 | |
| Country | New Zealand |
|---|---|
| Programming | |
| Picture format | 1080i (HDTV)16:9 |
| Ownership | |
| Owner | Sky Network Television |
| Sister channels | Sky Open Vibe Jones! Sky Movies The Zone (until 2017) |
| History | |
| Launched | 3 December 1994; 30 years ago (1994-12-03) |
| Former names | Orange (1994-1998), Sky1 (1998-2008), The Box (2008-2018) |
| Links | |
| Website | Official Site |
| Availability | |
| Streaming media | |
| Sky Go | skygo.co.nz |
Sky 5 is atelevision channel in New Zealand available onSky.
The channel's programmes are a variety of international shows from theU.S., theUnited Kingdom, andAustralia, with a small amount of shows fromNew Zealand.
The channel started broadcasting on 3 December 1994 asOrange on Sky UHF pre-set channel 7. Orange broadcast between 10am and around 11:30pm and during 1995Juice TV began broadcasting overnight when Orange went off the air. On 1 January 1997,Cartoon Network began broadcasting between 6am and 4pm while Orange was not broadcasting.[citation needed] The reason to name the channel based on a colour and its brand identity be a fruit was due to the design agency,Lambie-Nairn, which had also designed the1991 BBC Two Idents and the 1982 Channel 4 launch idents in theUnited Kingdom, had found out the New Zealand TV market had an overcrowded space for general entertainment networks, and thus had made the channels branding to be different.[1] Using an orange gave the channel a unique identity in the local television landscape.[2]
Orange changed its name toSky 1 on 1 June 1998 and introduced overnight programming, withThe Simpsons debuting on 7 July 1998 with the first ever episode. The channel began broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1 January 1999 when the Sky Digital service was launched; however, the UHF channel continued to screen Cartoon Network between 6am-4pm and in 2000 this was replaced withNickelodeon.[citation needed] The channel started airing WWF/WWE telecasts at the same time, after a ban on ffree-too-air television in the late 1980s.[3]
In 2005, Sky Network Television considered unencrypting Sky 1 to make it a free-to-air channel, but decided instead to purchase the existing network,Prime.[4]
Sky 1 relaunched on 1 February 2008 and in the process its name was changed toThe Box. The rebrand was marked by premieres of new series and reality shows, as well as new seasons of existing titles.[5]
On 2 February 2018, exactly 10 years and one day after the channel relaunched as The Box, it rebranded for the third time in its history, asSky 5. The existing mix of programmes continued, but key changes included the addition of TV series based onDC Comics properties and US action shows.[6]
This is a list of Sky 5's programming as of December 2024[update], which is a mix of American, British, and Australian TV imports with a small amount of New Zealand shows.[7]
