Sydney – Australia will get its second dedicated HD channel when Ten-HD debuts on Dec. 16, screening at least 50 hours a week of first-run programming including movies, sport, documentaries and series. Designed to complement Ten’s main channel, the HD service will air two hours of documentaries in the late afternoon each weekday, sourced from National Geographic, Granada and Channel 4; it’s negotiating to buy a package of titles from Discovery. Late night, opposite Ten’s late news, Ten-HD will screen dramas with niche appeal such as Jericho, which started on the main channel but didn’t reach its minimum benchmark of 1 million—plus viewers. There will be live sport on most mornings, including NASCAR (with the Daytona 500 and one-hour weekly highlights), the NFL and the World Golf Championships. Next year, AFL football will be among the events simulcast on both Ten channels. Most of Ten’s primetime schedule is already in high definition. The volume of programming on Ten-HD will increase each quarter. Seven HD launched on Oct. 16; Nine is yet to announce its HD plans.