ScreenScribe

C4 today is being relaunched as Four so it and sister channel TV3 can compete more strategically against TVNZ’s networks. Owner MediaWorks TV is revamping the niche youth music channel into a mainstream entertainment network for 18-49 year-olds – the audience TV3 targeted for 21 years before setting its sights on 25-54 year-olds. But whereas […]

The Simpsons will be one of the biggest HD casualties of a revamped TV3 and C4. This morning in Wellington, MediaWorks announced C4 would be rebranded FOUR early next year, and recalibrated to attract 18-49 year-olds, while TV3 will evolve into a TV One rival, targeting 25-54 year-old (see Onfilm for an in-depth appraisal of the […]

Expect a big jump in TV3’s primetime HD content. The network will unveil its 2011 highlights to media and ad agencies this week, when it’s also tipped to announce major management changes. One of next year’s biggest breakthroughs will be most of TV3’s US content screening in HD. Until now, one of its key suppliers, […]

The final season of Heroes at last will go to air here a month after the Blu-ray went on sale in the US. It’s being double-billed with another long-overdue premiere, Joss (Firefly) Whedon’s Dollhouse, from August 30, at 8.30pm Mondays on C4. Like Heroes, Dollhouse is another HD series that won’t screen here in 1080i […]

TV3 is replacing its Sunday HD comedy combo of The Simpsons and Modern Family with SD re-runs of the former and season eight of Family Guy, which starts on July 18. It also will re-run “the most outrageous and naughty” episodes of Family Guy from 10.05pm Fridays, beginning July 16, after a newly expanded 7 […]

MediaWorks has improved its video on demand service for TV3 and C4 shows but says it’s still too costly to stream them in HD. “We offer 770 kilobytes as our top-quality stream, though we can go higher at any time,” MediaWorks’ director of interactive Siobhan McKenna told ScreenScribe.tv. But she says HD would be too […]

Expect Universal Pictures Home Entertainment to soon confirm a release date for the season three Blu-ray of Heroes now C4 has announced its return on March 15. The distributor has had to postpone the release several times since it went on sale around the rest of the world in September because TV3, the network where […]

Comedy Central NZ has yet to confirm if it will pick up The Daily Show, which has just gone HD in the US, following its dumping by C4. Jon Stewart’s satirical half-hour was one of the channel’s brightest drawcards and would be a natural fit for Sky’s Comedy Central. The Emmy-winner screens on Comedy Central […]

Jack’s back – but not in HD. There’s good news and bad for 24 fans: C4 this week kicks off season eight in a new, 8.30pm Friday slot just three weeks after its US premiere. That’s a terrific turnaround in a market where broadcasters usually screen shows months after their US transmission (although 24’s four-hour first-week […]