HGTV Expands Presence in New Zealand

AUCKLAND: Scripps Networks Interactive’s home and lifestyle channel HGTV has launched on two new platforms in New Zealand.

HGTV has become available to all New Zealanders on Freeview Satellite and as part of Sky TV’s basic package. The network features such U.S. and international series as Fixer Upper, hosted by design and remodeling experts Chip and Joanna Gaines; Flip or Flop, led by husband-and-wife house-flipping duo Tarek and Christina El Moussa; and House Hunters International, a real-estate series that helps buyers land their dream homes.

“The expanded distribution of HGTV reflects the demand for quality lifestyle programming in the region,” said Julia Baylis, the general manager of HGTV in New Zealand. “We are so pleased to be partnering with Freeview Satellite and Sky to reach 100 percent of households in New Zealand.”

HGTV launched in 1994 in the U.S. The channel first became available outside of North America in 2014 and can now be viewed in more than 40 territories around the world, including in the Caribbean, Southeast Asia and Australia. It debuted on Freeview in New Zealand earlier this summer.