HD Ratings: MasterChef Oz Back on Top

TVNZ 2’s MasterChef Australia won its slot in the core commercial demographics on Thursday for the first time since going up against The Block NZ: Redemption on Three.

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday it finished behind the renovation hit. But Thursday was the first night it faced weaker competition on Three: the comedy hour Rabble Rousers.

The latter averaged 1.6% of 25-54 year-olds and 1.2% of 18-49s vs 3.2%/2.2% for MasterChef.

TVNZ 1’s 7.30 option, Dream Kitchens and Bathrooms, averaged 2.3%/1.8%.

MasterChef’s popularity helped lead-outs Ten 7 Aotearoa, Highway Patrol and The Walkers to win their slots in the key demos.

TVNZ 1’s Rich House Poor House finished second at 8.30, ahead of Three’s New Zealand Today and Comedians Giving Lectures.

But TVNZ 1’s Coronation Street took a hit at 9.30, averaging 0.6%/0.5% of the major demos and narrowly lost to Three’s documentary Tourette’s Teacher (0.8%/0.7%).

Duke’s belated season premiere of Top Gear UK averaged 0.4%/0.3% at 7.30 and the 8.30 dramas on Eden and Prime — Too Close and FBI Most Wanted — each averaged 0.0% of both demos.

TVNZ 1 won the night’s biggest demo shares; Three and TVNZ 2 were neck-and-neck.

On Wednesday, TVNZ 2’s Taskmaster NZ won the 8.30 Wednesday hour while TVNZ 1’s Give Us a Clue improved its ratings but still finished third behind The Block and MasterChef.

And on Tuesday TVNZ 2 swept the night with its procedurals NCIS: Hawai’i, SEAL Team and CSI winning both demos, although Three’s NCIS duo was competitive in the 25-54 stakes.

Note: These overnight ratings exclude viewership of the networks’ +1 SD channels.