TVNZ announced a rebranding of its channels, but viewers aren't having a bar of it

TVNZ today announced a brand overhaul in which it will abandon more than 40 years of history to rename TV One to TVNZ 1.

It will also see TV2 renamed TVNZ 2 and One News to become 1 News.

The New Zealand public has had a couple of hours since the news broke to respond to the change, and the general consensus seems to be: no one cares.

Like one commenter said on Facebook: "It's always been channel one, channel 2 etc in my house and will never change. Nobody is going to refer to it as TVNZ 1, 2. Who would say that?"

And those that do care, aren't happy, with many concerned about how much this rebrand will cost tax payers.

One commenter said: "This is outrageous. Someone needs to be sacked. Typical of our lacklustre national broadcaster. And on taxpayer money too."

On Twitter, many are expressing their disappointment with reactions ranging from making fun of the change to flat out denying its existence.

the two major TVNZ channels have been renamed to "Sorry" and "Not Sorry"

— wife guy debord (@fancylettuce) September 29, 2016

This is just dumbass brand tinkering. They'll lose brand value on this.
"TVNZ announces new channel name" https://t.co/QMGr9IKrgE @nzherald

— TrueReckons (@Sherida7William) September 29, 2016

You can give it a new name TVNZ but it'll still be TV1 and TV2. So there. 😋https://t.co/LEhVyQ8W8E

— Melanie D. #TwoTicksLabour (@melulater) September 29, 2016

And on the other hand, many have taken to treating Twitter like a suggestion box for names TVNZ could have picked:

@ShakingStick Too bad. I was hanging out for ‘TVNZ: A dark moon rises’

— Peter Aranyi (@onThePaepae) September 29, 2016

@thetvnews TVNZ Who Cares? would be perfect 👌

— Trevor Ashman (@kiwi4you) September 29, 2016

The 2 main TVNZ channels have been renamed TVNZ1 and TVNZ2: Judgment Day.

— Sanjay Patel (@spat106) September 29, 2016