Barkley Manor Doggy Day Care Fare

TVNZ 1 has relegated Tuesday night’s Barkley Manor to off-peak.

Season two of the low-rating series has been airing 8.00 Tuesdays, after SPCA Rescue, but has proved the weakest link in TVNZ 1’s primetime chain.

The programme has lost too big a share of viewers in the core commercial demographics, and while lead-out Mt Hutt Rescue has clawed back lost ground, it’s a vulnerability TVNZ 1 can’t afford when the chief competition is so dominant.

Last week’s episodes posted a 9.4 share of 25-54 year-olds vs a 27.6 share for TVNZ 2’s Travel Guides Australia and a 27.8 share for Three’s Married at First Sight Australia.

Mt Hutt Rescue’s share slipped from a 20.2 share to just 13.7, hence TVNZ 1’s response.

Programmers will be banking on tonight’s S17 re-run of perennial quick-fix solution Border Security to arrest the decline.

Barkley Manor, meanwhile, will complete its run 4.30 Sundays, replacing Country House Hunters.