Sky 5 | |
Picture Format: | 1080i (HDTV) |
Owner: | Sky Network Television |
Country: | New Zealand |
Former Names: | Orange, Sky 1, The Box |
Website: | Official Site |
Online Serv 1: | Sky Go |
Online Chan 1: | skygo.co.nz |
Sky 5 is a television channel in New Zealand available on Sky.
The channel's shows are a variety of international shows, for example , The Simpsons, WWE, The Flash, Supergirl, Arrow, Tour of Duty, Hardcore Pawn and Pawn Stars.
The channel was started on 3 December 1994 as Orange on Sky UHF pre-set channel 7. Orange broadcast between 10am and around 11:30pm and during 1995 Juice TV began broadcasting overnight when Orange went off the air. On 1 January 1997, Cartoon Network began broadcasting between 6am and 4pm while Orange was not broadcasting.
Orange changed its name to Sky 1 on 1 June 1998 and introduced overnight programming, with The Simpsons debuting on 7 July 1998 with the first ever episode. The channel began broadcasting 24 hours a day on 1 January 1999 when the Sky Digital service was launched; however, the UHF channel continued to screen Cartoon Network between 6am-4pm and in 2000 this was replaced with Nickelodeon.
In 2005, Sky Network Television considered unencrypting Sky 1 to make it a free-to-air channel, but decided instead to purchase the existing network, Prime.
Sky 1 relaunched on 1 February 2008 and in the process its name was changed to The Box.
On 2 February 2018, 10 years after the channel relaunched as The Box, it rebranded for the third time in its history, as Sky 5.