MasterChef averaged 10.2% – 13.7%, which was up on the previous week’s 8.1% – 12.0%, and X Factor, over its two-hour broadcast, 11.2% – 14.4%, which was consistent with a week earlier.

In the hour the two went head-to-head, MasterChef was more popular with adults 18-49 and 25-54 and X Factor won outright in the 18-39 and household shopper demos.

However, TV3’s inexplicable movie programming — a re-run of the 10-year-old comedy Just Married – sparked a mass exodus to TV2’s HD rival, Red Riding Hood.

It averaged 8.3% – 9.6% compared to Just Married’s 5.1% – 6.7% while TV One’s Packed to the Rafters rated a solid 5.0% – 9.6%.

TV2’s Saturday HD re-run of I Am Legend won its slot in all the key demos (6.9% – 11.2%) opposite CSI (4.8% – 7.2%) and CSI: NY (4.4% – 5.3%).

A 7.30 re-run of Monday’s X Factor rated a surprisingly competitive 3.3% – 4.2% against MasterChef MasterClass’ 3.1% – 5.4% and Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway’s 4.4% – 5.1%.

And proving a big lure at 5.30 is The ITM Fishing Show, which easily coasted to a win in all the chief demos (4.7% – 5.5%).

But TV3 had a nightmare night on Friday, when its HD light-ent line-up hit a new low for the year against TV2’s The Voice Australia.

The latter averaged 10.0% – 12.9% while Modern Family and The New Normal were in the 2.2% – 3.9% range.

But the biggest shock was The Graham Norton Show’s 2.9% – 3.8% while lead-out Steve and Ben World Famous In … didn’t score much better, with 3.3% – 4.4%.

On Thursday, TV3’s first HD season of Chelsea NZ’s Hottest Home Baker finished third in the 7.30 hour (3.8% – 7.1%) and Bones at 8.30 out-rated Once Upon a Time among adults 18-49 and 25-54, drew with adults 18-39 and lost with HHS.

Saturday

Trade Zone Gone Fishin’ (TV3, 5.00)

ITM Fishing Show (TV3, 5.30)

Country Calendar (TV One, 7.00)

MasterChef MasterClass (TV One, 7.30)

Network Movie Premiere: Tron: Legacy (TV2, 7.00, 5.1)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV3, 8.30, 5.1)

CSI: New York (TV3, 9.30, 5.1)

Sky’s premium HD drama channel has just announced its July highlights, which are headed by Dexter, and seasons two of Magic City and The Newsroom.

But there’s no sign of True Blood, the sixth season of which will premiere on HBO on June 16.

Last year Sky antagonised SoHo subscribers by first screening True Blood — in SD — on Prime.

Given Prime was first to spot True Blood’s potential, and has fast-tracked its broadcast, it’s only fair it should continue to air the show.

But for as long as Sky refuses to upgrade its free-to-air channel to HD, and continues to charge SoHo subscribers a monthly fee for exclusive HBO fare, it should at the very least screen True Blood on SoHo within days of its Prime telecast.

Or, better yet, simulcast it.

Dexter, on the other hand, will screen within 24 hours of its Showtime broadcast.

It will air 8.30 Mondays from July 1 and will boast notable newcomers for the last 12 episodes.

They include: Charlotte Rampling as a neuro-psychiatrist nicknamed the “psychopath whisperer” who comes to Miami-Metro to help with the Bay Harbour Butcher investigation; The Shield’s Kenny Johnson as a formidable US Marshall; Young Indiana Jones’ Sean Patrick Flannery a private eye; One Tree Hill’s Bethany Joy Lenz as Dexter’s new neighbour; and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’s Julian Sands as a wealthy international businessman.

The Newsroom will air a week behind the US when it returns on July 21, in the 8.30 Sunday slot.

Season two will unfold over a five-day period leading up to Election Day 2012 in the United States.

Other real-life events reflected through its prism will include the anniversary of 9/11, Gaddafi’s fall in Libya, genocide in Rwanda and Obamacare.

One of the season’s major story arcs will concern a wrongful-termination lawsuit made by a staff member alleged to have doctored a report about a suspicious US drone strike.

Magic City will be back for another eight-episode run from July 4, in an 8.30 Thursday slot – which will put it about a month behind Starz in the US.

According to the publicity for season two of this gangster drama, “Ike Evans (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) risks everything in a life and death battle to rid his Miramar Playa Hotel of the mob and Ben ‘The Butcher’ Diamond (Danny Huston).

“Ike’s dangerous plan to defeat Ben takes Ike from Havana’s glamorous casinos to dealings with a new devil – Ben’s boss in the Chicago Outfit.

“Meanwhile, Ike’s wife Vera (Olga Kurylenko) gets a second chance at her former dancing glory, while sons Stevie (Steven Strait) and Danny (Christian Cooke) drift further from Ike — Stevie toward the power and rewards of Ben’s dark world, Danny into the moral righteousness of State’s Attorney Jack Klein.

“But as changes in Castro’s Cuba ripple to the shores of Miami Beach, a new world order begins to tear the Evans family apart.

“Even if Ike’s longshot gamble to take back his hotel succeeds, will the price of victory be too high?”

Castle will return to its 9.30 Monday slot on TV One, picking up from where the fourth season left off.

It opens the morning after Richard Castle and Kate Beckett’s romantic rendezvous, and while their new relationship will be a feature of the series, the focus of the premiere will be elsewhere.

“The writers have put the rest of the show on steroids, quickening the pace and ratcheting up the action and tension,” New York Daily News critic David Hinckley says.

“Specifically, they dive deeper into Kate’s obsession with finding who murdered her mother …

“There is no murder of the week. It’s all about Kate and the shadowy lethal forces she has triggered by her relentless pursuit.

“While this focus at times approaches a ‘perils of Pauline’ level of melodrama, with a showdown that pushes the credibility envelope, it’s fun to watch.”

The free-to-air HD premiere of Tron: Legacy will screen in TV2’s 7.00 Saturday Family Blockbuster slot while overnight the network will repeat in HD, from 2am, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

TV3 will repeat late-night Sunday the movie Away We Go and on Monday, Hitman, which will screen at 9.00 because of the later start for The X Factor NZ.

There also will be another chance to see the first and only season of Unforgettable from Monday (TV One, 11.00) and the first season of The Big C overnight from Friday (TV3, 12.15) while Elizabeth Banks will guest star on Tuesday’s Modern Family (TV3, 7.30) and Daniel Radcliffe on Friday’s Graham Norton Show (TV3, 8.30).

Episode two of TV3’s widely acclaimed HD commission Harry was skewered by episode two of TV2’s new HD hit, Arrow.

The latter delivered spectacular ratings for the 9.30 hour, averaging 9.2% – 12.2% of the major demographics.

That was 2-3 times the viewership of Harry, which averaged only 4.0% – 4.9% compared to 4.1% – 7.1% for its premiere.

That’s a crushing setback for TV3, coming so soon after The Blue Rose’s failure to sustain its strong start.

But it’s hard to imagine a tougher slot for a local drama as distinctive as this detective series, given Arrow had Shortland Street, My Kitchen Rules, The Big Bang Theory and 2 Broke Girls to help build its audience.

Whereas BBT averaged 14.9% – 16.6% and 2BG 14.4% – 17.6%, Harry’s lead-in 3^rd Degree averaged only 4.3% – 5.0%.

The news was better for the week’s other Kiwi drama, Go Girls.

The TV2 staple won its slot on Tuesday, despite starting at the later hour of 9.00 because of an extra long MKR.

While the ratings were still only single digit in the key age demos — 8.5% – 9.9% — it did top 10% of household shoppers and improved on last week’s shockingly low 6.9% – 8.9%.

Going head to head in HD at 8.30 were Galapagos With David Attenborough (5.3% – 7.3%) and NCIS (5.7% – 8.0%) while, at 9.30, NCIS: Los Angeles rated 4.6% – 6.8% to beat TV One’s premiere of Strangeways (3.9% – 6.3%).

At 10.00, Revenge averaged 5.5% – 8.8% to win the hour while earlier in the night TV3’s HD sitcoms drew roughly three times fewer viewers than MKR: Modern Family averaged 5.8% – 6.0% and Go On, 4.4% – 5.1%.

The switch coincides with the first live results show going to air the same night and will eliminate the clash with Shortland Street, which has proved a much bigger drawcard than the talent quest.

“We are seeing a fabulous audience response on Sunday nights, but it has become clear that an 8pm timeslot on Mondays will better suit our viewers,” MediaWorks TV director of programming Mark Caulton says.

“We believe this change will best serve fans of The X Factor as we head into the live shows.”

The X Factor NZ has been getting hammered by the hour-long “winter episodes” of Shortland Street, which overlap the first half-hour of the Monday night broadcast.

X Factor ratings have dropped sharply on Monday since the serial’s winter season started on May 6.

The rescheduling will see Drug Bust screen at 7.30 and TV3′s action movie shift to 9.00.

Meanwhile, as a curtain raiser to the first live performance show on Sunday, which will reveal “The X Factor Wildcard” (as voted by the  public), TV3 will repeat last night’s “top 12 reveal” 7.30 Saturday in place of Grand Designs.

TV2 was on the mark with Monday’s premiere of superhero thriller Arrow.

Thanks to savvy scheduling, delaying Arrow’s NZ premiere by seven months doesn’t appear to have dented its appeal

On the back of top ratings for the hour-long Shortland Street and My Kitchen Rules, it averaged 9.1% – 14.8% of the key demographics, which was a sharp result for post-9pm.

The test will be if Arrow can hold this viewership when it settles into its weekly 9.30 Wednesday slot.

But if the ratings do stay true, then the network may rue not holding Arrow until 8.30 Thursdays, as the replacement for Once Upon a Time, in a slot that’s traditionally been for fantasy fare.

Arrow capped a top night for TV2, with Shortland Street’s second, hour-long “winter episode” averaging 17.8% – 25.4%.

But TV One took a hit, with Criminal Minds averaging a sub-par 3.8% – 7.3% and lead-out The Following, 2.2% – 3.9%.

Both were beaten by TV3’s re-run of Jumper in most of the key demos (4.5% – 5.6%) while its lead-in, The X Factor NZ, faltered on 6.8% – 8.5%, a new season low.

Sunday’s edition drew 11.3% – 14.0% to help TV3 win the night, although TV2’s HD re-run of The Dark Knight averaged 6.2% – 9.2% to dominate post-8.30 viewing (it was beaten only by Packed to the Rafters in the 25-54 demo).

MasterChef NZ averaged a competitive 8.1% – 12.0% against X Factor and Mike & Molly bounced back from previous weeks’ lows with 6.6% – 9.2%.

On Saturday, TV3’s CSI combo won its two-hour block in the key demos while TV2’s Ant & Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway slipped back to 3.7% – 5.3% opposite MasterChef MasterClass’ 3.5% – 5.9% and Saving Gen-Y’s 2.2% – 3.5%.

Friday night belonged to TV2’s Shortland Street (14.6% – 23.7%) and The Voice (9.5% – 15.8%) while The Graham Norton Show averaged 5.3% – 6.7% and Ben & Steve: World Famous In …, 3.8% – 4.6%.

On Thursday, Once Upon a Time (6.6% – 9.2%) regained the upper hand over Bones (5.1% -8.0%).

Saturday

Trade Zone Gone Fishin’ (TV3, 5.00)

ITM Fishing Show (TV3, 5.30)

Country Calendar (TV One, 7.00)

MasterChef MasterClass (TV One, 7.30)

Ant and Dec’s Saturday Night Takeaway (TV2, 7.30, F)

CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (TV3, 8.30, 5.1)

Movie: I Am Legend (TV2, 8.45 5.1, R)

Arrow (TV2, 10.45, 5.1, R)

Movie: The Young Victoria (TV One, 11.30)

CSI: New York (TV3, 9.30, 5.1)

On the eve of its “upfront” new season previews to advertisers, media and broadcasters from around the world, the US networks today announced a slew of cancellations, renewals and commissions.

Of the series that air here in HD, gone are: Touch (although star Kiefer Sutherland may return in a 24 spin-off), Southland, Smash, Go On, The New Normal, Body of Proof, CSI: NY and Happy Endings.

Coming back are: Criminal Minds, Grey’s Anatomy, Castle, Once Upon a Time, Modern Family, Revenge, Suburgatory, Last Man Standing, The Middle, TV2’s yet-to-debut The Neighours and Scandal, and TV One’s yet-to-debut Nashville.

Coming soon are:

• Joss Whedon’s superhero adaptation Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D
• Ironside, a reboot of the ‘60s hit about a wheelchair-bound detective
• young-adult sitcom Undateable
• Chicago PD, a spin-off of TV3’s yet-to-debut Chicago Fire
• another spin-off, Once Upon a Time in Wonderland
• new vehicles for Robin Williams, Sarah Michelle Gellar, James Caan, Rebel Wilson, and Toni Collette that you can read about in the trade reports compiled here and in The Hollywood Reporter’s overview.

Jones! will largely showcase content from the 1970s, ‘80s and ‘90s that’s already aired extensively not only on free-to-air but also Sky’s UK TV, Comedy Central and The Box channels.

There’s a handful of series that stand out simply because they haven’t been on our screens for decades, like All in the Family, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Columbo.

But otherwise the schedule resembles a licensing rights fire sale – one that lazily recycles nostalgia rather than truly explores TV’s retro roots.

Where are the seminal series that older viewers grew up with, like The Dick Van Dyke Show, Petticoat Junction, The Andy Griffith Show, Gunsmoke, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, Laramie, Wagon Train, I Spy, Night Gallery, The Defenders, Rawhide … all shows that have been off-air since baby boomers were virtually babies.

To wit: next month Jones! will dust off The Twilight Zone – not the groundbreaking ‘60s original but the tepid ‘80s re-make.

However, the fact that so many ex-UK TV properties will figure on Jones! — Open All Hours, Porridge, Minder, The Sweeney, Dad’s Army – may point to the BBC-run channel at last going HD.

Sky boss John Fellet historically has argued UK TV has too many vintage shows to warrant the cost of converting to HD.

But over the last few months UK TV has progressively ditched its predominantly UK Gold-style for more aggressive and contemporary programming, such as its weeknight soap strips.

It’s now screening an unprecedented number of first-run hours that have aired internationally in HD, including Top of the Lake, Parade’s End, Exile and Hidden, along with staples like Doctor Who and Top Gear that would pick up viewers who can’t endure their original broadcasts in SD on Prime.

Over the Tasman, both UK TV and BBC Knowledge air in HD on Foxtel, and are overdue for a 1080i upgrade here.

While Sky won’t confirm this possibility, it acknowledges UK TV is more likely to go HD ahead of other existing services.

For instance, while CNN and Fox News have HD US feeds, Sky sees no point in offering that quality of news coverage here.

“It wouldn’t be a high priority for us to carry the CNN HD feed,” Sky spokeswoman Kirsty Way says.

“Other channels like UKTV have a much higher viewership. HD on channels other than CNN would benefit our customers more.”