Television comes to Avalon
TV One launches from the new purpose-built centre in April. Comedian John Clarke, as Fred Dagg, takes viewers through the extraordinary new facility.
A national stageA building created
A building created
to tell our stories.
Purpose-built by the New Zealand government for the New Zealand Broadcasting Corporation, Avalon was the country's first television facility designed from the ground up for the medium. TV One launched from the site in April 1975, with the complex officially opened in March 1976.
The tower and studios became one of the Southern Hemisphere's largest production complexes. Sets, control rooms, performers and crews all worked beneath a silhouette that became part of Lower Hutt's identity.
“A landmark is more than a building. It is a shared memory, given a new future.”
The official opening
The Avalon Television Centre is officially opened in March, establishing a major national production base in Lower Hutt.
Film joins television
The National Film Unit moves from Miramar to Avalon, bringing another important strand of New Zealand screen history to the site.
The programmes we remember
From telethons, Fair Go, Wheel of Fortune and Sale of the Century to later productions such as Dancing with the Stars, Avalon helps make the country's popular culture.
A changing industry
TVNZ announces the sale of the Avalon site as production models evolve. The studios continue to serve screen projects and specialist archival work.
A new residential chapter
The tower's strong modernist identity becomes the starting point for a different kind of production: 72 private residences and a shared community within an unmistakable landmark.
Life above the Hutt
Avalon Apartments brings the tower forward again. The original building keeps its presence while contemporary homes and shared spaces create a new way to experience Lower Hutt.
The next sceneThe tower
The tower
belongs to life now.
Where stories were once broadcast across the country, mornings will begin above the valley, neighbours will meet in the residents lounge, and a new community will add its own chapter to Avalon.
Explore the residencesRead the record
Sources and further history
This story draws on archival and public records. Dates distinguish TV One's operational launch in April 1975 from the centre's formal opening in March 1976.