TVNZ is set to abandon more than 40 years of history this weekend, as it farewells the TV One brand, renaming the channel TVNZ 1.
The move, announced this afternoon at the network's new season launch, is part of a wider overhaul, which will see TV2 renamed TVNZ 2 and One News to become 1 News.
It follows a major overhaul by rival broadcaster MediaWorks this year, which saw it ditch the 3 News brand in favour of Newshub,
While traditionally the new season launch event has focussed on upcoming series and major international content deals, this year's event was all about promoting TVNZ's digital offerings.
From this Sunday, TVNZ will offer livestreaming of all its channels, including TVNZ 1, TVNZ 2 and TVNZ Duke, matching a service already offered by rival network MediaWorks.
"Time poor viewers don't wait for content. In response, you can expect to see TVNZ premiere more content OnDemand than ever before, to make full series available from day one where we can, and to provide live online streaming access to our linear channels," said chief executive Kevin Kenrick.
The broadcaster also announced a host of new initiatives, collectively titled "New Blood", designed to develop new local talent. Part of the project will include establishing "an in-house content lab to create more short-form multimedia content".
It will also run a competition for viewers to vote on who should receive $100,000 funding in partnership with New Zealand on Air.
The network will continue to offer more traditional fare, confirming the return of local series Filthy Rich, Sensing Murder, DNA Dectectives and Rachel Hunter's Tour of Beauty.
New local series Survivor NZ, Dear Murderer and The Naked Choir will also debut next year.
Meanwhile, off-shore programming will continue to fill the majority of TVNZ schedules, with British dramas Cold Feet and One of Us set to premiere, along with US series, Time After Time, 24 Legacy, The Blacklist: Redemption and APB.
On the comedy front, Walliams and Friend, The Windsors, The Mick and Life In Pieces will join returning series The Big Bang Theory and Mom.
