optus 11 when it launches in 2024. The deal will see satellite broadcasts accessed through Freeview remain as-is in Standard Definition, and Kordia will continue to offer the same capacity.
Freeview will also maintain its offer of subscription-free TV in High Definition via Digital Terrestrial Transmission, accessible via UHF aerials for 86 per cent of New Zealanders.
