1975: New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation Extinguished
April 1, 2024
By AHNZ
Today in New Zealand history, 1 April, 1975, Labour 3.0 abolished the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation.
When a new Government takes power its primary job is to capture or destroy all the State institutions controlled by the prior Government. Television no exception.
The NZBC was split into Radio NZ, TV1 and TV2 with TV1 broadcasting from today in history and TV2 in June.
“Television One commenced transmission on Tuesday 1 April 1975 at 2pm with a five-minute news bulletin read by Bill McCarthy, followed by the British drama series Harriet’s Back in Town. Its two-hour opening special was broadcast live to air at 7pm that night and featured a preview of the programmes, plans and personalities for the new service.” – The Press (1975)
“…1975, TV2 first aired. This state-run television station branded and re-branded itself with new logos and new names in order best to find and keep its audience. TV2 has also called itself South Pacific Televion, Television 2, Network Two, and Channel 2. ” – 1975: TV2, AHNZ
“The profession avoided showing emotion “at all costs” during the late 1960s and 1970s, he said.” – 1969: First televised national news broadcast, AHNZ
“In 1975 the single television channel system run by the NZ Broadcasting Corporation ceased to exist. In April, Television One officially launched; in July a new second channel, later known as South Pacific Television, followed suit. Television One began from a custom-made production facility in Lower Hutt. [Avalon studio]” – NZ on Screen
“Former Lower Hutt mayor Sir John Kennedy-Good had persuaded the government of the time to plonk the Stalinist- style tower block in the middle of Hutt Valley, for the good of local development…However, just five years after Avalon opened, TVNZ began its exodus north” Robert Muldoon blamed for that- The rise and fall of Avalon, Stuff (2011)
Labour Governments have a long history of re-organising the media and this one, Labour 3.0, was no exception. Remember that Labour 1.0 had done this before and spoken of “unifying the thought of mankind” with government radio. Ref. 1937: The Most Powerful Radio Transmitter in the Southern Hemisphere, AHNZ
Labour 3.0’s media re-organisation came with a castle: Avalon Studios in Wellington. A high tech and purpose-built production house. ‘The bees knees’ and state-of-the-art at the time, especially compared with the generation-old tech from before. This reminds me of what Labour 1.0 had done also when they got into radio: every bit of fancy equipment figuratively (when it wasn’t literally) gold-plated.
But even as it opened on 17 March, 1975, Avalon was already a White Elephant. Policy had changed back again to regional TV rather than central control. “The 10-storey “Stalinist-style” tower block, often likened to a robot,” “A pleasure garden of tennis courts and swimming pools was planned for staff recreation, but shelved.” “Avalon, of course, is a disaster. Everyone, it seems, wants to tell you that. It’s too big, half used, incomplete. It’s everything that broadcasting shouldn’t be.” reported Stuff in 2011.
By the end of 1975 a new government took office, Rob Muldoon’s National 3.0. The setup built from the ruins of the NZBC was changed again and eventually took the form of Television New Zealand (1980.)
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Image ref. TVNZ, NZ on Screen
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