HD Ratings: Kaimanawas Keeps Ahead of Cops

Jokes about TV3 being “all cops all the time” may not be around for much longer if its Tuesday law-and-order combo continues its ratings slide.

Tuesday’s Road Cops averaged 3.9% – 5.4% of the commercial demographics and stablemate Gold Coast Cops only 1.4% – 3.4%, with each finishing third in their time slots.

Neither can compete with TV2’s My Kitchen Rules (10.5% – 12.9%) but last week both beat TV1’s reality half-hours.

However, this week Dog Squad (4.3% – 11.1%) romped ahead of Road Cops while Gold Coast Cops ate the dust of Keeping Up With the Kaimanawas (4.9% – 12.3%).

Such was KUWTK’s popularity among household shoppers with kids that the premiere rated only about a point behind MKR.

The weakness of TV3’s Cops combo flowed through to its flagship dramas NCIS (3.3% – 4.7%) and NCIS: Los Angeles (2.8% – 3.5%) seesawing with TV1’s Person of Interest (2.7% – 5.8%) and Unforgettable (1.3% – 5.6%).

TV2’s drama Empire (5.8% – 9.7%) again rated strongly off the back of MKR but was down on the previous week.

Nonetheless, the network won the night in all the key demos and was challenged by TV1 only in the 25-54 vote:

TV3 also suffered setbacks on Monday, when the premiere of The Embassy averaged only 4.7% – 5.3% opposite Border Patrol’s 6.6% – 11.5%, which was popular enough to out-rate TV2’s MKR (9.6% – 13.3%) in the 25-54 demo and rival it in the 18-49 race.

But the contest was tighter between TV1’s Code:1 (5.3% – 8.1%) and TV3’s Dancing With the Stars results show (4.9% – 7.2%).

TV1 and TV3 also yo-yoed from 8.30-10.30, when Stalker (3.1% – 6.0%) and Forever (2.6% – 5.8%) went head-to-head with Catching Milat (2.1% – 4,8%) but none could catch TV2’s Mysteries of Laura (5.6% – 7.5%).

As a result, Monday night was much more competitive among all three HD networks:

While TV2 dominated Monday and Tuesday, TV3 won Sunday night in three of the four key demos and trounced TV1 in the 25-54 demo that both networks covet.

The premiere of Dancing With the Stars averaged a modest but solid 4.6% – 7.8% to narrowly beat TV1’s Sunday (3.1% – 7.7%), which took a huge hit, and Nigel Latta Blows Stuff Up (4.3% – 7.9%).

But smart counter programming by TV2 saw the network premiere of Sleeping Beauty (5.2% – 11.1%), which started half-an-hour ahead of DWTS, win in the 18-39 and HHS/k demos.

That helped a re-run of Miss Congeniality (5.5% – 9.5%) to win in the HHS/k demo but otherwise the belle of the ball was TV3’s premiere of Westside (7.8% – 8.7%).

It shed 2-3 points over the hour but helped lead-out Rush to rate a respectable 4.8% – 6.1%, although its fall-off in viewership was steeper.

TV1’s repeat of The King’s Speech flopped, with only 1.9% – 3.5% of the key demos.

Sunday’s HD networks’ channel shares and ratings were:

TV2’s HD movies dominated Saturday, where TV3’s resurrection of Motive (1.8% – 3.4%) was no match for predecessor CSI.

It was beaten by Coronation Street in the 25-54 demo and out-rated by lead-out SVU (1.7% – 4.3%) among HHS/k while TV1’s season two premiere of Puberty Blues topped 1% only in the 25-54 demo.

TV3 won Friday night in the 18-39, 18-49 and 25-54 demos, with its light-ent line-up benefitting from the final of Campell Live drawing nearly 500,000 viewers.

On Thursday, TV2’s premiere of The Undateables (6.3% – 8.3%) won the 8.30 hour but TV3’s Lost & Found mustered a respectable 4.8% – 6.3% and the two were neck-and-neck in the 25-54 stakes.

Lead-out Bodyshockers (3.7% – 5.4%) topped Agents of SHIELD (3.7% – 4.4%) while TV1’s gains with Britain’s Got Talent (4.9% – 7.6%) were given up by Our Zoo (0.9% – 3.3%).

TV2 dominated from 7.00-8.30, even though Shortland Street rated a shockingly low 7.4% – 7.9% in the major age demos and only 10.4% of HHS/k.