If you’re watching Freeview via satellite and notice that you’re losing reception for a short time each day, it’s likely that your satellite dish is damaged or isn’t properly aligned. This could be due to strong wind or general exposure to weather elements over time. To fix this, contact an installer for a quote to align your satellite dish.

If you're not watching Freeview through satellite, then your reception issue is due to another issue, please see here. 

Why is this happening lately? 

The current satellite carrying New Zealand TV broadcasts is nearing the end of its life and due to be replaced in April 2025. As such, its signal is marginally more variable. A correctly aligned satellite dish is designed to easily compensate for this and would be unaffected; but a poorly aligned or damaged dish is much more prone to reception issues and would lose signal in certain parts of the day. 

Aligning your satellite dish before April 2025

Due to the slightly variable orbit of the current satellite, installers can only align a satellite dish in one or two specific time windows on any given day. Your installer can advise of the specific times when scheduling in the alignment for you.

What if I'm in the Chathams?

The satellite reception issues are more pronounced in the Chatham Islands. This is due to the larger satellite dishes used on the islands, which are more sensitive, as well as the islands being very remote and on the very edge of satellite reception coverage. If you're in the Chathams, it's best to wait for the satellite replacement in April and watch with the Freeview Streaming TV app if you have good internet access.

What if I can't arrange for an alignment of my satellite dish?

If you're unable to arrange for your satellite dish to be aligned, you can watch free TV through the Freeview Streaming TV app where there is good internet access. The app is free to download on 2018+ Smart TVs and is preloaded on all SmartVU dongles. See here for app availability.