In May 2007 it was announced that Ironbridge Capital, an Australian private equity firm, was paying $386 million or $2.43 a share for the 70 percent of CanWest MediaWorks (NZ) owned by CanWest Global Communications. It was also offering the same price to minority shareholders under a full takeover bid.
On 1 April 2008, TV3 became the first New Zealand television network to introduce high-definition television, to coincide with the launch of Freeview HD and MySky HDi in New Zealand. The first programme to broadcast in true 1080i high definition (i.e. not upscaled) was that night's screening of Boston Legal.[28]
In October 2010, coinciding with the announcement of the launch of Four, TV3 announced that it would undergo a slight change to its target demographic, shifting from the 18-49 demographic to the 25-54 one. Key international TV series such as The Simpsons, America's Next Top Model and Top Chef would move to the new channel, as well as a reduction in the amount of crime dramas broadcast. Outrageous Fortune was replaced by a new title from South Pacific Pictures, The Almighty Johnsons, which was slated to be TV3's new flagship local drama series for 2011. New Zealand's Next Top Model would remain on the channel, as MediaWorks bosses believed that the local nature of the programme was "event television".[29]
On 17 June 2013 the parent company of TV3 went into receivership, this being the second receivership for TV3. When TV3's parent company MediaWorks was purchased by Ironbridge Capital they took on $700 million of debt which could no longer be sustained. Following the receivership TV3 and the radio stations owned by MediaWorks remained on air and all staff have retained their jobs.[30] Shares in the company were gradually and completely bought out by US hedge fund Oaktree Capital Management.[31]
Since 3 July 2016, with the closure of sister channel Four, some of its programming, such as Sticky TV, moved over to TV3 in a new daytime lineup.
On 9 February 2017, TV3 underwent a major re-branding, changing its name to Three and adopting a new logo and on-air imaging. The new brand was promoted as being "vibrant, playful, and inspiring"; chief content officer Andrew Szusterman explained that TV3 as a brand had not evolved with its programming, and that "a channel this strong, with content this strong, should be bigger than the sum of its parts and it should represent the content itself whereas the pieces of content were living in isolation." The new imaging was widely criticised by viewers, particularly the unusual design and stylization of its new logo as "+HR=E".[32][33][34]
A second sister channel, ThreeLife, was launched on 15 April 2018.
On 18 October 2019, MediaWorks announced Three was for sale.[35]
On 25 March 2020, ThreeLife and ThreeLife + 1 went off air, and were replaced by the return of The Edge TV and new channel Breeze TV.[36]
