HD Ratings: Norton Pummels Stallone & Co

Chat show king Graham Norton flexed his muscles on Friday when TV2 launched its movie slot with the network HD premiere of beefcake blockbuster The Expendables.

Sylvester Stallone’s geezers-with-guns hit averaged 6.0% – 6.5% of the key demographics (adults 18-39,18-49, 25-54 and household shoppers with kids).

But it was no match for the combined firepower of TV3’s Graham Norton Show (7.7% – 9.2%) and Kiwi comedies 7 Days (8.1% – 9.9%) and Jono and Ben at Ten (6.7% – 8.3%).

TV One’s HD renovation hour George Clark’s Amazing Spaces (4.0% – 6.7%) trailed the 8.30 big guns, but was more popular than The Expendables with adults 25-54 and HHS.

TV2 dominated the 7.30 hour, with its double-bill of The Middle and The Big Bang Theory repeats largely out-rating TV3’s X Factor USA (6.2% – 7.6%).

TV One owned Saturday evening with NZ Story (4.4% – 9.0%) and This Town (5.7% – 8.4%); against the former, TV2’s Duck Dynasty rated 3.8% – 4.2%, and against the latter, TV3’s Survivor averaged 1.9% – 3.4%.

TV One was also competitive on Sunday evening, with NZ’s Got Talent winning the 7.30 hour (6.9% – 12.5%) and A Place to Call Home (4.2% – 10.2%) trouncing TV3’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall movie to finish second after TV2’s Crazy, Stupid, Love (which it out-rated in the HHS demo).