{"id":128474,"date":"2025-11-10T21:14:08","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:14:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/128474\/"},"modified":"2025-11-10T21:14:08","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T21:14:08","slug":"media-insider-sky-launching-new-channels-sky-kids-and-sky-comedy-to-replace-nickelodeon-nick-jr-comedy-central-and-cartoon-network-music-channels-to-replace-mtv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/128474\/","title":{"rendered":"Media Insider: Sky launching new channels – Sky Kids and Sky Comedy to replace Nickelodeon, Nick Jr., Comedy Central and Cartoon Network; music channels to replace MTV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Media Insider revealed in July<\/a> that an overhaul has been sparked by the expiry of Sky\u2019s existing programming deal with US giant Paramount Media Networks, which owns channels including MTV 80s, MTV Hits, Comedy Central, Nickelodeon and Nick Jr.<\/p>\n

Nickelodeon features hit children\u2019s shows such as SpongeBob SquarePants, Paw Patrol and Rugrats.<\/p>\n

\"SpongebobSpongebob Squarepants plays on Sky’s Nickelodeon channel but will soon be part of a new curated channel. <\/p>\n

All five channels have been screened on Sky TV as \u201cpass-through\u201d channels.<\/p>\n

Sky says the changes will mean less repetition, with the new curated channels offering international as well as locally commissioned content. The channels will be part of the basic Sky Starter pack for customers.<\/p>\n

The new Sky Comedy channel will feature Comedy Central shows, including all-new South Park episodes, The Daily Show and Beavis and Butt-Head, and older shows such as Cheers, Reno 911!, Nathan For You, and Key and Peele. <\/p>\n

It will also screen the final season of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.<\/p>\n

ITV\u2019s Schitt\u2019s Creek and Disney\u2019s Arrested Development have also been added to the menu.<\/p>\n

Sky Kids would offer content for preschoolers, including Blaze and the Monster Machines, Dora, and Paw Patrol, and an after-school line-up including SpongeBob SquarePants, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Loud House.<\/p>\n

Other content included CatDog, Angry Beavers, Hey Arnold! and Rugrats.<\/p>\n

Local content would include Katie\u2019s Kuri and The Last Moa, as well as Kiri & Lou, The Drawing Show, Extreme Cake Sports and Secrets at Red Rocks.<\/p>\n

NZ on Air research released last week revealed 11% of children aged between 4 and 14 watch Sky programming – a fair distance behind the leading platform, YouTube (69%).<\/p>\n

\"FanFan favourite Schitt’s Creek will screen on Sky Comedy. Photo \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Sky Comedy will feature on channel 11 and Sky Kids on channel 101. <\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Sky is teaming up with Mood TV to replace MTV Hits and MTV 80s with Juice TV and J2.<\/p>\n

Juice TV (channel 25) will feature contemporary and timeless music hits across every genre, with 40% New Zealand content. J2 (channel 26) will be focused on classic hits with a modern twist. <\/p>\n

\u2018Significant review\u2019<\/p>\n

Sky flagged the changes back in July.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are in constant dialogue with our entertainment content providers about how best to serve customer needs,\u201d Sky TV content and product strategy head Fiona Murray said in a statement at the time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been undertaking a significant review of our entertainment strategy, based on our rich viewership data and what our customers are telling us.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been getting feedback from customers that they don\u2019t like repeats on some of our affiliate channels [for your readers\u2019 reference, these are the channels where we pass content straight through from international providers].<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been listening to that and want to address it. We are working on plans that would see us create new Sky channels that are more tailored for New Zealand audiences and where we can have more control on the titles we serve.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will be working with the same content partners, just in a different way. We know how much our customers value their entertainment content, so we want to reassure them any changes would be made with their preferences in mind.\u201d<\/p>\n

An official announcement on the new channels is expected later on Tuesday morning.<\/p>\n

Editor-at-Large Shayne Currie is one of New Zealand\u2019s most experienced senior journalists and media leaders. He has held executive and senior editorial roles at NZME including Managing Editor, NZ Herald Editor and Herald on Sunday Editor and has a small shareholding in NZME.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Media Insider revealed in July that an overhaul has been sparked by the expiry of Sky\u2019s existing programming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128475,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[2851,95,3705,1853,89083,3682,24004,85742,156,2936,8273,1899,4479,5829,1073,10940,157,3805,117,111,139,6933,76355,69,44355,89084,4482,41308,418,8861,165,61,437,1533],"class_list":["post-128474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-also","tag-and","tag-cartoon","tag-central","tag-channels","tag-comedy","tag-coming","tag-curated","tag-entertainment","tag-insider","tag-jr","tag-kids","tag-launching","tag-many","tag-media","tag-mtv","tag-music","tag-network","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nick","tag-nickelodeon","tag-nz","tag-operator","tag-paytv","tag-replace","tag-retaining","tag-shows","tag-sky","tag-their","tag-to","tag-tv","tag-will"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=128474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/128474\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/128475"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=128474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=128474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=128474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}