Eden and Rush to Launch on March 21
March 2, 2022 
26 Comments
March 21 is when NZ’s newest free-to-air channels, Eden and Rush, will launch as part of the Discovery NZ group.
Only Eden will be in HD and it will include a nightly 8.00 Newshub Live half-hour that former Sunday reporter Rebecca Wright will present.
Here’s the media release:
Discovery to launch new free-to-air channels ‘eden’ and ‘Rush’ in New Zealand on 21 March
2 March 2022 – Kiwis can look forward to a whole new slate of free entertainment when Discovery’s new free-to-air channels eden and Rush launch on Monday 21 March. Alongside Three, ThreeNow, HGTV and Bravo, Kiwis will be spoiled with more free content than ever before.
Glen Kyne, Senior Vice President and General Manager ANZ said: “We’re delighted to launch two new free-to-air channels in New Zealand, delivering on our promise to bring more great entertainment to Kiwi audiences. eden and Rush combine the best of Discovery’s global library with carefully selected shows to build a stellar line-up of content. Whether viewers watch live or stream on ThreeNow, we know they’re going to love it.”
eden delivers viewers A Better Everyday as New Zealand’s new fourth mass market general-entertainment channel. eden will offer an escape from life’s routine, offering content that entertains, informs, and provokes new thinking and interests for viewers.
Critically-acclaimed Australian drama series The Newsreader will premiere on eden on Thursday 24 March at 8.30pm, establishing Thursdays as the destination for premium international drama. New British drama series Finding Alice follows in the timeslot in May.
Changing Rooms UK and hit reality design series Ellen’s Next Great Designer will launch eden’s home renovation and lifestyle offering. British TV juggernauts Dancing on Ice and Celebrity Catchphrase will keep audiences entertained and the Kiwi obsession with The Chase will be answered with the NZ premiere of The Chase USA. The Great Gatsby and Silver Linings Playbook will launch eden’s Saturday night movies.
Keeping New Zealanders across the news of the day, Rebecca Wright joins Discovery to present the all-new weekday Newshub Live at 8pm on eden from Monday 21 March.
A selection of eden’s best content will also be available to stream on ThreeNow. Every episode of The Newsreader and Ellen’s Next Great Designer will be available to stream following the TV broadcast of episode one.
eden will launch on Freeview 8 and Sky 13. eden+1 will launch on Freeview 18 and Sky 505.
Rush will launch with a bang as New Zealand’s home of high adventure, high octane and high adrenaline reality. As the global leader in real-life entertainment, no company can match Discovery’s ability to curate theme nights every day of the week where audiences will Experience More of what they love, guilt-free!
From 21 March, Survival Mondays brings Discovery’s world-best survival and adventure content to audiences for free for the first time, launching with Manhunt with Joel Lambert, Man vs. Wild with Bear Grylls and The Wheel.
Rolling out in launch week will be Tough Job Tuesdays featuring Abalone Wars and Deadliest Catch; Extreme Build Wednesdays including Treehouse Masters and Homestead Rescue; Motorhead Thursdays featuring Kindig Customs and Street Outlaws: No Prep Kings; Unexplained Fridays including Expedition Unknown and Strike It Rich Saturdays featuring Bering Sea Gold.
Sundays will be huge on Rush with the launch of Restoration Sundays on 27 March offering exclusive premiere programs and free-to-air firsts including Goblin Works Garage, Iron Resurrection and Texas Metal.
A selection of Rush’s best content will be available to stream on ThreeNow.
Rush will launch on Freeview 14 and Sky 24
Also from March 21, Discovery channels HGTV and Three+1 will move Freeview EPG positions. HGTV will move to Freeview 19 and Sky 21. Three+1 will move to Freeview 13 and Sky 503.
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March 2, 2022 at 11:14 am
Finally we have a launch date but I’m slightly confused that Three+1 will take Duke’s channel 13 slot and Eden+1 taking Duke+1, that can’t be right Philip? So does this mean the music channels are staying put?
I will give eden a go. It’s good to see Rebecca Wright back again ?
I take it that TVNZ’s Duke channels will be moving channel numbers on Freeview then? Currently on 13 and 18.
Do any of these channels replace Bravo or Bravo +1??
A TVNZ spokesperson confirms Duke will be moving up the Freeview channel line-up. “There will be some movement for some plus 1 channels, too, with Eden and Rush joining the family. Freeview will be publishing a revised channel line-up next week covering all broadcasters. There are no changes to TVNZ channels on Sky.”
No, Bravo will continue. See the new Discovery NZ channel line-up here.
Interesting that TVNZ Duke is on the move, hopefully it’s channel 6. Does this mean that the music channels are all gone, I can’t see any statement from Mediaworks confirming this.
Yes, it does Leo. As reported last year, these frequencies are Discovery-owned and, as part of Discovery’s rationalisation and consolidation of its NZ operation, they will be “sunset” over the first half of this year.
I just wanted to point out that advertising and making an announcement about launching new channels means to us viewers that there’s another channel being added. There has been nothing to say that they are rebranding existing channels. If they announce we are rebranding a channel I would understand. This is clear false advertising and falsely implies that a additional channel is being added.
Well, Fsmith, if you are that concerned I suggest you ask for a refund from your yearly subscription to Discovery …
A new channel in SD. This is 2022! Anything less than HD won’t get watched.
Absolutely agree. SD television dhould be banned! I’m watching 4K with Dolby Atmos these days! Anything in SD is just unwatchable! And God damn awful to enjoy.
The only time I watch SDTV is Choice channel on the little 32″ in the bedroom, even that has dropped off to almost nil since TV3 took over, they have made a great little channel awful.
Both Eden and Rush have launched in HD, but with only 2 channel AAC audio.
Look at the content that’s on it. If it’s reality TV then it’s almost always 2 channels. If it’s scripted it’s often and almost always 5.1 at a minimum.
Sad to see the music channels go, it would have been great if MW bought their own frequencies so they would continue but understand it’s an unnecessary cost for them, I can’t help but wonder if they could have just been left as streaming only channels on Freeview. Is there a particular reason the plus1 channels can’t be live streamed Philip? Is it a tech issue? I find it also strange that HGTV can’t be live streamed on ThreeNow or Freeview streaming, is it a rights issue? I was also under the impression that Rush is SD but some have said it is in HD, are you able to please get clarification for this, Philip?
Rush definitely was going to be SD but is broadcasting in HD on Freeview terrestrial, Leo. I wouldn’t say it was Full HD but certainly far superior to Freeview’s SD channels. Have asked Discovery about this and the HGTV quirk and hope to hear back today.
Cheers Philip for the update. Glad they’ve somewhat upgraded to near HD quality. Looking forward to Discovery’s response about HGTV.
I saw a little bit on Sky and none of them were in HD at least what I saw, and the picture was pretty bad, too, compared to other SD channels across Sky.
That’s right, Sky offers only SD feeds of these channels. And because they’re second-tier FTA channels, they probably won’t benefit from a bitrate as good as Sky’s Jones! channels.
Hey, Leo, re live-streaming of +1 channels: According to Freeview, “They’re not available to stream because currently none of the broadcasters supply live-streams of ‘plus 1’ channels.” Why? Here’s TVNZ’s response, which I’m sure other broadcasters would echo: “Given the majority of our shows are available to watch OnDemand in catch-up, we’ve found there is less of a need for a +1 stream. If you miss Shortland Street, it’s available for catch up from 7.30pm for example, so you don’t really need the hour delayed stream.”
Interesting insight and very understandable why they wouldn’t offer the plus1 live streams, I’m glad there is an answer to the burning question of why. Cheers, Philip, for always getting back with our queries. Looking forward to Discovery’s reasoning for not streaming HGTV on Freeview Streaming and ThreeNow.
Hey, Leo, Discovery’s confirmed that HGTV will start streaming on ThreeNow later this year.
Btw, while both Rush and Eden are in HD on Freeview’s terrestrial service, they are SD-only on satellite. A Discovery spokesperson says because there could still be quite a few SD-only decoders being used to receive Freeview channels over satellite, they would not support the H.264 decoding that’s the standard for HD distribution.
Hi Philip, cheers for always getting back to me. Great news with HGTV streaming soon on ThreeNow. Now all the Discovery FTA channels will be available online. One can only hope that Freeview satellite will allow HD channels but I don’t see that happening. Many thanks again Philip for getting back with all our queries, your readers very much appreciate it!!
Only too happy to seek the answers whenever possible, Leo. Many of the points that you and others raise highlight issues and nuances that sometimes pass me by, so keep ’em comin’!