New Zealand Digital TV News

Sky New Zealand completes purchase of Lightbox
Feb 3, 2020 – Sky has confirmed that it has completed the purchase of entertainment streaming service Lightbox from Spark. The deal enables Sky to merge Lightbox with its own Neon service, creating a super-charged service for New Zealand customers.
News categories: Sky New Zealand, Sophie Moloney, Digital TV, MnA, New Zealand, OTT

True Royalty TV scales D2C service with Vimeo OTT technology
Oct 29, 2019 – True Royalty TV has announced that it is using Vimeo’s OTT technology to accelerate its direct-to-consumer business. Vimeo now powers True Royalty TV in all markets, including the U.S., U.K., Ireland, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
News categories: Vimeo, True Royalty TV, Kathleen Barrett, Gregor Angus, Apps, Australia, Canada, Content Distribution, Digital TV, Ireland, New Zealand, OTT, UK, USA

New Zealand Rugby to become 5% shareholder in Sky NZ
Oct 13, 2019 – New Zealand Rugby (NZR) and Sky have announced a broadcast agreement which extends Sky’s existing SANZAAR broadcast rights to 2025. The agreement includes NZR becoming a 5% shareholder in Sky.
News categories: Sky New Zealand, New Zealand Rugby, Martin Stewart, Steve Tew, MnA, New Zealand, Satellite

Facebook introduces Portal TV set-top box
Sep 18, 2019 – Facebook is expanding its Portal family of home video-calling devices with three new models: Portal, Portal Mini and Portal TV. Portal TV brings smart video-calling to the largest screen in the home.
News categories: Facebook, Australia, Canada, Digital TV, France, Italy, New Zealand, OTT, Set Top Box, Smart Home, Spain, Tablet, UK, USA

New global launch dates confirmed for Disney+
Aug 19, 2019 – The Walt Disney Company’s Direct-to-Consumer and International (DTCI) segment has confirmed that Disney+ will launch in Canada and the Netherlands, in tandem with the U.S., on November 12 and in Australia and New Zealand on November 19.
News categories: Disney+, Australia, Canada, Digital TV, Netherlands, New Zealand, OTT, USA

Vodafone NZ new TV box goes on sale in September
Aug 6, 2019 – Vodafone has announced that its Vodafone TV device wll go on sale in New Zealand in September. The box includes the ability to record content, and rewind free-to-air and Sky channels, plus a range of popular apps are pre-loaded.
News categories: Vodafone, Carolyn Luey, Digital TV, New Zealand, OTT, Set Top Box

Freeview NZ on demand platform available via OTT STB
Jun 5, 2019 – Freeview New Zealand's On Demand platform is now available on the recently released Freeview streaming device (DISH TV SmartVU X). SmartVU X is a tiny gadget that connects to almost any TV and streams Freeview Live TV over the internet.
News categories: Freeview NZ, Jason Foden, Apps, Digital TV, New Zealand, OTT, Set Top Box

Nielsen launches global measurement for YouTube mobile app
Jun 3, 2019 – Nielsen has announced that it has expanded advertising measurement on YouTube’s mobile app to 26 additional markets. Now available in 34 markets, the service provides cross-device measurement of advertising audiences across computer and mobile devices.
News categories: Nielsen, Amanda Tarpey, Advertising, Belgium, Big Data, Brazil, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, OTT, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, UAE

2019 LG AI ThinQ TVs add Amazon Alexa support
May 23, 2019 – LG has begun adding Amazon Alexa support to the company’s 2019 TV models featuring artificial intelligence. The update will be implemented through the Alexa app on 2019 TVs featuring ThinQ AI including LG UHD TVs, NanoCell TVs and OLED TVs.
News categories: LG Electronics, Amazon Alexa, Brian Kwon, Apps, Australia, Austria, Canada, Digital TV, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Smart Home, Smart TV, Spain, UK, USA