This is probably of interest to a few people on here. It was a press release specifically for advertising agencies regarding the WS move but gives a few more details to what will be happening.

TV3 AND C4 MOVE TO WIDESCREEN

Effective 11 April, both TV3 and C4 will be moving to widescreen (16 X 9) on satellite (SKY and FreeView when it launches) and changing to 13 X 9 on our VHF and UHF (over the air) transmitters. We will be the first FTA broadcaster to go widescreen and we expect this will create some interest from viewers with widescreen TVs as they will notice their screen is now filled with properly proportioned pictures.

This change will have an effect on advertisers and there are some cautionary notes for the production community. Note

that 13 X 9 is virtually the same as 4 X 3; there should be no noticeable difference at home between 13 X 9 and 4 X 3.

Viewers who have a traditional 4 X 3 screen will have commercials affected in the following way, no matter if the signal

is received off air or off satellite:

· Advertisers who provide normal 4 X 3 ads will see no difference, their ads will fill the screen as they always have

· Advertisers who provide widescreen ads will have the edges cut off. Currently, those ads are viewed with a black line

top and bottom, but that will change. As long as the advertisers are working within 4 X 3 safe title areas, the cut off left

and right edge shouldn't be a problem. If they are putting titles very close to the sides of the screen, there is a risk

some could be cut off.

Next, looking at the signal for viewers with a widescreen TV who receive TVWorks off a rooftop antenna. The ads will act

just as they do if they had a 4 X 3 screen. Therefore, widescreen ads will be cut off the edges, no matter what setting they

use on their TVs and 4 X 3 ads will be seen with black edges or stretched to fill.

Next, looking at the satellite widescreen signal for viewers with a widescreen TV:

· Advertisers who provide normal 4 X 3 ads will either have black lines at the side or a stretched picture to fill the screen,

depending how viewers have their TV set up

· Advertisers who provide widescreen ads will have the full ad seen in widescreen, with no black edges.

Advertisers, agencies and production companies should note the following as a result of the aspect ratio changes:

· If your ad is 4 X 3, it will be seen full screen with no cut-off on a traditional set, and will have black at the sides of the

TV screen on widescreen sets

· If your ad is 16 X 9 the edges will be cut off on traditional TV sets and on wide screen TV sets receiving a signal with a

rooftop antenna, but the full ad will be seen full screen on TV sets that are wide screen receiving a satellite signal

(SKY or FreeView).

· Some ads, usually those produced originally in Australia, are sent in "letterbox" format, with black around all four

edges. These will continue to be seen as they are now, with black around all four edges on a widescreen TV and

black at the top and bottom on a 4 X 3 TV.

TVWorks’ TV3 and C4 channels will be the first FTA channels in New Zealand to go widescreen. This system brings us in

line with the standards being used in Australia FTA television and takes us a step closer to HD broadcasting.

If you have further questions on this issue, or would like a demonstration of the effects of aspect ratio change, please

contact your sales representative who can arrange a meeting with our technical managers and a demonstration for you and your team.