Television set

This colour television set is significant because of its 1970s period style, its provenance as a New Zealand-made set, and its representation of the importance of broadcasting in communal and social life, and popular culture.

This set is also important as an example of a piece of household furniture. For many decades, televisions were treated, like radios, as important pieces of furniture and the focal point for shared family leisure and socialising. They were also a significant financial outlay - this particular set with its 22 inch screen was NZ$755 in 1974 which was about $8000 in 2018.

Television was first broadcast in New Zealand in 1960. Through the 1960s, New Zealanders quickly adopted it: the number of licensed sets rose from 4600 in 1961 to over 500,000 in 1966 (New Zealand Official Year Book, 1990. p. 340). Colour television broadcasts began in 1973, not long before the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch.

PYE was a significant manufacturer in the New Zealand sound and image industries during this period. Its Vidmatic line of television sets was developed for New Zealand conditions, and made in Waihi during the 1970s. For example, gold plated tuning contacts dealt with New Zealand’s varying atmospheric conditions.

PYE also designed its cabinets to be part of contemporary living rooms rather than dominate them. The white ‘Nautilus’ design was aimed at ‘modish living rooms’. PYE’s Marketing News noted: ‘A stunning departure from the conventional. A style borne of today, matching all the technical developments of the Vidmatic system with materials and design of our age. NAUTILUS. A superb furniture piece for the truly contemporary home. Vivid white satin abrasion resistant finish with elegant tulip base. Price $755.00’ (August 1974, p. 5).

By the 1990s, thanks to technological advances and the shift and concentration of competitive electronics manufacturing to South East Asia, many households owned more than one set and organised their timetables and homes to accommodate viewing, with meals often eaten in front of TV rather than in separate dining rooms, or with separate rooms set up for viewing. This trend was disrupted in the 21st century with the rise of digital technologies, the miniaturisation of personal devices (mobile phones, laptops etc) and increased access to high speed broadband internet, on-demand 'downloadable' content, subscription channels, new recording technologies, smart TVs, and so on.

In its day, television also disrupted existing broadcast media. It superseded and displaced radio and the cinema (and to some extent newspapers) as the primary medium for international, national and local current affairs and elite and popular culture. Televisions provided a window onto the world and the nation, and consumer possibilities through advertising.

At the time that this television set was made, broadcasting was controlled by the state and was a mixture of commercial and non-commercial programming, including locally produced drama and light entertainment, sports, current affairs, as well as international fare, including the British soap opera and serial Coronation Street.