HD Ratings: Reality TV Rules

Tuesday night’s ratings reveal why the networks invest so heavily in reality TV, in all its sub-genres, as a programming staple.

TVNZ 2’s Celebrity Treasure Island won its slot in the core commercial demographics for the second night in a row, rescue shows Paramedics and Emergency dominated their slots for TVNZ 1 and Three, and replacing Grey’s Anatomy with Paranormal Caught on Camera scared up more viewers for TVNZ 2.

CTI didn’t rate as strongly as Monday’s premiere but still averaged 5.7% of 25-54 year-olds and 4.3% of 18-49s on the back of Shortland Street’s 5.9% / 4.8%.

TVNZ 1’s 7.30 rival Eat Well for Less? averaged 4.8% / 3.9% and Three’s The Lego Movie 2.8% / 2.0%.

But TVNZ 1 won the 8.30 hour with Paramedics’ 4.3% / 3.5% vs 3.2% / 3.1% for TVNZ 2’s Wentworth.

All the networks were competitive at 9.30, with Three’s Emergency winning the 25-54 demo but being pipped by Paranormal in the 18-49 stakes.

Paranormal averaged 1.2% / 1.1% compared to 0.3% of each demo for Grey’s Anatomy the previous week; ironically, Grey’s, in its new 10.30 slot, again averaged 0.3%.

Earlier, TVNZ 1 easily topped Three in the news wars, with 1 News at Six averaging 10.0% / 6.5% and Seven Sharp 7.2% / 5.8%.

TVNZ 1 won the night’s biggest key demo shares of around 33% while roughly a point separated TVNZ 2 and Three: the former led with 18-49s and the latter with 25-54s.