Goodnight Kiwi set to return
by Todd Symons
TVNZ has confirmed that after an absence of 13 years Goodnight Kiwi will be returning to television screens shortly.
It was revealed on Monday that the iconic end transmission clip would return with the launch of the new digital channel, TVNZ 6.
Eric Kearley, TVNZ’s General Manager of Digital Services, says the new channel will launch on September 30 and the goodnight kiwi will play at the end of nightly broadcasts. “It’s a New Zealand icon and I think that’s reason enough to bring it back. I’m sure people will like to see it back on the air,” he says.
The new channel, TVNZ6, will broadcast from 6am to midnight each day and will play over 70 per cent local content.
Kearley says that for economic reasons there are no plans to extend the hours of broadcast for the channel at this stage.
“It cost’s money to broadcast over night and this is a public service channel, not supported by advertising.
“We want to use our funding for when people are available to watch,” he says.
Kearley has also confirmed the Goodnight kiwi will not be changed when it is broadcast on TVNZ 6.
The animation was taken off air in 1994, when TVNZ began to broadcast 24 hours-a-day. Kearley announced the return in response to a question in a blog on the TVNZ website on Monday.
TVNZ 6 is the first of two new channels the company is launching on the new Freeview digital platform. The second channel, TVNZ 7, will have a news and information focus and will launch in March 2008.