CTV chairman Nick Smith, of Dunedin, said the station would begin with a two-hour broadcast from 5.30pm.
He said he had not seen the programme yet - "I'll be watching at 5.30 myself" - but expected it would offer an hour of news and another hour of interviews with people involved in the earthquake recovery, along with other material from Christchurch.
At this stage, shows have to be recorded and sent on disk to Auckland by courier, then relayed from there, but it is hoped this will change by May 2.
The show will screen on Maori TV the morning after each CTV broadcastMr Smith said there had been a lot of interest in tonight's broadcast, with "all sorts of wellwishers" contacting the station to say "this is fantastic".
He paid tribute to the work staff had done to get the station operating again within five weeks.
"It's just incredible. Everyone is pretty chuffed."
The station has moved to the Mainland Press building in Harewood.
