HD Ratings: Few Sample Prime’s New Menu
August 27, 2021 
9 Comments
Prime’s new Thursday line-up underwhelmed viewers, with the premieres averaging between 0.3% and 0.8% of the channel’s target audience, 25-54 year-olds.
The most popular of the newcomers, Celebrity Bake Off, anchored the night at 7.30 but couldn’t crack 1.0% while lead-out Freddie Mercury: A Life in Ten Pictures averaged only 0.6%.
Capping the night was the return of Bull, which averaged 0.3%.
The only good news for Prime was the 18-49 averages were largely the same.
Celebrity Bake Off faced tough competition from TVNZ 1’s Your Home Made Perfect, which benefitted from extraordinary COVID-driven ratings for lead-ins 1 News at Six and Seven Sharp.
They easily won their slots in both core commercial demographics, helping YHMP to average 6.4% of 25-54s and 4.6% of 18-49s.
Super Rich Sleepovers also dominated at 8.30, with averages of 4.0% and 2.9%, although it faced tougher 25-54 competition from the tail end of TVNZ 2’s MasterChef Australia and Police Ten 7.
The extra-long MasterChef averaged 4.9% / 3.5% vs 4.2% / 3.4% for Three’s David Lomas Investigates and 2.6% / 2.2% for 7 Days substitute Bay Patrol.
Lead-out Aussie Gold Hunters, which next week shifts to 5.00 Monday-Friday, averaged 2.5% / 2.1%, which was competitive enough to win the 9.30-10.00 zone and led to Newshub Late beating TVNZ 1’s Coronation Street.
Earlier, 1 News at Six averaged 14.4% of 25-54s and 9.5% of 18-49s vs 7.3% / 5.9% for Newshub Live.
TVNZ 1 won the night with 30+ shares of the key demos while Three led TVNZ 2 by several points.
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August 27, 2021 at 6:07 pm
The New Zealand market is weird in terms of the continued default viewing patterns of Kiwis. It should have changed 20 years ago, but TV1 is still the default ingrained channel for many households if the TV is on. It’s less about the actual programme. Flip the 7:30pm shows around and Celebrity Bake Off would have dominated the ratings on TV1, leaving Prime with low ratings for Your Home Made Perfect.
Too true, Dave. I remember TV3 executives telling me when the channel launched in 1989 that it would take 20 years of competition before TVNZ 1 stopped being the default channel. But still it continues …
Or maybe it’s because TVNZ 1 programmers are capitalising on the big news lead-in and programming well. Viewers do vote with their remotes – you can’t say that 18-year-olds and 25-year-olds don’t know how to use a remote!
You would think that, Tony, and that was the point the TV3 execs were making 30 years ago — that it would take a generation to come of age in the key demos before TVNZ 1 stopped being the default channel. Programming clearly counts but 1 News invariably has a wide lead over Newshub — it’s the bulletin far more people tune into, even though the editorial differences are negligible.
I remember a while ago Three was going to screen a ABBA special so with the wonderful news about the ABBA reunion next week I wonder if Three will be screening it LIVE as apparently it will be a worldwide event. Have you heard anything Philip? ?
Nothing to report here, Trevor. Here’s some background for other readers: https://nypost.com/2021/08/26/abba-is-releasing-new-music-teases-major-reunion-news/
I often wonder if the people who have the People Meters have them permanently locked to TVNZ 1.
Thanks Philip, it sounds like it may be on the Internet. I better keep an eye out. It’s quite exciting having new ABBA music, it’s the most wonderful news of the year ?
I do not think so some people would not bother changing the channel because they like this channel so much. I am thinking if TVNZ grabbed the rights to QI off Prime and it would be a ratings winner.