C4 (New Zealand TV channel)

Background Canwest initially planned to shut down the loss-making TV4 and replace it with the Māori Television Service, which would use its VHF network. With no turnaround point, the channel was expected to close in 2003. MTS was expected to cover 74% of the population with its transmitter network. By November, it had inked a new deal with Canwest; only to be rejected in January 2003 by creating its own UHF network from scratch. In April 2003, it was announced that TV4 would be replaced by a music video channel, largely targeting the 15-19 demographic, following TV3's rebrand. Early years "Piss off, old people, you've got your own Concert FM - this is for us, the yoof"; launch words uttered by Clarke Gayford on 3 October 2003 when TV4 (which first aired in 1997) ceased broadcasting and relaunched as a music television channel called C4. C4, which stands for "Channel 4", was originally going to be known as "4Music" before it was officially unveiled as C4. TV3 and TV4 managing director Rick Friesen said that the name had been chosen for its "bold simplicity". The first show to broadcast on C4 was the 100 Best Music Videos Of All Time (Top 100), which was a countdown show where viewers voted prior to the show for their favourite music videos. The first music video to air on C4 to start the Channel off was Exit To The City by The D4. The Top 100 also included Metallica - One, described as "utter, utter nonsense" during an article on The New Zealand Herald in its countdown show, marking the first Metallica music video to air on C4. The final music video to air on the 100 Best Music Videos Of All Time (Top 100) was Nirvana - Smells Like Teen Spirit. This very music video has also famously received the same top spot on one of The Rock's annual countdown events around the time of C4's launch. TV programming on C4 included local made shows such as Select Live and The Official NZ Top 40. New Zealand On Air paid $500,000 for the first year of operation and C4 was to broadcast 58 hours a week of music television in prime-time, reaching 72% of the population, with a target of 20–25% New Zealand music content. C4 had a deal with MTV Networks to air MTV programming such as Pimp My Ride. The MTV content on C4 remained on air after Sky TV launched a local MTV station featuring some of the same shows. MTV content decreased in 2008 when the channel moved towards general entertainment. Following the scandal that happened with Popetown, C4 was hesitant in airing an episode of South Park depicting a bleeding statue of the Virgin Mary. Amanda Wilson claimed as of January 2006 that the episode, included in the package of its latest season available to the network, that she had not seen the episode yet and would not decide if it would air at all. Rotorua's John Paul College sent e-mails to parents of its students on 19 February, calling for a boycott of 3 News, as well as products advertised on TV3 and C4. After screening the episode, it announced on 22 February that it would not repeat it, and that it had a "very minor" impact: one sponsor left TV3, but C4's ratings were not affected. On 11 April 2007 C4 began broadcasting in 14:9 widescreen on SKY TV. C4 then switched to a 16:9 widescreen format on 2 May 2007, the same day as Freeview launched. C4 screened in letterboxed 14:9 widescreen on 4:3 analogue VHF broadcasts. 24-hour broadcasts began in 2007 but only to digital viewers. The channel played music videos overnight followed by a music breakfast show with no presenters. Analogue viewers continued to see infomercials during these times. On 1 May 2010, as part of the contract with Freeview to provide at least four channels, MediaWorks launched a second C4 channel called C4 2. C4 2 streamed unhosted music videos back-to-back. The channel was available exclusively on the Freeview platform on Channel 9. MediaWorks then launched the return of TV4 as FOUR in place of C4. The final music show on C4 before the changeover was the Top 100 Music Videos Ever, a similar show that was used to launch C4 in the end of 2003. The final music video screened before the changeover as well as to take out the Number 1 Top Spot on the Top 100 was Thriller by Michael Jackson. From 2011 onwards C4 screened a low-cost jukebox of music videos once again compiled by theme and a rerun of FOUR live, as many of the entertainment shows seen on C4 between 2008 and 2011 were moved to FOUR. C4 was available exclusively to Freeview viewers until 2012 when C4 returned to Sky. On 25 September 2012, MediaWorks decided to provide four regional simulcasts of the channel on the Freeview satellite platform, which resulted in no space for C4. MediaWorks decided to replace the Sky simulcast of FOUR with C4, meaning only satellite viewers with either a generic DVB or Sky supplied receiver would be the only ones to get all channels via satellite. Due to a number of certified Freeview receivers only scanning and setting Freeview channels, from October 2013, the TVNZ metadata on the Freeview satellite service was changed to include the C4 feed on the Sky service. Certified Freeview receivers could manually add the channel. C4 ceased broadcasting operations on 26 June 2014 at 01:00 am. The final music show to air on C4 was C42. The final music video to air on C4 was Exit To The City by The D4. MediaWorks launched a new music channel to replace C4 called The Edge TV, which is run by the radio station The Edge. The Edge TV was launched on Freeview Channel 11, and a time shift version of FOUR called FOUR + 1 was launched in place of C4. On 17 October 2023, nearly a decade after C4 ceased broadcasting operations, The Spinoff paid tribute to C4's 20th anniversary in a podcast on YouTube and on their website celebrating C4 in a time when the internet was slow and the demand for music videos was high. Duncan Greive also explained what would've had happened if C4 was to return that "It wouldn't work, that there isn't an easy way to replicate C4, but still feel the absence in the space where the culture could be knitted together and mediated in a fun way and get a sense of who are the people behind that". ==All shows that aired on C4==