6.30pm – Antiques Roadshow
7.30pm – Galapagos
8.30pm – (M) Something’s Gotta Give
11.00pm – True CSI Continue reading »
The Closer
Gem have cancelled The Closer tonight, to be replaced with the Whitney Houston Movie The Bodyguard. Rizzoli and Isles will follow at 11.10pm and then Friends.
The Bodyguard is about a pop singer who has been receiving threatening notes, and her manager hires a bodyguard known for his good work. The bodyguard ruffles the singer’s feathers and most of her entourage by tightening security more than they feel is necessary. The bodyguard is haunted by the fact that he was on Reagan’s secret service staff but wasn’t there to prevent the attack by Hinckley. Eventually the bodyguard and the singer start an affair, and she begins to believe his precautions are necessary when the stalker strikes close to home. It also stars Kevin Costner.
Thursday February 2 at 7:30pm on W
Television’s top detective is back on the case, as Emmy Award nominee and Golden Globe Award winner Kyra Sedgwick returns as feminine yet forceful, offbeat yet indomitable CIA-trained Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson. This season, Brenda and the team face unexpected challenges, including a change in location as the LAPD moves into new headquarters. Brenda’s lack of familiarity with the offices and interrogation room threatens her confidence, something the others also experience as they try to adjust to their new surroundings, all the while taking on new and horrific cases. Cast: Kyra Sedgwick, J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, Robert Gossett, G. W. Bailey.
This, the final week of ratings may be one of the biggest weeks of the TV year as Networks fall over themselves trying to extract every last possible ratings point, but disappointingly, none of this content is in HD.
With the three commercial HD channels ONE, GEM and 7mate running their own unique programming, apart from the odd encore from time to time – as we often see on GEM – none of this week’s big shows will be seen in HD.
The few shows that do air in HD on these channels are mostly represented by movies, with a few other series also airing in HD.
So just how much – or how little HD – is there this week?
Here is the summary.
Sunday (6.00pm – midnight)
ONE
8.30 Movie: The Transporter
GEM
8.30 Movie: Mona Lisa Smile
11.00 Friends x 2
7mate
9.30 Movie: DOA: Dead Or Alive
Monday
ONE
6.00 Jeopardy! (Mon-Fri)
10.30 NFL
GEM
6.00 Friends (Mon-Fri)
7.30 Michaela’s Road Trip
10.30 Secret Diary of a Call Girl
11.30 Friends (Mon-Thur)
7mate
7.00pm How I Met Your Mother (Mon-Thur)
7.30pm How I Met Your Mother
Tuesday
GEM
8.30 The Closer
9.30 Rizolli & Isles
10.30 Megacities
ONE
9.30 Rush (confirmed now airing in HD)
Wednesday
ONE
10.30 RPM
11.30 NFL
GEM
8.30 Movie: The Perfect Storm
7mate
8.30 Hardcore Pawn
9.30 American Pickers
Thursday
ONE
8.30 Movie: 12 Rounds
10.50 Ultimate Fighter
7mate
7.30 Pawn Stars
8.30 Lockdown
Friday
ONE
7.30 Tools of The Trade
8.30 Movie: The Marine
GEM
7.30 Frozen Planet
8.30 The Mentalist
9.30 Movie: The Client
7mate
5.30 Big Fat Liar
7.30 How I Met Your Mother
8.30 My Name is Earl
9.30 Movie: American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile
Saturday
GEM
5.30 Drop Dead Diva
8.30 CSI: NY
9.30 CSI: Miami
10.30 CSI
7mate
6.30 Mighty Structures (note the 2nd ep at 7.30 is not HD)
10.50 WWII Lost Films
Worst night for HD content – Tuesday. Best night – Friday. As one can see, slim pickings for free to air HD considering just how much content there is over all the channels.
Some of the shows airing on the main channels that we COULD be seeing in HD, if they were aired on a HD channel include Wild Boys, Bones, Castle, Parenthood, Criminal Minds and The Amazing Race for Seven. On Nine, CSI, CSI: Miami, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, Two and a Half Men, Mike & Molly, Frozen Planet, Person of Interest, Prime Suspect and Unforgettable could be seen in HD. WHile on Ten, Merlin, Terra Nova, Ringer, Glee, Modern Family, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU and White Collar could be seen in HD if aired on a HD channel.
Note all the major reality series that dominate our ratings including Celebrity Apprentice, Junior Masterchef, The X Factor, The One and Beauty and the Geek – all of which conclude this week – are not even made in HD.
Programming information correct at November 20 and subject to change. HD information based on TV guide information, Not all main channel shows that could air in HD are listed. Story focusses on prime time 6.00pm-midnight only. According to TV guide information, nothing on SBS HD actually airs in HD. ABC News 24 also lists no shows as being in HD, even though the channel is an HD channel as such.
Sunday September 18
W
THE CLOSER – SEASON 5 – Ep 1
Sundays from September 18 at 8.30pm
Emmy and Golden Globe winner Kyra Sedgwick returns as LAPD Deputy Police Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson in the W
Premiere of THE CLOSER Season 5. All episodes COMMERCIAL FREE.
Cast: Kyra Sedgewick, Jon Tenney, J.K. Simmons, Corey Reynolds, G.W. Bailey.
BIO
THE GLAMOUR GAME – Two-part special
Sundays September 18 and 25 at 9.30pm
Exploring the dazzling history of the Miss Australia Quest and the emergence of our vibrant fashion industry, The
Glamour Game reveals how Australia has moved from its colonial past to a strong and distinctive identity.
THE COMEDY CHANNEL
VERY SMALL BUSINESS – SEASON 1
Sundays from September 18 at 6.30pm
From the creators of THE LIBRARIANS comes the story of Don Angel (Wayne Hope) is a small businessman- the
backbone of this great country’s economy. But if that’s true, it’s no thanks to him. After numerous unsuccessful ventures, Don’s Worldwide Business Group is now hurtling towards liquidation.
His debts are mounting his stomach’s killing him, his wife left him, and he’s just hired Ray Leonard (Kym Gyngell) as his sole employee.
VERY SMALL BUSINESS is about the unlikely relationship between two men who form an alliance. Don Angel, is
brassy, streetwise and charismatic. He’s full of big ideas but something always gets in the way of him making any of his small businesses big. Don could sell ice to the Eskimos, but the ice would have melted on arrival. Ray Leonard is a considered, intelligent and sophisticated former journalist who has spent the last six years a broken man since he
discovered that his daughter was not biologically his. It’s a marriage made in heaven – at least until the Tax Office gets there.
THE HISTORY CHANNEL
GETTYSBURG – Two-hour Special
Sunday September 18 at 8.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
This two-hour HISTORY special strips away the romanticized veneer of the Civil War and presents the engagement in a new light: a visceral, terrifying experience with everything on the line. At its core, this is the story of the soldiers on the ground, not the generals who commanded from behind the frontlines.
Compelling CGI and powerful action footage place viewers in the midst of the fighting, delivering both an emotional
cinematic experience and an information packed look at the turning points, technology, and little known facts of perhaps America’s greatest battle.
Monday September 19
FOX8
63rd PRIMETIME EMMY AWARDS 2011 – LIVE TWO-HOUR SPECIAL
Monday September 19
Red Carpet from 9.00am
Awards show live from 10.00am
Australian Exclusive Premiere
The Primetime Emmy Awards salute excellence in national primetime programming; presenting top honours like the
Governors Award and the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award. Hosted by Jane Lynch (Glee), this year’s awards are
guaranteed to be entertaining and the only place to catch it will be FOX8.
FOX8
ROVE LA – SEASON 1
AUSTRALIAN PRODUCTION
Mondays from September 19 at 8.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
Multi TV Week Gold Logie winner, Rove McManus, is back on Australian television and he’s gone Hollywood. FOX8′s
exclusive new series, ROVE LA, will see Rove back in his natural habitat – a comedy driven talk show in front of a live
audience, talking to famous celebrities. Incorporating the hottest celebrity guests as well as a postcard of Rove’s new
life in the USA, this exclusive one hour series is the perfect way to welcome Rove McManus back into your home.
ARENA
TOP CHEF MASTERS – SEASON 3
Mondays from September 19 at 9.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
Australia’s favourite celebrity chef Curtis Stone takes the helm as host of Top Chef Masters; and pits 12 world-renowned chefs against each other to see how well they fare in fierce culinary competition. Each week, these super-chefs will be whittled down until the last one standing is crowned “Top Chef Master” and receives $100,000 for the charity of their choice.
With so much money at stake, the chefs are bringing more than their knives to the table; they’re bringing their egos and stirring up the drama. The chefs must face off in some of the most difficult challenges in Top Chef history and plate up for some master entertainers and celebrity guest judges including Mad Men’s Christina Hendricks, Maroon 5 and pop sensation Kelis.
Wednesday September 21
THE HISTORY CHANNEL
YOUR SHOUT: THE HISTORY OF AUSTRALIAN BEER - Two-part Special
LOCAL PRODUCTION
Wednesday September 21 and 28 at 7.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
Is there anything closer to the heart of Australians than beer? In the past 200 years the ritual of men sharing a beer has defined the Australian character more than any other. It’s brought men together in pubs and sporting grounds, lubricating our friendships, quenching our thirst and rewarding our labours at day’s end.
Beer has played a central role in our history as far back as Captain James Cook’s first charting of the East Coast of Australia in 1770, where Cook brewed beer to sterilize the ship’s fetid drinking water.
Today Australian beer is loved and enjoyed around the world, and two great corporations dominate local industry with sales of $8 billion a year.
Your Shout is the definitive history of beer in Australia, an untold story that both delights and surprises. It traces the
development of the most familiar brands including Fosters, XXXX, Coopers, VB, West End and Swan and examines
how regional variations in beer developed around the nation. Your Shout is the history documentary all Australia has
been waiting to see.
Thursday September 22
BIO
WHEN I KNEW – One-hour special
Thursday September 22 at 8.30pm
Australian Exclusive Premiere
Fenton Bailey and Randy Barbato travelled across the US to ask 150 people in six different cities to talk about when
they first realised they were gay.
What would you do if you air a TV show that does not rate? Even on a digital channel?
Take it off – that’s what. This is exactly what happened to “What Would You Do” which aired on GEM last (Wednesday August 24) night at 8.30pm. It’ not a bad show, featuring hypothetical situations and investigating what normal passers-by will do to help the situation.
Made by US network ABC, What Would You Do usually airs well after midnight on Nine, but it seems no one cared for the show on GEM, or more likely not aware it was on, with the show not making top 100 digital shows.
The Closer, as a result, moves forward an hour to 8.30, with Rizolli & Isles following at 9.30pm. At 10.30pm, Law & Order airs – creating the situation where there is a Law & Order franchise airing on all three commercial networks at some stage during the week. The Closer was in the top 100 digital shows for last night with 90,000 viewers – more than the number that watched What Would You Do?
Missed the Block this week? Well, you can catch up on GEM on Sunday afternoon (July 3) from 2.30pm with all of this week’s episodes played back to back from 2.30pm.
Next week on GEM, the channel have swapped programming on Tuesday and Wednesday night. The movie Tightrope will now air at 9.40pm Tuesday July 5 instead of Wednesday, while The Closer, Rizolli & Isles and Friends will air on Wednesday night from 9.40pm instead of Tuesday.
The Young Ones, ABC1, 8.30pm
This is the first installment of a five part series that sees a group of elderly British celebrities spend a week in a house set in 1975. Will reliving their former lifestyle have an impact on their health and wellbeing?
Bondi Vet, Ten, 8pm
The Bondi Vet, Dr Chris Brown, tonight fights to keep Jasper,a kelpie alive after it is brought in to the clinic in a terrible state. Poor Jasper suffered a knock to the head as a puppy that has caused severe balance problems, but his condition is now deteriorating rapidly. Scans show his condition is inoperable, but as always, Dr Chris won’t give up.
Winners and Losers, Seven, 9pm
Bec and Doug are involved in a serious car crash that leaves Sophie struggling to deal with her emotions over the memory of the accident with Leo and her feelings for Doug. While at the crash site, frances finds herself looking after a little girl, bringing up deep seeded issues.
The Closer, Gem, 9.30pm
The brutal murder of an aspiring actress takes a back seat as Brenda prepares for an interview with the mayor about becoming the next chief of police.
Into The Universe With Stephen Hawking, SBS ONE, 8.30pm
The final part of this series has Hawking reveals the wonders of the cosmos to a new generation. With the aid of stunning CGI, he explores the splendour and majesty of the universe as never seen before. Hawking explains how the universe began, how it creates stars, black holes and life – and how everything will end.
GEM is Nine’s third channel and the channel that took away Nine’s main channel HD simulcast when it launched September 26, 2010. The announcement for the new channel came two weeks after Seven announced it would launch its third channel 7mate on September 25, right after the 2010 AFL Grand Final.
Unlike ABC News 24 and 7mate, GEM did not move to a different LCN (logical channel number) than the channel it replaced Nine High Def or 9HD, causing some confusion to viewers not familiar with the change.
From the outset, GEM promised viewers a mix of general entertainment and movies “in stunning high definition”. Using Lisa McCune as the face of GEM, the channel was planned to aim more towards a female demographic while still providing sport on high definition in order for Nine to meet their HD sporting commitments.
As the channel went to air, questions were raised about how sport would fit into a female skewed channel and what would happen to being able to see Nine’s main channel content in HD. GEM was to air the Four Nations Rugby League in HD, as well as Nine’s summer of cricket in HD including the Ashes and One Day series but the network back flipped on these HD simulcasts, in favour for GEM’s own unique programming which would supposedly deliver more ratings to the network as a whole than HD simulcasts of sport would.
GEM has been used on occasion to provide sport coverage when the main channel has provided rolling news coverage of major natural disasters and events.
Before GEM went to air, many of Nine’s regular programs were simulcast in HD on Nine’s HD channel. Nine even rebuilt some of their news studios to look better in HD. Regular shows like Two and a Half Men, Top Gear, The Big Bang Theory, The Mentalist, all of the CSI franchise as well as local productions like the various Underbelly series were all able to be seen in HD on Nine High Def or 9HD. During prime time, there was generally more content in HD than there wasn’t.
With the advent of GEM, that is no longer the case. Other than ONE HD, GEM is the only HD multi channel promoted as being a HD channel. While the content of GEM does not appeal to the majority, there are a number of shows on GEM in HD including repeats, encores or simulcasts of content from Nine.
HD programs on GEM include Today 5.30am – 9.00am weekdays, The Closer, Law & Order, The Ellen Degeneres Show at 5pm weekdays, The Mentalist, the Harry’s Law replays on Friday nights as well as the CSI’s on Saturday nights. Most of the movies that GEM play are in HD – even some of the old movies that fill weekend day time timeslots are in HD as such – which of course is possible, using the original film as a source. Gone With the Wind for example – made in 1939 – plays on GEM in HD (next airs Sunday April 10, 3.30pm).
McLeod’s Daughters which airs on weekdays at 3pm is in HD, as is hit sitcom Friends, now airing in double episodes on weekdays at 6pm – having been remastered to both wide screen and HD.
Including Friends, there is 27 hours of HD programming per week on GEM during the prime time hours of 6pm to midnight. That amounts to an average of just under 4 hours per night out of the 6 prime time hours. Saturday night has the most, with movies from 6.30 and three CSI’s after the movie, while the Thursday night line up is devoid of anything HD after 7pm.
During the day, there is a further 6.5 hours of HD content on weekdays and varying amount on weekends, depending on which of the movies are made in HD.
In terms of a free to air source for HD content, GEM exceeds that of ONE HD, but still leaves a lot of the more populous content from Nine’s main channel that the network has available in HD, airing in standard definition only on Nine’s main channel.
Nine say that where ever possible, they source all content in HD. Good news for the future perhaps. Nine even has HD versions available of content that airs on GO! Many of the movies in their library are in HD.
An interesting side point, with the current programming on GO! being made up of mostly movies and Big Bang Theory repeats, if GO! was a HD channel, it would have just as much, if not more content in HD than GEM does.
If providing HD content was the focus here, between GEM and GO, Nine could have a channel that is 100% HD in prime time, leaving all the non-HD stuff for the second standard definition channel.
Next time: 7mate – the channel that occupies Seven’s HD stream.
Note: HD programming details based on the week April 10-16, 2011.
To read more about thoughts of what Nine should to get the most out of their digital channels, click here.
Click here to go to part one, and index.
GEM have reacted to almost being beaten in ratings by ONE HD last night by rescheduling their Wednesday nights.
Next Wednesday, March 23, Trouble in Paradise will be replaced with The Closer. And, instead of a movie at 9.30, two episodes of classic Law & Order will play.
The line up will be the same for March 30, with The Closer at 8.30, followed by two Law & Orders from 9.30. Conan at 11.30.
The Closer episodes at 9.30 Tuesday nights are from season 5, while the Wednesday night episodes will be from season 1.
Meanwhile, Gordon’s Great Escapes will air Monday nights at 8.30, from March 21.
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