# First TV

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'''First TV''' was the name of a [cable television](/source/cable_television) network that was operated in [New Zealand](/source/New_Zealand)'s two main [North Island](/source/North_Island) cities, [Auckland](/source/Auckland) and [Wellington](/source/Wellington) by [Telecom New Zealand](/source/Telecom_New_Zealand) in the 1990s.

==Trial stage==

First Media was an owned subsidiary of Telecom NZ. First Media ran the two Cable operations in Auckland and Wellington which traded as First Television. First Media was started as a trial of cable television by Telecom in 1995. The trial, which operated in association with [SKY Network Television](/source/SKY_Network_Television) offered 600 households in Auckland the three national broadcast channels that were operating, Action TV, three of Sky's subscription channels and six other channels. Considered a success the trial was extended and later expanded to include cable rollout in Wellington.

==Commercial success==

As part of plans to turn the trial into a commercial operation First Media had planned to lay cable past 140,000 homes by June 1998; however in November 1996 with only 80,000 homes past Telecom announced a halt to the rollout. Telecom decided to focus on utilising its existing network of [UTP](/source/Twisted_pair) [copper cable](/source/copper_cable). On June 5, with a pilot [ADSL](/source/ADSL) trial operational, Telecom announced First Media was to be shut down on July 31.  Cable subscribers were disconnected and offered a refund on installation costs while [DSL](/source/DSL) subscribers continue to receive [Internet](/source/Internet) services only.

First Media provided traditional channels as well as a [pay-per-view](/source/pay-per-view) service that allowed subscribers to purchase movies as they wish to view them. First Media also offered the ability to view other channels on a per day basis and operated a [music video](/source/music_video) channel called "The Cube" that allowed subscribers to request songs.

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071006105233/http://www.telecom-media.co.nz/releases_detail.asp?id=1776&page=2&pagesize=10&filtertext=First+Media&m1=1&y1=1996&m2=12&y2=1998&filter=filter Telecom's Press Release Announcing Launch of First TV]
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20071211094807/http://www.telecom-media.co.nz/releases_detail.asp?id=2212&page=1&pagesize=10&filtertext=First+Media&m1=1&y1=1996&m2=12&y2=1998&filter=filter Telecom's Press Release Announcing Closure of First TV]

Category:Television networks in New Zealand

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [First TV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_TV) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_TV?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.