Six Notable New Zealanders On How They Met Their Best Friends
From culinary school to music video shoots, these New Zealanders share the beginnings of friendships that have gone the distance.
How did you meet your best friend?
Maybe you were strangers seated next to each other on a plane and got chatting during the flight. Maybe you met while waiting in line outside a concert or in university halls, or you've known each other since the first day of primary school.
Some friends are part of your life just for a season. Some childhood friendships run their course and you naturally grow apart. Some arrive at just the right time to help you navigate change or a new challenge.
Here, several New Zealanders share the stories behind how they met the person they call their best friend.
Coast's Toni Street and Sophie Braggins
Toni, how did you meet Sophie?
Sophie and I met at Highlands Intermediate in New Plymouth in 1996. She was a new girl to the school and was in the same class as some of my other friends.
Soph stood out because she was so much taller than everyone else, and had long limbs like a grasshopper. She also had really blonde hair, so you could easily pick her in a crowd. I remember thinking she looked athletic and I was secretly hoping she was a good netballer to join our 'A' team, but alas she was a gun hockey player, haha.
How long have you been friends?
We've been friends since intermediate in 1996, so nearly 30 years.
What's your favourite thing about your best friend?
There are so many things I love about Sophie, but one of my favourite things is how consistent and level she is. She's the type of friend that always keeps connected, whether that's via a call, text or a visit – she really makes the effort.
The most recent example of this was just last month. I was staying in New Plymouth with her family, and sitting on my bed when I arrived was a handwritten note telling me how proud she was of me and why she valued our friendship. There was also a container of creatine for me to start taking to combat my peri-menopause symptoms, haha (she's definitely the health nut in our friendship).
What's one of the best memories you share?
Undoubtedly, the most special memory we share is the day my son Lachie was born. Sophie gave my husband Matt and me the extremely selfless gift of being our surrogate, and those moments when Lachie came into the world are hard to put into words. It's the greatest gift a friend could ever give.
When it comes to an earlier memory? Standing on the New Plymouth Girls' High School stage as year 10s singing Natalie Imbruglia's Torn for the talent quest is seared into my memory.
Julia, how did you meet Simone?
We met in 2016, working side by side at another PR agency. What started with a shared desk and a few knowing glances across WIPs quickly evolved into a friendship built on mutual respect, shared values, and plenty of laughs. A few years later, we took the leap and started our own agency [Lomas Kerr]. It takes a particular kind of friendship to withstand the pressures of running a business together, and ours has only grown stronger.
What were your first impressions of each other?
Simone radiates warmth, the kind that instantly puts people at ease. From day one, she made me feel truly seen and heard. That deep empathy hasn't just shaped how we show up as friends, but also how we lead our business. We're both grounded, fiercely hardworking, and honest. We balance each other's energy, skills, and emotions (me being the more sensitive of the two!). And as two mums running a business, emotional support isn't a nice-to-have, it's essential.
How long have you been friends?
Almost a decade!
What's your favourite thing about your best friend?
Her resilience. Simone moves through life with grace, humour, and a heart that leads every decision. She has this way of lifting people up just by being herself, kind, clever, and quietly powerful.
What's one of the best memories you share?
The day we decided to start our own agency. Equal parts thrilling and terrifying, it was a bold leap into the unknown, but one I never questioned for a second, because it was with Simone. That decision marked the start of something far bigger than business: it was the beginning of building something truly meaningful, together.
Bar Magda's Carlo Buenaventura and Chino Salazar
Carlo, how did you meet Chino?
Chino (from Moreno cafe) and I went to the same culinary school back in the Philippines. Both not being from Manila, we didn't have a direct inner circle. I was slightly ahead so I already had friends and he didn't, so I made friends with him – just kidding.
It was October 2008 when their batch started and one of my mates invited the new class to join us for drinks when classes were done. We were more like acquaintances before, then became really good friends over time. I moved to New Zealand in 2010, then he did around 2011 or 2012, I believe.
What were your first impressions of each other?
He was pretty confident and fresh, he knows that and we often laugh about it because my mates sort of gave him a bit of a bollocking that first time we all hung out.
But I soon came to realise that he's just a really friendly and social guy. He thought I was quite normal and sane, but he soon realised how annoying I am – I'm like that with my close friends.
How long have you been friends?
We've been friends since I was 8, so 17 years now.
What's your favourite thing about your best friend?
Honestly and loyalty are both important. Friends are your next closest support group outside of your family. Having someone that knows how to boost your morale but also knows to tell you when you are not in the right is so crucial for personal growth.
We often make friends with different people along the way, but it's important to value the years of friendship that you've forged with someone. We've had each other's back - at times it's been tested, but the idea of knowing how much we value each other always outweighs the situation.
What's one of the best memories you share?
A notable one would be his wedding day. I called him 'groomzilla' because he was more stressed out than Demi. It's all because he wanted the best for her. To witness and be a part of that next chapter in their lives is a once-in-a-lifetime moment.
Chino has a big heart and I know his love for Demi would go as far as travelling to the Moon and back. He sets the example for unconditional love, not just for Demi but for his family and everyone that matters to him. And for that I love him like my own brother!
Photographer Rob Tennent, Ash Williams and Josiah Kennerley
Rob, how did you meet Ash?
Ash I met on set for a music video for Benee. We met at the fitting and she dropped me home. We were pretty much inseparable from that moment.
Jo and I knew each other for a while before he moved into my flat in Auckland - it was really from there that we became besties.
What were your first impressions of each other?
She was a party girl and I was a party boy, it was a match made. She is so confident, silly and doesn't take things too seriously and it was refreshing.
Jo and I had the same love for the outdoors, which is hugely integrated into our friendship.
How long have you been friends?
I have known Ash for 4 years, and Jo for 7. We all live together now.
What's your favourite thing about your best friend?
Ash – Her ability to talk about literally anything.
Jo – His baking.
What's one of the best memories you share?
I can't share a lot of them, but we recently went away for New Year and just spent a lot of time doing nothing. A lot of my best memories with these two are just the little in-between moments.
Bar Celeste's Emma Olgivie and Keelan Bowkett Assaf
Emma, how did you meet Keelan?
We met at Bar Celeste not long after it opened. Keelan and her partner Elie were regulars, and it didn't take long before we became fast friends.
What were your first impressions of each other?
We clicked instantly … one of those rare, easy friendships that feels like family right from the start.
How long have you been friends?
Five years now.
What's your favourite thing about your best friend?
She's endlessly caring, fiercely loyal and a lot of fun. She also always knows how to gas me up when I need it most.
What's one of the best memories you share?
Shared summer holidays filled with incredible food, endless wine, and so much laughter.
Herald Lifestyle editor Stephanie Holmes, Deborah Ball and Amy Cown
Stephanie, how did you meet Deborah and Amy?
We met in the UK, on our first day of university. We were all studying the same degree and, in our first seminar, our lecturer asked us to introduce ourselves to the people sitting next to us. Deb was the first person I spoke to, and I instantly knew I wanted to be her friend. We met Amy later that day in the place all great friendships began in the 90s – the smoking area outside uni.
What were your first impressions of each other?
There was an instant bond between us all – I was attracted to their intelligence, their sense of humour, and fun, kind, caring personalities.
Deb was really cool and worldly, having lived in lots of different countries growing up – and she was effortlessly stylish (and still is).
Amy was hilarious and well-connected in Cambridge, the city our university was in, so introduced us to lots of new people and places.
How long have you been friends?
More than 25 years. The most unusual thing about our friendship is that only five of those years saw us living in the same country. I took off travelling a year after university and never returned, so we have been living on the other side of the world from each other for more than 20 years. If we're lucky, we see each other once a year, but our friendship is still as strong as ever, despite the distance.
What are your favourite things about your best friends?
They know me better than I know myself. They celebrate my successes and encourage the very best in me. They know all my flaws and love me regardless. They're there for me whenever I need them, even though we live in different countries, different time zones. Essentially, they're the loves of my life.
What's one of the best memories you share?
A couple of years ago I was in Italy for work, and Amy and Deb met me at the end for a few days of holiday. We were on the Amalfi Coast, but the weather was horrendous so we couldn't do many of the things we'd planned. It really didn't matter. Having that time together was invaluable – walking, eating, drinking, chatting, laughing, crying. I felt so proud of how far we have all come in life since we first met.
The Social Kitchen: Meet The Book Club Forged In Food & Friendship. This group of women catch up once a month to chat over their latest read alongside a meal.
Best Buddies: Pua Magasiva & Sela Alo. The radio hosts open up about how they met and what they've learned from each other.
In A Cost-Of-Living Crisis, Should You Pay For Your Friends To Get Married? Weddings are getting more and more expensive - not just for couples, but for their guests.
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The Spinoff
18 hours ago
- The Spinoff
A ranking of all 46 Lorde songs
If you love Solar Power, this ranking is probably not for you. Lorde's new album is coming out next month, teased with the singles 'What Was That' and 'Man of the Year'. The first one sounds OK, the second one we'll get to in time. Having a new album on the horizon has pushed me to finish what I've been meaning to write for years: a full ranking of Lorde's songs from worst to best, which I want to get in before we have nine new songs to contend with. Much as New Zealanders always worry about the propriety of dunking on our internationally famous celebrities, these lists only work when the artist's work varies widely in quality and you're prepared to be rude about it. As a Solar Power hater, I am going to be mean about some of Lorde's clangers. But I only have opinions on her entire discography because I've listened to half of it enough times to memorise lyrics upon lyrics. She's a good artist! We all make dumb art sometimes, and someone has to appoint themselves to sort the wheat from the chaff. To narrow things down, I've only included songs with a writing credit for Ella Yelich-O'Connor; no covers, songs that were written by someone else, or remixes (except one). This is a referendum on both her writing and delivery (with some asides about her videos). If you want to make an irate post about why my ranking is wrong, Bluesky is pretty public so I might see it there. 46. 'Secrets from a Girl (Who's Seen It All)' – Solar Power I like the video for this song, meaning I have unfortunately listened to it more times than it deserves. The detached nature of the lyrics eliminates any emotions one could get from it ('Remember what you thought was grief before you got the call?' could have been good in some sort of present tense), and in the end, the throughline only boils down to 'I'm so wise'. The melody is grating, twee and closes with a bafflingly bad cameo from Robyn to boot. Just awful stuff. 45. 'Meltdown (with Stromae, Pusha T, Q-Tip and HAIM)' 'My name is Lorde and I'm here to say / These hip hoppers rap in a rapping way' is made weirder by it being a part of the Hunger Games soundtrack, which Lorde curated. 44. 'The Path' – Solar Power There are two worlds within Waiheke Island. The rich people who buy up holiday homes and largely leave them empty, and the locals increasingly sleeping in sheds or cars as a result. At the time Lorde was filming her Solar Power music videos at Cactus Bay, a group called Protect Pūtiki was (and still is, I think) opposing a marina development at Kennedy Point, with land protectors spending hours freezing in kayaks and getting assaulted by police. To her credit, Lorde donated to the group and promoted it on Twitter (possibly elsewhere as well). Nevertheless, Kieran McLean was right to call Solar Power a 'Climate of Denial'. Watching the videos, I always wonder if the sounds of the security guards ramming a protector with a motorboat echoed, in any way, to the other side of the motu. This all feels more interesting to talk about than the whiny vocals and dull hopes of 'The Path'. 'If you're looking for a saviour, well, that's not me.' Guess not! 43. 'Fallen Fruit' – Solar Power As surefire a way to clear a party as a hippie girl loudly belting out Kumbaya on a guitar. 42. 'Mood Ring' – Solar Power Let's get this out of the way: Lorde has argued that Solar Power is meant to be satirical, not an earnest representation of herself. But self-satire (as opposed to self-deprecation) is hard to do well, and the album isn't witty or cutting enough for the satire to be particularly evident. Even if Lorde feels uncomfortable about rich white women and their foibles, the power that comes with being one can't just be handwaved or self-deprecated away. Like a live-in landlord who 'doesn't want there to be a power dynamic', she's trying to act like one of us while retaining the material trappings that unite her with them. This hits worst on 'Mood Ring'; that 'Let's fly somewhere Eastern' musical bit is dire. 41. 'No Better' – Pure Heroine (Extended) Too right it isn't! 40. 'Dominoes' – Solar Power Fine, I think? I forgot how it went while I was listening to it. It's a song off Solar Power, is what I'm saying. 39. 'Stoned at the Nail Salon' – Solar Power The chorus sounds melodically like the superior 'Wild At Heart' by Lana Del Rey, which in turn borrows from Lana's towering perfection of ' Hope Is A Dangerous Thing '. Go listen to that instead! 38. 'The Man with the Axe' – Solar Power The music in the Spotify ads is more compelling than this album. 37. 'California' – Solar Power There are interesting songs about struggling with fame; this isn't one of them. 36. 'Hold No Grudge' – Solar Power A retrospective on heartbreak years after the dust has settled, with slivers of embarrassment and wonder at your own past feelings, and a little regret that you don't feel deeply about it now. Finally, she's written lyrics that properly fit the sparse musical feeling of Solar Power, but the music is still a bit average. 35. 'Helen of Troy' – Solar Power extended version 'The city's fallin' for me just like I'm Helen of Troy' girl shut up. 34. 'Yellow Flicker Beat' – The Hunger Games soundtrack 'I am newly famous and also an introvert.' 33. 'Still Sane' – Pure Heroine Pure Heroine's most skippable track. 32. 'Million Dollar Bills' – The Love Club EP I respect the musical weirdness of the beat, but I don't necessarily want to listen to it a lot. 31. 'Liability (Reprise)' – Melodrama This only ranks low because it's inherently slight; it's good as a pause between 'Supercut' and 'Perfect Places' and doesn't need to be anything more. 30. 'Biting Down' – The Love Club EP My initial notes were 'Chomp chomp', while waiting for the rest of the song to kick in so I could say something else. It's an OK track but feels like it had more potential. 29. 'Leader of a New Regime' – Solar Power This endears itself to me by sounding slightly like a downbeat Of Montreal song (like this one). It'd be better if she'd paired it, as they do, with some exuberant, energetic songs (like this one). 28. 'Bravado' – The Love Club EP I'm biased towards songs in B Minor, the saddest key, but you can tell this is a song from an early EP. 27. 'Solar Power' – Solar Power This one was OK as a single, at least before commercial overplay; I do remember listening to it and thinking good for you mate, nice that you're feeling a bit better. Sadly, it didn't have enough energy to capture the joy or bliss she (or the character she was playing? whatever) seemed to be feeling, and came off as detached. 26. 'Oceanic Feeling' – Solar Power Pretty and peaceful, like floating in a quiet body of water. 'Breathe out, tune in' is corny though – stop yelling at me to relax, hot yoga teacher Lorde! 25. 'Sober II (Melodrama)' – Melodrama 'Loveless' sounded a bit more upbeat, maybe the maudlin grieving was on its way out? Hell no, it's back baby, and I mean that as a compliment. Grief is annoying and repetitive, and this captures the feeling of cleaning up the champagne glasses, nursing a headache and aware of how stupid the argument you're having is but needing to see it through. It's limited by being just a reprise, but I'm not mad at it. 24. 'A World Alone' – Pure Heroine Fine as an album closer, but ultimately just a lesser imitation of 'Ribs'. 23. 'Big Star' – Solar Power This song is the only one from Solar Power I slightly sing along to and would consider learning how to play. Unfortunately, it gets lost in the endless noodling of soft guitar music and low emotional stakes of the album, and it makes the grief over a dead dog feel sort of ambient. It's decent but I want more from it. 22. 'The Love Club' – The Love Club EP The main song off her EP I repeatedly listened to (outside of 'Royals'); nothing spectacular but it's light and sweet and knowing. 21. 'White Teeth Teens' – Pure Heroine It's a decent song, with a certain quiet anger. It would be better surrounded by different songs to make it feel more cohesive, but there's something aching about the vocals throughout which works well. 20. 'Glory and Gore' – Pure Heroine Musically this song is very listenable. Lyrically paired with the music…it feels like someone putting on a play about bloodlust more than the real thing. Maybe it's supposed to? Whatever, I still like it. 19. 'Perfect Places' – Melodrama As a single, 'Perfect Places' sounds like easily digestible pap that a politician could claim as their favourite song. As an album closer, it's transformed, providing not a perfect resolution but the beginnings of dawn after the hectic and emotional night out of Melodrama. 18. 'Homemade Dynamite' – Melodrama This has a certain soaring quality to it and the intro sounds sinister, which is cool. But I always remain quite aware that this is a song someone has written and recorded; I can't lose myself in it. 17. 'Team' – Pure Heroine Maybe it's the name, but this song does sometimes make me feel like I'm getting told to throw my hands up in the air, which – as she says! – dulls my enthusiasm for it. It's still pretty singable though. 16. 'Writer in the Dark' – Melodrama This one gained a reputation for Lorde shushing everyone at her concerts for singing along with her, but it's a good song! She should've recorded it a cappella, like Tracy Chapman's 'Behind The Wall'; it works best as an unadorned solo line and I can see why she wants to perform it that way. 15. 'What Was That' – Virgin This feels like an echo of Melodrama, which gives one a sense of unease – does Lorde think we only like her when she's taking a scalpel to her insides? Nevertheless, like Melodrama it sounds good and has a pulsating urgency. 14. 'Magnets' (with Disclosure) This one is inseparable from one of the best videos she's ever done, a tiny narrative about affairs and domestic violence revenge plots. The song is a bop too. 13. 'Hard Feelings/Loveless' – Melodrama 'Hard Feelings' is so glum (complimentary). I like how she alternates between barely choking the words out and confessing things in a rapid stream so the other person doesn't have time to interject before you say your full piece. 'Loveless' is fine as its other half, lightly angry. 12. 'Tennis Court' – Pure Heroine The video is fun, and even though the lyrics don't touch on it directly, this song feels like Lorde reacting to the sudden fame brought on by 'Royals'. It's also fun to watch her start a chorus meditating on teen archetypes and let it devolve into 'Let's go down to the tennis court, and talk it up like yeah'. Only teenagers have those stirrings of analysis combined with incoherence! 11. 'Ribs' – Pure Heroine I have to be honest, I like 'Ribs' well enough, but as critic Anthony Fantano said, some of the lyrics on Pure Heroine felt a bit limited topically because of Lorde's age, and 'Ribs' does this musically as well. It feels like nostalgia and longing specifically designed for teenagers, and at age 35 it's not for me. It's still good! We've just got better songs to come. 10. 'Green Light' – Melodrama From the moment the piano slams down, we know something's wrong; we're not exactly here to have a bad time, but Lorde has plainly been riddled with angst and needs to vomit it out. At its best, Melodrama wrestles with the tension of how breakups have a misery and yet a heightened energy, the passion of having loved someone even if it went wrong. I don't know that she fully does want that green light, because staying in that pain seems like a way to hold onto the love. 9. 'Man of the Year' – Virgin Lorde said this is the song she's proudest of off Virgin, and deservedly so. She has merged the stripped back sound of Solar Power with the synthy angst of Melodrama, and in this song it's paying off big-time. The main reasons I haven't ranked it higher are mostly because I find the double-tracking vocals slightly grating and because it turns out 'repeat listenability' was an unconscious criterion for my list, and I'm not always in the mood to have my heart ripped out. Lorde says she's cis but 'in the middle gender-wise', which I can relate to as a femme-of-centre person of woman experience whose gender moves around a lot. Cisness and transness are states of being more than rigid identities, exemplified by the shifts she describes ('I'm a woman except for the days when I'm a man'). Temporary dysphoria isn't as hard as the persistent kind, but it's also quite annoying because – since even DIY trans healthcare pioneers haven't invented shape-shifting yet – it means you can't really take any concrete actions about it, or even fully desire them. You could cut your hair short or get top surgery if you know you might want your hair or tits back again in five years, but not when you know you'll probably want them back in two weeks. Does Lorde relate to what I'm saying? Who knows! She got me to write some stuff about gender! There are times of my life when 'Man of the Yea r' and its video, which may beat out 'Magnets', would've made me sob uncontrollably. It makes me want to ask Lorde if she's watched I Saw The TV Glow yet. She's back! 8. '400 Lux' – Pure Heroine She wrote this at age 17, but feeling ennui that's relieved by going out for a drive in your shitty suburban town with someone you love feels universal. I also love that skidding synth in the chorus. Lovely, sweet song. 7. The 'Girl, So Confusing' Remix (with Charli XCX) When I was 24, a friend texted to apologise for loosely standing me up the previous week. Unused to proactive apologies from men, I cautiously replied that yes, it had hurt my feelings. He wrote back, 'All things aside, I value this friendship and clearly I need to put some effort in myself and send it your way. Coffee next week?' The reason I remember almost the exact wording a decade later is because it literally changed my life and helped me become a stronger person. This song and Lorde's verse is that unexpected relief – oh shit, you do care about me, I'm not a burden? – writ large, combined with pain and anger at a misogynist culture and industry. 6. 'Royals' – Pure Heroine The original article about how racist this song is felt exhaustingly Tumblrite, but it was kind of vindicated when Lorde (as I recall) said in an interview that she was using hip hop beats to critique the genre. We say dumb stuff as teens, but I hated seeing the Labour Party use this song in their campaign, and I wish Lorde would make Winz take it off their hold music playlist. Listening purely to the music, however, it's easy to see why 'Royals' was Lorde's breakout hit. The sparse beat, the crescendos and soaring of the chorus, the bemusement at watching plutocrat consumption patterns, it all still feels as compelling and fresh as when she recorded it. 5. 'Sober' – Melodrama This song starts tense and never lets up its sense of dread, except for a brief loosening in the bridge, perfectly capturing the drunk haziness of thinking that hooking up with your ex again is a good idea. A perfect follower to 'Green Light', reaffirming that we're not here to relax. 4. 'Buzzcut Season' – Pure Heroine This is what Lorde does best: songs that feel wide open and full of possibility and poignance, but also like an ordinary experience you might have with your friends. 3. 'Liability' – Melodrama Using Pachelbel's Canon as a base tune allows some of Lorde's best lyrics to shine through on this track. It's also a perfect comedown after 'The Louvre', the mournfulness of sitting in a dark room and letting your heartbreak permeate your entire, disgusted sense of self; not only am I unlovable, but my friends probably all hate me too. And in Lorde's case, this includes her sense of self as a public figure and product – remember all the 'oh my god, how is she only 17 she's practically a savant' gushing of the early 2010s? The second verse burns an audience who dehumanised her as a genius anomaly among teenage girls. Much of the backlash to Solar Power was because of how unrelatable the themes were to her working-class fans. But one night this very week I was sitting in a deserted carpark having a crying meltdown after a fight with a loved one, and 'Liability' came into my head. Thank u, Lorde. 2. 'Supercut' – Melodrama The music builds perfectly from sparse laments to a banger, the theme is relatable in a particularly vulnerable place, the energy of the song captures both the joy and the pain of toxic nostalgia. Perfect pop tune. 1. 'The Louvre' – Melodrama After looking up 'The Louvre', I feel like I may have misread it for years, interpreting it as about inexorably going back for breakup sex and breakup emotions, when as written it's more about the first obsessive stages of a crush. But all throughout 'Homemade Dynamite', I'm waiting for those opening chords of 'The Louvre' to start. The music swells and pulsates and feels open and expansive but never quite releases the tension; the spoken-word bit shouldn't work but somehow completely does. 'Blow all my friendships to sit in hell with you' at once feels startlingly original and deeply familiar. Can you hear the violence? So far, 'The Louvre' is Lorde's best song.
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Freeview Satellite TV Brings Hd Viewing To More New Zealanders
Press Release – Freeview TV With HD already available on its terrestrial service (accessed via UHF aerials) and its Streaming TV app, Freeview has now extended high-resolution viewing to Kiwis who tune in with a satellite dish. Freeview is pleased to announce that high definition (HD) viewing is now available on its free satellite TV service, delivering a much-anticipated upgrade for viewers across Aotearoa. With HD already available on its terrestrial service (accessed via UHF aerials) and its Streaming TV app, Freeview has now extended high-resolution viewing to Kiwis who tune in with a satellite dish. This upgrade follows the successful migration to a new satellite, bringing two major improvements: Freeview's satellite TV service was upgraded to DVB-S2, a newer and more efficient transmission standard. The move unlocked more satellite capacity, overcoming earlier bandwidth limitations that had restricted HD delivery over satellite. These technical advances have paved the way for HD on satellite, strengthening Freeview's commitment to providing free, high-quality television for all Kiwis. Leon Mead, Freeview GM, says the collaboration between Freeview and broadcasters is key in making HD over satellite a reality. Broadcasters must update how their channels are transmitted to enable HD. TVNZ has led the charge, becoming the first broadcaster to roll out HD channels over Freeview's satellite service. 'We are delighted with TVNZ's decision to upgrade their satellite channels to HD, making access to great local content better than ever for the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who watch free satellite TV.' says Mead. As of yesterday, viewers can enjoy the following channels in HD: TVNZ 2 nationwide DUKE nationwide TVNZ 1 HD in Northland & Auckland, enhanced picture quality elsewhere with MPEG4. Warner Bros. Discovery is also planning to move some channels to HD – more details will be shared at a later date. Viewers can expect more HD channels on Freeview's satellite TV service, which remains completely subscription-free, staying true to its promise of making live TV accessible to every New Zealander.
Scoop
a day ago
- Scoop
Freeview Satellite TV Brings Hd Viewing To More New Zealanders
Freeview is pleased to announce that high definition (HD) viewing is now available on its free satellite TV service, delivering a much-anticipated upgrade for viewers across Aotearoa. With HD already available on its terrestrial service (accessed via UHF aerials) and its Streaming TV app, Freeview has now extended high-resolution viewing to Kiwis who tune in with a satellite dish. This upgrade follows the successful migration to a new satellite, bringing two major improvements: Freeview's satellite TV service was upgraded to DVB-S2, a newer and more efficient transmission standard. The move unlocked more satellite capacity, overcoming earlier bandwidth limitations that had restricted HD delivery over satellite. These technical advances have paved the way for HD on satellite, strengthening Freeview's commitment to providing free, high-quality television for all Kiwis. Leon Mead, Freeview GM, says the collaboration between Freeview and broadcasters is key in making HD over satellite a reality. Broadcasters must update how their channels are transmitted to enable HD. TVNZ has led the charge, becoming the first broadcaster to roll out HD channels over Freeview's satellite service. 'We are delighted with TVNZ's decision to upgrade their satellite channels to HD, making access to great local content better than ever for the hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders who watch free satellite TV.' says Mead. As of yesterday, viewers can enjoy the following channels in HD: TVNZ 2 nationwide DUKE nationwide TVNZ 1 HD in Northland & Auckland, enhanced picture quality elsewhere with MPEG4. Warner Bros. Discovery is also planning to move some channels to HD – more details will be shared at a later date. Viewers can expect more HD channels on Freeview's satellite TV service, which remains completely subscription-free, staying true to its promise of making live TV accessible to every New Zealander.
