50 Years of New Zealand Television: 4 - Winners and Losers

Television (Full Length Episode) – 2010

This fourth episode in Prime’s series on Kiwi television history series charts 50 years of sports on TV. Interviews with veteran broadcasters are mixed with clips of classic sporting moments. Changes in technology are surveyed: from live broadcasts and colour TV, to slo-mo replays and CGI graphics. Sports coverage is framed as a national campfire where Kiwis have been able to share in test match, Olympic, Commonwealth and World Cup triumphs and disasters — from emotional national anthems and inspirational Paralympians, to underarm deliveries, snapped masts and face-plants.

Television created visual memories for us. Prior to televisions, people read about sports events, or they went and saw sports events, but that was the only memory they could retain for the rest of their lives.
– Sports writer Ron Palenski