Freedom TV (1997–2002) Shine TV began as Freedom TV, an independent local Christchurch station, in November 1997. It was based in the suburb of
Burnside, and competed against two other local stations,
Canterbury Television and NOW. The station broadcast mostly evangelical Christian programmes, and was sponsored by local evangelical churches and station director Warren Smith's Christian Superstore. In early
United Christian Broadcasters (UCB), the international arm of
Rhema Media, purchased 34 UHF spectrum television licenses from
Television New Zealand, following the closure of Horizon Pacific and
MTV New Zealand. The licenses covered all major cities and towns except for
Gisborne and allowed the company to reach all households with a UHF reception. UCB never used the licenses, and sold them to sold to Australian television company
Prime Television Limited for
A$ 3.6 million in June 1998.
Prime New Zealand was launched on the spectrum two months later.
Shine TV relaunch (2002) In June 2002 Freedom TV signed a contract to provide a 24-hour Christian channel for Sky Television's digital platform, after deciding a nationwide UHF or UHF or VHF television station would be prohibitively expensive to set up. In August it transferred its Christchurch and Auckland operations to Shine TV, a new wholly owned subsidiary of the Rhema Media. This significantly increased Rhema's costs and staffing needs. In 2006, Shine TV became one of the first New Zealand broadcasters to provide on-demand videos, before most New Zealanders even had access to broadband internet. In 2009, it still provided one of the few New Zealand on-demand services. Shine TV launched on Freeview on 1 April 2010. In June 2011, some Sky customers questioned why Shine TV was included in the basic package while other channels were being removed. Shine TV continued to broadcast on free-to-air analogue in Christchurch through a contract with Freedom TV's original owner, New Zealand Television Ministries Trust until 2013. The lease covered Freedom TV's Christchurch facility, UHF broadcast license, transmission site and equipment. Shine also expanded to
Nelson on free-to-air analogue channel 44 on 11 November 2008, through a similar contract with local television channel Mainland TV. Both frequencies were switched off by the Government on 28 April 2013. ==Programmes==