HD Ratings: New Q+A Slot Doesn’t Add Up

TVNZ 1’s bold primetime promotion of current affairs hour Q+A didn’t reward programming aspirations on Sunday.

It was arguably the network’s biggest Sunday night misstep since launching subtitled Eurodrama Ride Upon the Storm in the same 9.30 slot earlier this year.

Programmers tried to maximise Q+A’s sampling by preceding it with the series premiere of Cold Case but this didn’t provide enough of a lead-in to counter the appeal of TVNZ 2 and Three’s movies.

Cold Case won the 8.30 hour in TVNZ 1’s target 25-54 demographic, with an impressive 6.0 rating and 23.7% share, as well as the 18-49 demo (4.6 rating/24.2% share).

But Q+A’s live broadcast averaged only a third of CC’s 25-54 viewership to earn a 12.1% share (and finished third in the other core commercial demos, too).

That was considerably higher than the previous week’s 0.6% average in its 9am slot but was down sharply on what the Sunday Theatre dramas had been rating (the second hour of last week’s In Dark Places averaged 4.5% of 25-54).

Three’s Transformers: Age of Extinction dominated the night, despite the first hour losing to Cold Cases. It averaged 4.2% of 25-54 compared to 1.9% for Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation’s premiere on TVNZ 2.

Transformers also drew twice as many 18-49 and 18-39 viewers as M:I, and three times as many household shoppers with kids.

It had the advantage of a stronger lead-in than M:I, with The Block NZ hammering the final of Survivor NZ: Thailand (the former averaged 9.4% of 25-54 and the latter, 5.2%, while in the 18-49 stakes The Block was 2.6 rating points ahead).

TVNZ 2’s Saturday night repeat of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol rated higher than its sequel, with 2.0% – 4.2% of the core demos, and dominated the night postSky Sport 1’s timeslot-winning Super Rugby coverage.