HD Ratings: How to Stay Married Jilted

Viewers weren’t head over heels about TVNZ 1’s new Thursday night comedy, How to Stay Married.

The premiere averaged only 2.6% of the network’s 25-54 target audience.

It was competitive with Three’s umpteenth re-run of Night at the Museum (2.8%) but lost to TVNZ 2’s repeat of Travel Guides Australia (4.1%).

The half-hour opened with 3.2% of 25-54s, off the back of MasterChef Australia’s 4.0%, and closed with 2.0%.

Still, it improved on the previous week’s Driving Test, which averaged only 1.5%.

In the other core commercial demographics, it averaged 1.3% – 3.4%.

TVNZ 2 dominated, with Shortland Street, Police Ten 7, Highway Patrol and Guides easily winning their slots in all the key demos.

The only stumble came at 9.30, when The £100K Drop lost to Duke’s Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown in the 25-54 demo and to a TVNZ 2 +1 repeat of Guides among household shoppers with kids, while the other core demos opted for Three’s Beach Cops or TVNZ 1’s Coronation Street.

The £100K Drop normally airs 6pm Saturdays and Sunday, but TVNZ 2 tested its primetime legs as a substitute for the 9.30 Thursday re-run of Have You Been Paying Attention? (which was off-air this week).

Earlier, 1 News at 6 topped all the core demos except 18-39 (who preferred Newshub Live) while lead-out Seven Sharp beat The Project in the same demos.

TVNZ 1 won the night with the biggest 25-545 share but TVNZ 2 carried the other major demos.