SKY Television (SKY), broadcasting via both UHF and DBS is New Zealand’s pre-eminent Pay TV operator, offering a wide range of sports, movies, music, on-demand and general content across more than 100+ channels. SKY’s channel line-up includes 7 sports channels, 5 movie channels, 7 general entertainment channels, 5 documentary channels, 5 news channels, 4 children’s channels, as well as other niche channels. (At 31 December 2007, SKY had 720,919 subscribers).

SKY launched as a three-channel UHF service in 1990, with two further channels added four years later. SKY’s UHF signal reaches more than 83% of the country’s 1.5 million households. In December 1998 it launched a digital satellite service, extending its reach to the whole country. SKY also offers pay-per-view movies, live events and interactive services including Skybet, the Weather Channel, and games channels Mind Games and Playin’ TV.

With the establishment of a new on line DVD rental service, DVD Unlimited, and in December 2005, the launch of MY SKY, a set top box incorporating a personal video recorder, SKY is positioned to bring New Zealand viewers even more entertainment options.