HD Ratings: Just What the Doc Ordered
January 26, 2014 
6 Comments
The first series of Doc Martin to screen here in HD delivered healthy ratings for its Thursday premiere.
It lost to TV2’s HD re-run of Two Weeks Notice and TV3’s CSI in each of the key demographics: adults 18-39, 18-49, 25-54 and household shoppers.
But it was competitive in the 25-54 and HHS stakes and is likely to grow with these demos as viewing patterns start returning to normal mid-late summer.
It enjoyed a strong lead-in from the season-two premiere of George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces (3.3% – 7.1%), which is rating much higher than Coronation Street did in the same slot – and that was opposite TV3’s The Block: All Stars, which averaged 6.4% – 14.9%.
But TV2’s 7.30 HD option, The Bachelor Australia, isn’t winning hearts and minds, with a paltry 3.9% – 6.5% on the back of Shortland Street’s 12.8% – 18.2%.
While CSI continues to prove resilient to ageing, averaging 3.7% – 8.3%, Two Weeks Notice dominated post-8.30, with 7.7% – 10.6%, with the second hour crushing the season finale of Agent Anna (1.3% – 2.5%) and TV3’s HD doco, Sex, Lies & Rinsing Guys (2.6% – 4.7%).
Surprisingly, TV3 also struggled post-9.00 Wednesday when the movie-length season premiere of violent bikie drama Sons of Anarchy stalled.
Despite an extra-long The Block winning 7.30-9.00 with 8.7% – 10.9%, Sons averaged merely 3.7% – 4.2%, which was unusually low given the popularity of the series and its lead-in.
TV One exacted more mileage from a re-run of Tangiwai (3.2% – 4.3%) but lead-in Meet the Frockers was a train wreck: 1.7% – 3.8%.
TV2’s 7.30 SD re-run of The Waterboy averaged 6.7% – 8.7% and its HD lead-out, Tabatha Takes Over, 3.0% – 4.0%, and was popular with the network’s target audience, adults 18-39.
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January 26, 2014 at 11:52 am
Seeing that Amazing Spaces is rating higher than Coro did in the same slot, means that it’s unlikely Coro will return back to Thursday nights, which is disappointing.
TV2 have announced they have picked up Brooklyn Nine-Nine. This should be a great addition to their comedy line-ups.
Thanks, Leo. That’s great news!
Not the best for Sons of Anarchy, just as TV3 and Four got their Fox shows back!! Good to see Four’s animations on Thursdays are coming back, but with new episodes of Family Guy. I wonder when we see all-new episodes of The Simpsons, we haven’t seen new episodes for months.
I’m sure we will see all-new The Simpsons return to Sundays on 3 or will The Great Food Race be on at 7pm for its entire run and 90mins long, which is way too long.
Like you, Leo, I presume The Simpsons will be back at 7pm Sundays shortly. Initially TV3 will want to get the jump on TV One’s MasterChef NZ by starting Race half-an-hour earlier but I would expect that within a few weeks it will revert to an hour and screen from 7.30-8.30.