The schedules for TV One and TV2 include several big-name international hits but also have a strong focus on local content.
One of the year's biggest international hits, Marvel's Agents of Shield, will screen on TV2.
The action-drama, created by The Avengers director Josh Whedon, is a spin-off of the film.
Twelve million people tuned into watch the first episode when it premiered in the United States in September, making it the biggest network drama debut in four years.
It will be joined on TV2 by Rebel Wilson's new comedy series, Super Fun Night.
Several popular shows are returning to the channel, including The Big Bang Theory, Arrow and The Amazing Race Australia, which for the first time will feature Kiwi teams.
The TV2 staple Shortland Street and the recently acquired Home and Away will also be back.
On TV One, Outrageous Fortune alumni Robyn Malcolm joins an all-star cast in Australian comedy Upper Middle Bogan. Set in Sydney, the plot was described as "Sydney's upper middle-class suburbanites clash with drag-racing Westies".
Secrets & Lies, a six-part Australian thriller starring Kiwi Martin Henderson, is also new to TV One and follows a family man in Brisbane who finds the body of a young boy and quickly becomes the prime murder suspect.
Former Dr Who star David Tennant will be seen in his new show, the highly-acclaimed British whodunnit, Broadchurch.
TV One's 2014 schedule has a heavy focus on new, local content. All-new Sunday Theatres will "tell some of New Zealand's most dramatic stories", TVNZ says.
Programme topics include the early days of pirate radio, the Erebus air disaster and Louise Nicholas' quest for justice.
MasterChef New Zealand will be returning to TV One.
Herald media writer John Drinnan said TVNZ had been spending "big time". This provided security to viewers, "knowing they have access to all of the best programming".
However, mass-content deals did not always work for networks.
"You get the good with the bad so you end up with a lot of junk shows."
2014 TV line-up
Breathless
Upper Middle Bogan
Sunday Theatres
Rhys Darby's Short Poppies
Secrets and Lies
New to TV2
Marvel's Agents of Shield
Resurrection
Super Fun Night
Step Dave
Nabbed, a New Zealand road policing reality show
- Ben Irwin of the New Zealand Herald
