HD Heads-Up: July 31 – August 6
July 22, 2021 
2 Comments
➢➢ There’s a dearth of free-to-air highlights in the first week of August but expect a post-Olympics bonanza of new shows on TVNZ 1 and Prime. Prime’s repeats-heavy schedule particularly needs an overhaul, with an unprecedented number of reruns dominating most nights. An embargo prevents me from detailing the premieres lined up for the week starting August 7 but a mix of modern and period dramas will anchor Tuesday nights and there will be a new Dick Wolf franchise on Fridays …
➢➢ Coming soon to TVNZ 1 will be new seasons of One Lane Bridge, Cold Case and Your Home Made Perfect, and premieres like Give Us a Clue Sweetie, The Highlands Vet, It’s a Sin, The Panthers and a new George Clarke restoration series …
➢➢ In the meantime, The Undateables will return for its 11th season (TVNZ 2, 8.35 Mondays from August 2) and S4 of Holey Moley Australia: Junior Edition will resume in a new Saturday night slot from July 31 (Three, 7.00). Ending their runs that week will be 9-1-1 and Amazing Grace …
➢➢ Quipped London’s Evening Standard about the pre-COVID 2020 season of The Undateables: “It’s easy, pleasant watching. In the era of social distancing, good luck getting to Series 12″ …
➢➢ Late Night (Three, 8.25 Saturday) will be the sole network movie premiere in the week starting July 31. Other HD coming attractions include:
- Cool Runnings (TVNZ 2, 7.00 Saturday
- The Final Destination (Duke, 8.30 Saturday)
- Moon (Maori TV, 8.40 Saturday)
- Wild Wild West (TVNZ 2, 8.50 Saturday)
- Kindred Spirits (Three, 10.30 Saturday)
- Blade Runner 2049 (TVNZ 2, 11.00 Saturday)
- Wedding Crashers (TVNZ 2, 1.50am Sunday)
- Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (TVNZ 2, 8.20 Sunday)
- The Hitman’s Bodyguard (Three, 8.30 Sunday)
- Cellular (TVNZ 2, 10.50 Sunday)
- Ambushed (Prime, 8.30 Monday)
- Abduction (Duke, 8.30 Tuesday)
- ‘Crocodile’ Dundee II (Three, 8.30 Thursday)
- Jurassic Park III (Three, 7.30 Friday)
- Paper Planes (Prime, 7.30 Friday)
- Beverly Hills Cop III (Duke, 8.30 Friday)
- What We Did On Our Holiday (Maori TV, 8.30 Friday)
- Big Sky (TVNZ 2, 2.40am Saturday).
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July 22, 2021 at 10:33 am
The broadcasters absolutely need to tell us viewers exactly when show are going to be broadcast in advanced which is more than 2 weeks. Needs to be 4 weeks minimum. I don’t understand how USA does this all the time while here in NZ we just get screwed by hiding the details. This is critical information that needs to passed onto the viewers and by the lack of information surrounding broadcast dates in advance. Always leads me to pirate my content. Please pass this valuable feedback to each broadcaster and see what they have to say about people who are unable to find content that they are willing to watch. This is also further evidence that they do plan their schedules well in advance of the public knowing.
I hear you, Chris, but NZ broadcasters have always jealously guarded their programming plans and ratings info. In the US and Australia, the networks bombard media with daily ratings updates but not here. Similarly, the US networks are far more open about their long-term scheduling — much more so than those in the UK and Australia. To be fair, NZ broadcasters can be constrained by contractural issues. For instance, Sky has a notable UK series soon to premiere that it’s put under a press embargo because the domestic broadcaster has yet to announce its scheduling. But generally your points are valid: our networks are still programming content as if their only competitors were one another when they should be trumpeting well in advance what’s coming down the pike to keep viewers loyal.