HD Ratings: No Time for Showtime
July 25, 2013 
5 Comments
TV One has brought the curtain down on HD newcomer Showtime in record time.
The well-reviewed reality show about amateur dramatics flopped so badly that it’s not getting a second chance in primetime.
The network is dumping Showtime for a new season of Border Security after it averaged only 2.0% – 3.7% of the key demographics.
It was most popular with TV One’s target audience, adults 25-54, and least watched by another of its mainstays, household shoppers.
Lead-in Fair Go pulled twice as many viewers and Showtime’s one-night-only performance led to sub-par ratings for lead-out One Born Every Minute (3.4% – 5.0% compared to 5.3% – 7.9% the previous week).
Ratings were also rocky for TV3’s Inside NZ portrait of Helen Clark, part one of which averaged 1.6% – 4.5%, with most demos hovering under 3.0%.
3rd Degree continues to struggle, on 3.3% – 5.3%, on the back of 4.7% – 9.5% for House Rules – viewership of which rose in the second half-hour against the weaker competition of Showtime and The Neighbors (8.9% – 13.5%).
The ETs-in-suburbia sitcom is the least watched of TV2’s HD comedies on Wednesday.
This week Two and a Half Men averaged 10.7% – 15.9%, The Big Bang Theory 10.8% – 16.8% and 2 Broke Girls, 10.7% – 15.6%.
At 9.30, Devious Maids averaged 6.0% – 9.3% compared to 5.5% – 11.1% for the return of Body of Proof in the same slot 24 hours earlier.
The latter also had a strong lead-in, with the season premiere of The Mentalist averaging 7.6% – 14.8% on the back of Mitre 10 Dream Homes’ 9.5% – 15.0%.
With TV One scoring solid ratings for First Crossing (4.3% – 8.6%) and Descent From Disaster (4.3% – 6.9%), TV3’s line-up is descending into disaster: Grand Designs Australia averaged only 2.7% – 3.5% and Chicago Fire, 2.6% – 3.2%.
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July 25, 2013 at 2:06 pm
Very disappointed by this sudden decision to axe Showtime, why not give it another week to grow! If this screened on TV3 it would of been given time to perform just like the ballet series which screened last year.
The Helen Clark doco was VERY interesting … stupid ratings 🙁
It’s all about ratings and ad revenue for TV companies. Viewers don’t count for anything.
Well, they do in the sense that if nobody watches something, then advertisers don’t want to place their content within it, leading to the networks no longer wanting to screen a show. I think the real issue here is that most New Zealanders have TERRIBLE taste in TV … this is shown night after night by all thdon’t want to
Whoops. My two year old hit ‘enter’ as I was typing (he has terrible taste in TV too by the way). What I was going to say, is that night after night these ‘music kareoke shows’ and ‘home renovation fodder’ out rate quality programming … and the only people to blame for this is countless people who watch them. A couple of decades ago it was game shows every night … now it’s reality TV.