The Launch of TV3 (1989)
Channel: Patrick Te Pou
Date: 2020-09-28

TV3 (now Three) was New Zealand's first private television network which commenced on the evening of Sunday 26 November 1989 at 8pm with a 'two hour preview of what to expect and what will screen on TV3 - involving programme previews, interviews with network stars, personality profiles and much more'.

Its first day of regular transmission began with the Early Bird Show (EBS) at 7am on the morning of Monday 27 November 1989, hosted by Russell Rooster, Kiri Kea and friends. The network's first news bulletin, during EBS, was read by Joanna Paul.

And then, the first ever edition of 3 National News was broadcast later that evening (at 6pm). That bulletin was read by former NZBC and TVNZ newscaster Philip Sherry (aka 'Mr Credibility'), who died recently, with Greg Clark on sport and Belinda Todd on weather. 3 National News was followed at 6.30pm by the first edition of A Current Affair with Genevieve Westcott, who also died recently. Unfortunately, ACA didn't last long and was axed by the network in February 1990 due to poor ratings and strong competition from TVNZ's Holmes programme.

This 3 National News item, by Janet McIntyre, described 3's launch party and the network's first day of operation.

Special thanks to MediaWorks and NZ On Screen for the use of this clip.