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 TV3 has been the leader in free-to-air HD, Four will continue to broadcast in SD just as its chief TVNZ rival, TV2, aggressively hikes its 1080i content from merely a few hours a week to more than 20.

Compounding this inequity is the number of TV3 HD properties that is switching to Four to help drive its ratings, including new seasons of The Simpsons, Family Guy and America’s Next Top Model. (Four officially launches at 6pm with the Flight of the Conchords episode of The Simpsons; the latest season will air weekly 7.30pm Sundays.)

MediaWorks TV chief executive Jason Paris acknowledges MediaWorks TV needs to be “sorting out” Four’s HD future sooner rather than later.

“Consumers are increasingly demanding their channels be brought to them in HD and that’s something we have to sort out,” he says.

“I think our first focus will be launching Four in HD on the Freeview platform and then working with Sky later to bring HD on the Sky platform.

“Freeview as a brand needs as many advantages as it can get heading into the digital switchover [in 2013], and if launching Four on Freeview in HD first, before the Sky platform, was something of benefit, then we’d probably look at doing that.”

But first, MediaWorks management has to decide if making Four HD is preferable to launching another SD channel.

“It’s about capacity issues at the moment,” Paris says. “You only have a certain amount of spectrum and we’ve just been looking at is that spectrum best used to increase Four to HD or should we be looking at using that spectrum for new channel launches.

“That decision hasn’t been made yet. There’s no guarantee Four will be going HD but I’d be leaning towards that option.”

Can Simpsons Conchords fly in SD?

The Simpsons

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 changes).

Traditionally, TV3 has programmed for 18-49 year-olds and C4 for 18-39.

As a consequence, several of TV3’s properties will change channels, including The Simpsons, America’s Next Top Model and Top Chef.

Of these, the biggest loss from TV3 will be The Simpsons, because it will no longer screen in HD.

That’s right – despite MediaWorks chief executive Jason Paris declaring the new-look C4 will appeal “to anyone looking for great entertainment,” rather than just niche, youth-driven fare, the broadcaster still doesn’t plan to give the channel an HD makeover.

That means not just The Simpsons but a swag of HD shows will languish in SD for the FOUR-seeable future.

These will include such acquisitions as The Good Guys, Covert Affairs, Community and The Gates (you can see HD promos of these series on YouTube).

If MediaWorks is serious about repositioning C4 as a major player, then it needs to give it the market credibility of HD – otherwise, risk even its new, older demographic downloading these shows as HD torrents months before they screen here.

As Bart Simpson himself wrote on the school blackboard in the opening credits of the first HD episode of The Simpsons, “HDTV is worth every cent.”

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, NBC Universal, has refused to licence its shows in HD unless TV3 paid a premium.

Because the network wouldn’t, series like House, Trauma, Heroes, SVU, Law & Order and Parenthood, as well as Universal’s movie library, have continued to air here in SD.

The dispute was reminiscent of a mid-‘70s spat between TVNZ and MCA Universal, when the broadcaster refused to pay above its going rate for the latter’s shows, hence the likes of Roots and The Rockford Files not screening here until the ‘80s.

The current impasse was resolved only when TV3 recently renewed its output deal with NBC Universal.

That means all of the NBC Universal shows should be in HD next year, the exception being those relegated to C4, such as The Office and 30 Rock.

Among the HD newcomers will be The Event, Chase, The Cape, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Love Bites, Outlaw, Outsourced and Perfect Couples.

The Event, Law & Order: Los Angeles, Outlaw and Outsourced already have gone to air in the US, with mixed results, while Chase, The Cape, Love Bites and Perfect Couples are mid-season replacements.

None of the first batch has fared especially well in the ratings, a fate most new-season shows have shared.

Outlaw, a legal drama starring Jimmy Smits, already has stopped production, and The Event, a serialised conspiracy thriller, and L&O: LA, a self-explanatory spin-off, have faltered after strong starts.

The final season of

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 because C4′s SD-only and will stay so for the foreseeable future.

Dollhouse is a sci-fi thriller about a laboratory that implants humans with false memories to undertake different missions; the cast is headed by Tru Calling’s Eliza Dushku.

The reviews were mixed, ranging from “haunting, cerebral and gorgeous” (Time) to a “pretentious and risible jumble” (The Washington Post), and the series lasted only two seasons. The first season is out on region-free Blu-ray in the US and the second releases October 12.

A NZ Blu-ray release date has yet to be confirmed for season four of Heroes but it won’t be until the end of the year, given it will take C4 that long to complete its broadcast of the 19 episodes.

However, the US Blu-ray is region-free and the Australian Blu-ray release is set for next month.

Blu-ray.com called the HD transfer “commendable” but thought the extras less so whereas DVD Talk agreed the video “generally looks terrific” and felt the extras were worthwhile, too, even if the number of picture-in-picture commentaries has plummeted from 25 on season three to just four.

TV3 is replacing its Sunday HD comedy combo of

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 Days.

But the freakin’ sweetest news for fans is Family Guy will go HD from September in the US, joining the ranks of The Simpsons, King of the Hill and American Dad.

Because King and American Dad are C4 properties, and MediaWorks has ruled out the possibility of its youth channel going HD, they will continue to air here in SD.

But now that TV3 has reacquired Family Guy from its sister channel, expect to see the Griffin clan in HD from next year (for a sneak peek of how the show will look, check out the Blu-ray of Family Guy’s The Empire Strikes Back spoof, Something, Something, Something Dark Side).

Sunday’s Modern Family caps a week of HD season finales on TV3, including Bones, CSI, The Good Wife and RadiRadiRah, with NCIS: Los Angeles to follow with a double-episode send-off on Monday.

Meanwhile, the season one Blu-ray of NCIS: Los Angeles, which releases in the US on August 31, will include such exclusive extras as a two-part NCIS crossover episode, a commentary and behind-the-scenes shorts.

MediaWorks has improved its video on demand

“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 expensive for users because it’s bandwidth-hungry. “When the ISP deals are in the market to support this, we’ll do it. We already have TV files in HD. And TV3 was the first broadcaster to offer HD in New Zealand.”

McKenna says the new H264 encoded streams deliver “better definition and a nicer picture” than previously (which was Flash in various bitrates).

But she stresses the VoD enhancements have more to do with loading speed than bit rates (because the service is hosted locally, connection is faster than peering arrangements that require going offshore).

While MediaWorks claims the upgraded video player offers a “TV-like experience” but with shorter ad breaks, even on a 24-inch computer screen the video falls well short of SD viewing on a TV display.

Moreover, while it allows you to catch up with series like The Good Wife, Glee, NCIS LA, Modern Family, Underbelly, RadiRadiRah or Bones immediately after their broadcast, why would you bother when they can be recorded in HD on TiVo or MySky HDi?

Because MediaWorks research shows 85% of on-demand viewing incrementally builds free-to-air viewing: 77% watch online because they missed the show on air, enabling them to keep up with it.

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 it originally aired, dithered around with its scheduling after the ratings slipped.

The series is experiencing a similar slump in the US, where NBC is debating whether to renew it for a fifth season (the fourth ended this month).

TV3′s refusal to allow season three’s Blu-ray release here because of its broadcast rights to the series was the latest blow to Heroes diehards — as is the shift to C4. Bad enough that Heroes never aired here in HD, because TV3 refuses to pay Universal’s TV distribution arm the premium it wants for HD content, but consigning the show to its SD-only sister channel means episodes will no longer even be upscaled to near-HD resolution.

C4 tried to put the best spin on fans’ frustration over the long delay between the end of ‘volume three’ this time last year and the start of  ’volume four’ with its shrewdly-worded press release: “After much anticipation, Heroes’ fans finally get the chance to see the conclusion to season three (which previously screened on TV3) when volume four, Fugitives, premieres on March 15, at 8.30pm, on C4.

“Added to the excitement, fans will also get the chance to meet James Kyson Lee (Ando AKA Hiro Nakamura’s wingman) when he comes to New Zealand for Armageddon in Christchurch on March 27-28 and Wellington on April 2-4.”

The 12-part volume four opens three weeks after the destruction of both Primatech and Pinehearst, and the death of Arthur Petrelli (Robert Forster). The now-villainous Nathan (Adrian Pasdar) returns with a vengeance by persuading the President and the government to round up all people with abilities.

Led by Danko (Emmy-winner Zeljko Ivanek), the Department of Homeland Security quickly force Claire (Hayden Panettiere), Ando, Hiro (Masi Oka), Matt (Greg Grunberg), Peter (Milo Ventimiglia), and Tracy (Ali Larter) to become fugitives from the people who were once their allies.

Unless C4 plays it off in double-episodes, expect the Blu-ray of season three to bow mid-June and for season four to start soon after on C4 — on the eve of its Blu-ray release elsewhere.

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 in the US, alongside sister show The Colbert Report.

Colbert had a late-night slot on Comedy Central NZ, until it was pulled last month. There’s no word on when it will return but hopefully it will resume on a double-bill with The Daily Show (albeit in SD).

However, a recent press release promoting the channel’s March highlights didn’t mention either series but, rather, such relics as Arrested Development, 3rd Rock From the Sun, Whose Line Is It, Anyway?,  Entourage and a season of Jason Alexander’s favourite Seinfeld episodes.

Meanwhile, Kelly Martin, who oversees the programming of TV3 and C4, told ScreenScribe.tv The Daily Show’s contract wasn’t renewed for 2010 because the budget couldn’t justify it.

“From our perspective, it was about priorities and money … It’s not that it was super expensive, just that we’d rather focus our spending, outside of large deals, on primetime.”

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 launch in the US means we’re effectively seven weeks behind).

It’s also one of the benefits of MediaWorks TV switching 24 from TV3 to C4, which has become the second-chance channel for shows that rate poorly on its sister network, such as Dexter and 90210.

The downside is if 24 had stayed on TV3, it would be airing in HD.

Compounding this frustration for Jack Bauer diehards is 20th Century Fox doesn’t offer the series here on Blu-ray, as it does in the US and the UK.

Nor does MediaWorks TV plan to repeat 24 late-night on TV3, as it’s occasionally done with other C4 programming.

“Probably not at this stage,” programming boss Kelly Martin told ScreenScribe.tv. “We’re trying not to blur the channel lines any more than absolutely necessary.”

Yet she acknowledges the reverse strategy has broadened sampling of Fox’s Glee, which screens 7.30pm Friday (in HD) on TV3, and replays 7.30pm Wednesdays (in SD) on C4.

“Yes, it’s worked pretty well — good audiences on 3, then again on C4 and one of our best online performers, too. So it’s being watched in all places.”

As for 24/8, its US ratings are down slightly on 24/7’s but the reviews were largely positive: “though the premiere’s twists are not as shocking as in years past, better ones are coming, and quickly” – USA Today; “it’s an old story rolled out with all the power of the new — meticulously plotted, irresistibly suspenseful” – Wall Street Journal; “despite the repetitions, the first four episodes are slick, fast-paced and engrossing, but that’s not new either” – New York Times.

But Salon’s Heather Havrilesky warned: “After watching the first four hours, I can tell you that the eighth season of 24 does not look good. You know how much I adore this stupid show, but please, don’t waste your time.”