ScreenScribe

Prime TV at last is to start broadcasting in HD — but it may be only for the duration of the 2010 Commonwealth Games. The free-to-air network is one of five channels that its owner, Sky TV, will use to screen more than 1400 hours of live coverage. Sky subscribers won’t have to pay extra [...]

TV2′s HD hit, The Mentalist, took a hit last night — from a double-barreled assault by TV3 and TV One. TV3′s HD premiere of the action movie, Hitman, was watched by 9.4% of the network’s target audience, 18-49 year-olds, compared with The Mentalist’s 11.7%. Both channels lost viewers to TV One’s premiere of Richard Hammond’s [...]

TV2′s abrupt rescheduling of Tuesday nights, replacing re-runs of The Mentalist with movies, failed to dent the momentum of Outrageous Fortune. TV3′s HD comedy/drama last night drew two-to-three times the viewership of Red Eye in all the key demographics, the gap being widest with TV2′s target audience, 18-39 year-olds (18.9% vs 5.8%). The trend continued [...]

TV3′s HD combo of NZ’s Next Top Model and the movie, Juno, helped the network to win Friday night’s ratings contest. The season-two launch of Model attracted 9.1% of TV3′s target audience, 18-49 year-olds, and the free-to-air premiere of Juno, 10.9%. Model ranked behind TV2′s comedy duo, Two and a Half Men and Gary Unmarried, but [...]

TVNZ was wise to switch This Is Not My Life from TV2, for which the mystery serial was commissioned, to TV One, judging by the premiere’s ratings. Last night’s double-episode launch was popular with TV One’s key demos, 25-54 year-olds and household shoppers with kids, but bombed with 18-39 year-olds, TV2′s target audience. The first [...]

TVNZ this morning revealed Lionsgate, an international distributor that also makes the award-winning Mad Men, has bought the worldwide rights to This Is Not My Life, which starts 8.30 tonight on TV One. The 13-part HD action-mystery about  a man who awakes one day, only to discover he can’t remember his wife, his kids or even his [...]

TV3′s Monday night movie got the jump on the competition when it out-rated TV2′s season finale of Desperate Housewives during its first hour. Last night’s HD premiere of Jumper averaged 10.9% of TV3′s demo, 18-49 year-olds, from 8.30pm-10.30pm. It opened with 13.5% (vs Housewives‘ 13.6%) and peaked at 14.1% (vs 13.7%) before losing viewers as [...]

TV3′s HD crime hit, Underbelly: The Golden Mile, last night went out with a bang. The final episode drew 15.5% of the network’s key demo, 18-49 year-olds, 14.3% of 18-39 and 16.4% of 25-54, crushing TV2′s V, which could only rate 5.4%-5.6% in these demos. The result helped TV3 to win one of its few [...]

Would I lie to you? TV3 will resume season two of Lie to Me from episode 11 on August 4. The HD drama about a body language sleuth (Tim Roth) was one of the network’s most popular shows this year before its Wednesday night run was interrupted for Underbelly: The Golden Mile. Its return will [...]

The HD season premiere of Fringe narrowly out-rated Nurse Jackie last night — but not with TV2′s target audience. The sci-fi series drew 8.6% of TV2′s key demo, 18-39 year-olds, compared with Nurse Jackie’s 8.7%. But Fringe won in the other network demos, 25-54 (7.9% vs 7.7%), 18-49 (8.1% vs 7.7%) and household shoppers with [...]