Eden
(stylized as
eden
and formerly known as
Choice TV
) is a privately owned, national
free-to-air
television channel in
New Zealand
and has been on air since 2012. The channel features programs on topics such as: lifestyle, news, travel, reality, movies, entertainment, comedy, game shows and drama.
The channel and its sister network
HGTV
New Zealand were acquired by
Discovery, Inc.
(now
Warner Bros. Discovery
) in 2019. On 21 March 2022, Choice TV was rebranded as Eden. Also, on 21 March 2022 Eden+1 was launched.
[1]
Original Choice TV logo.
Choice TV was launched on 28 April 2012, at 5 p.m. It was created and co-founded by
Alex Breingan
, Julia Baylis, Laurie Clarke and
Vincent Burke
.
[2]
It is broadcast nationally on the
Freeview
digital TV network Channel 12 and on
Sky
Channel 13.
Vodafone
also carries the channel for their IPTV subscribers. According to the
Nielsen ratings
, the channel's four-week cumulative audience is about 1.8 million people since January 2014 - New Zealand's population being 4.8 million.
[3]
[4]
[5]
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
The January 2013 season began with exclusive content including
ITV Granada
's
Jonathan Ross Show
and
Sony Pictures Television
's made-for-TV movie series
Jesse Stone,
starring
Tom Selleck
. During March 2013,
Sony Pictures Television
aired the short-lived ABC sitcom
Mr. Sunshine
and the daytime drama
Days of Our Lives
, which had been discontinued by
TVNZ
two years earlier when its contract with Sony Pictures expired.
Days of Our Lives
picks up from the 2011 season (season 47),
1
+
1
?
2
seasons behind the then-current United States'
NBC
season. TVNZ had previously been more than five years behind the United States's programming. From April to August 2013, re-runs of the
Sony Pictures Television
1996 drama
Early Edition
aired weekdays and was then replaced by the ITV Granada show
Wild at Heart
. The show
Being Erica
,
distributed by
BBC Worldwide
and produced by
CBC
, began airing on Saturday, 10 August 2013. From September 2013, Choice TV started playing the second season of the Australian TV comedy
Twenty Something
.
Days of Our Lives
went on a summer hiatus until 10 February 2014, just before the end of season 47. The last few episodes aired on Friday, 20 December 2013 and Sunday, 22 December 2013. On 25 April 2014, Choice TV announced that they would suspend their decision to order more seasons of
Days of Our Lives
.
Being Erica
'
s second season premiered on 23 January 2014 in the daytime weekday slot while
Days of Our Lives
was off-air.
Vexed
'
s second season premiered in late March 2014 for New Zealand viewers. Choice TV also began playing
Better Man
in late May 2014.
Choice TV logo used from 2015 to 2022.
In November 2014, Canada's
Blue Ant Media
bought a majority stake in Choice TV, marking the group's first international expansion.
[10]
[11]
[12]
[13]
In late 2019, the channel was acquired by
Discovery, Inc.
, along with sister network
HGTV
New Zealand.
[14]
Choice TV On Demand closed in May 2021, and Choice TV programming was moved to
ThreeNow
.
On 10 November 2021, it was announced that Choice TV would be rebranded as Gusto in March 2022.
[15]
However, shortly before launch the name Gusto was scrapped and changed to "eden"
[16]
in order to avoid confusion with the former
TVNZ OnDemand
food channel of the same name. The rebranded channel would retain most of Choice's programming, with the major additions of
Newshub Live at 8pm
, an extension of Discovery New Zealand's news brand
Newshub
, and more drama programming.
[17]
[18]
[19]
The channel would host British dramas, game shows, and "intelligent" movies including
Changing Rooms
,
Big Family Farm
,
Finding Alice
, and a new local show called
Great Southern Truckers
.
The Choice TV line-up included programs from the UK's
BBC Worldwide
,
ITV Granada
, Verve Productions, Zodiak Media, the Australian SBS,
ABC
,
Fremantle Australia
, as well as productions from
Sony Pictures Television
.
Together with Top Shelf Productions, Choice TV developed a local series which aired in the spring of 2014 on the channel's Thursday Food Night.
[20]
From 17 October 2014, Choice TV aired their own New Zealand gardening show,
Get Growing
, as well as a programme called
Cook the Books
, which first aired on 30 October 2014.
[21]
[22]
[23]
[24]
Originally Choice TV's prime time programming slot (7:30?10:30pm) featured a different daily theme:
[25]
[26]
[27]
[28]
- Monday ? Travel: Our World
- Tuesday ? Property & Design
- Wednesday ? Great Outdoors
- Thursday ? Food
- Friday ? Home & Garden
- Weekend ? Entertainment
Additionally, Choice TV has produced several television shows, including:
In September 2012, Choice TV aired its own TV morning show called
Brunch
with
April Ieremia
and former
All Black
rugby player
Josh Kronfeld
hosting.
[37]
The first season finished on 21 December 2012 with a total of 65 episodes but was not renewed.
[
citation needed
]
eden+1 logo
Eden+1
(stylized as
eden+1
) is a 1-hour timeshift channel. It was launched on 21 March 2022, replacing
The Edge TV
. eden+1 is available on Freeview Channel 18 and Sky Channel 505.