HD Ratings: The Luminaries Shines Brightly

TVNZ 1’s prestigious new period drama, The Luminaries, opened strongly on Sunday, winning the 8.30 hour in the key 25-54, 18-49 and household shopper demographics.

It also carried the slot with viewers 5+ but lost to Three’s repeat of The Magnificent Seven in the 18-39 demo.

Eleanor Catton’s dramatisation of her award-winning novel had its world premiere on TVNZ 1, which co-commissioned the six-part made-in-NZ series with BBC2.

“With its colourful characters, well-realised world and intriguing mysteries, this Luminaries looks well set to light up New Zealand’s cold COVID-19 shadowed winter nights and win Catton’s story a whole new army of admirers,” Stuff’s James Croot said in one of the programme’s early reviews.

Part one shed nearly two rating points in TVNZ 1’s core commercial demo, 25-54, declining over the hour from 6.8% to 4.9%.

In the 18-49 demo, it fell from an opening 4.8% to a closing 3.5%, and in the 5+ demo, from 10.6% to 8.5%.

It contributed to an exceptionally strong night for TVNZ 1, with the network sweeping all the key demos except 18-39, the largest share of which went to Three’s line-up of Lego Masters and The Magnificent Seven.

Here are Sunday’s most-watched primetime programmes on the free-to-air HD channels (excluding +1 and in order of their 5+ rating and audience share):