Fiji One

{{Infobox television channel | name = Fiji One | logo = FijiOneLogo.jpg | logo_size = 200px | logo_caption = Current TV One logo | launch_date = {{unbulleted list|{{start date and age|df=yes|1994|6|15}} (as Fiji One, regular)}} | picture_format = PAL-576i (SDTV 16:9) | country = Fiji | language = English, Hindi, iTaukei | area = National | headquarters = 78 Brown Street, Suva | owner = Fiji Television | sister_channels = Fiji Two <br> FijiTV Stream (online) | website = {{URL|fijionenews.com.fj}} | terr_serv_1 = Analogue | terr_chan_1 = * '''VHF Band''' (Deuba, Navua, Suva, Nausori, Korovou, Coral Coast, Labasa, Savusavu, Taveuni, Nadi, Lautoka, Yasawa, Mamanuca) | terr_serv_2 = Digital | terr_chan_2 = * '''UHF Band''' (Walesi DVB-T2 - Nationwide) }}

'''Fiji One''' is a free-to-air television channel run by Fiji Television. It provides coverage throughout Fiji. It is fully funded from revenue generated through commercial advertisements, meaning that programs have commercial breaks.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ian Osborn|title=The Rough Guide to Fiji|url=https://archive.org/details/roughguidetofiji00osbo|url-access=registration|date=29 September 2008|publisher=Rough Guides|isbn=978-1-4053-8090-4|pages=[https://archive.org/details/roughguidetofiji00osbo/page/66 66]–}} </ref>

==History== Long before its introduction, Fiji Trading Co. Ltd. of Suva became the first company in Fiji to import and exhibit a television set for demonstrative purposes. Manager Tom French said that, if proper distant reception of television stations from Sydney and Melbourne was received successfully, sales of television sets would become lucrative.<ref>{{cite news |title=First the Set—Then TV (Maybe) |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |date=May 1959}}</ref>

The Fijian government had shown varying levels of deliberation before introducing a television service. It wasn't until the late 1960s when a feasibility study about the future of Fijian radio led to the creation of a possible television station, which would fall under the auspices of the Fiji Broadcasting Commission, with an estimated coverage of 75% of the national population.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fiji should have TV ('but not the commercial kind') |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |date=January 1969}}</ref> In 1984, the government set up the Fiji National Video Centre (FNVC) in association with the German Hanns Seidel Foundation. That same year, the government accepted an offer from Kerry Packer's PBL to conduct a feasibility study for a television service in the country, by 1987 at earliest. An agreement was settled between PBL and the Fijian government in August 1986.<ref name="PACTEL">{{cite web|url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000137689|date=September 1993|title=Pacific Regional Television Survey Project – 352lRASl21 (PAC TEL)|publisher=UNESCO|first1=W.|last1=Thomas|first2=O.P.|last2=Khushu|first3=D.|last3=Rutstein|accessdate=February 13, 2024}}</ref> There already was an October 1987 launch target, with plans to reduce the Nine Network-backed monopoly within five to seven years. Equipment built in Australia, such as an OB van, was scheduled to be delivered by July. 20% of its programming was going to be local.<ref>{{cite news |title=TV to start in October |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |date=June 1987}}</ref>

Following the coups of 1987, PBL suspended its financing to the Fiji Television Corporation, due to the downturn caused to the economy by the effects of the coups. With Fiji experiencing rapid economic recovery in the aftermath, in 1988, new proposals were being set up, and with the government owning a controlling stake in the new company.<ref name="PACTEL"/>

In October 1991, the government granted Television New Zealand a temporary license to operate a television service, Fiji One Television, to carry the 1991 Rugby World Cup initially with coverage in Suva with coverage extending to Nausori and Navua its transmitter located in Tamavua in the outskirts of Suva. In December 1991, following positive interest in the Suva area, the coverage area was extended to the whole of the Western Division, with transmitters installed in Tualesia (southeast of Lautoka) and the Sabeto Range providing signals to Lautoka, Nadi and their surrounding areas.

Eyeing for the creation of a permanent service, the government and TVNZ signed a Memorandum of Understanding. When the company was scheduled to go permanent, TVNZ would manage the service and use the resources of the FNVC using the existing Fiji One service. TVNZ was only involved in the service on a "contractual basis", providing operational and managerial expertise until Fiji TV was set to become self-sustaining, which according to TVNZ, would take five years.<ref name="PACTEL"/>

Fiji One started permanent broadcasts in July 1994, with an exclusive 12-year contract to operate, however the monopoly would likely break around its eighth year of operation.<ref>{{cite news |title=Fiji gets permanent TV |work=Pacific Islands Monthly |date=July 1994}}</ref> On 20 March 1995, it began broadcasting ''Fiji One News'', replacing the FNVC's ''News Focus''.<ref>{{cite book |title=Fiji Today |url=https://www.google.pt/books/edition/Fiji_Today/2gKMLhGk09oC |access-date=May 2, 2025 |publisher=Ministry of Information |date=1996 }}</ref> Its coverage reached the Coral Coast, Taveuni and Northern Lau by 1999, reaching out to 85% of the population.<ref>Profit target ahead for Fiji TV, ''Pacific Islands Monthly'', January 1999</ref>

With the launch of Walesi in 2016, the channel was granted the right to operate on channel 2.<ref>[https://fijivillage.com/news/Digital-TV-trial-for-parts-of-Fiji-to-begin-on-Monday-r5s9k2/ Digital TV trial for parts of Fiji to begin on Monday]</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

Fiji One Category:Television channels and stations established in 1994