Kids TV

The origins of Kids TV lie in former What Now producer Rex Simpson's arrival to TV3, New Zealand's first private television network, as head of children's programming, where he produced The Early Bird Show for TV3. It aired from 7 to 9am from 27 November 1989, its first full day of operations. In February 1990, TV3 ditched weekday morning programming, causing it to be limited to weekends, remaining on air until 1993.^[1]

Facing the closure of TV3's production departments, favouring independent production companies to do programmes for the network, Simpson created Kids TV in 1991, headquartered in Dunedin with offices in Auckland.^[2] In 1992, a crew from the company traveled to New Orleans to produce a documentary on Moana and the Moa Hunters' trip there to a local festival.^[3]

At the end of 1992, ten of the company's staff were laid off when TV3 axed five local productions, among them The Early Bird Show, which they made for the network.^[4] In June 1993, Ian Kingsford-Smith, who defected from the network, set up an international division, Kids TV International.^[5]

You and Me started airing on TV3 on 6 July 1992.^[6] In 1993, Suzy Cato took over presenting duties.^[7] In March 1994, Kids TV started producing a pilot programme made specifically for the British market, produced for The Children's Channel. It was also holding talks with American network PBS for a "quasi-educational" series.^[8] In May, it made an Oprah-style talk show for TV3, Straight Up, consisting of three editions. Catered at a teen and young adult audience, it tackled topics such as alcoholism^[9] and the state of the education system.^[10] In October, it received NZ On Air funding for new episodes of You and Me and two further specials of Straight Up.^[11]

In September 1997, the company received an injection of NZ$1,122,160 for 194 new episodes of You and Me and six documentaries to air on TV3.^[12] The company also released new shows such as The Shelly T. Turtle Show and the stop motion series Bobbie the Bus, but these were mostly seen abroad, as both TVNZ and TV3 rejected the show, which co-owner Simon Henderson had no idea on the decision, which was suggested by the broadcasters themselves as not willing to look for children's programming.^[13] After operating for a decade in Dunedin, the company moved to Wellington in February 2001. When the cable channel closed in October 2001, it lost four staff: two presenters (Suzy Cato had already left the company), a sound technician and a producer. Rex Simpson decided to take the issue to court. On 7 November 2001, the company auctioned off its property, including props and puppets from You and Me, its flagship series.^[14]

Kids TV started operating a dedicated channel in 1996 when cable television started in New Zealand, sharing the same name as the company. The plan was first mooted in 1995 by receiving an application with Telecom for a pilot cable service in Auckland^[15] By March 1996, during the trial period of the cable service, it was already successful with children.^[16]

In October 2001, TelstraSaturn shut down the channel owing to commercial decisions.^[14]