HD Ratings: RWC Wins Big for Three

The International Women’s Rugby World Cup delivered Three huge shares of the core commercial demographics on Saturday.

It won the night with peak demo shares of 25-54 year-olds (52.4%) and 18-49s (49.2%).

TVNZ 1 could manage shares of only 15.4/15.3 in the respective demos and TVNZ 2 6.3/7.6.

Three’s gains were up twofold week-on-week; the previous Saturday’s RWC coverage delivered 23.5/19.8 shares.

TVNZ 1 dominated Friday with The Repair Shop and Handmade: Good With Wood winning their slots in the core demos while Three’s premiere of Greenland trailed TVNZ 2’s The Voice Australia in the 25-54 race but held sway with 18-49s.

TVNZ 1 won the night’s biggest key demo shares but T20 cricket coverage on Sky Sport 3 earned that channel a 12.3 share of 25-54s and a 13.5 share of 18-49s, just a few points behind TVNZ 2.

TVNZ 1’s Cooks on Fire won its 7.30 Thursday slot in both key demos, which helped the network to win the rest of the night with 18-49s.

But its core 25-54 viewership was torn between Rich Holiday Poor Holiday, TVNZ 2’s Embarrassing Bodies and Three’s The Graham Norton Show (each averaged 1.7%).

Surprisingly, 25-54s opted for TVNZ 2’s The Bridge over Coronation Street but not 18-49s..

Three, meanwhile, would have been happy with Love It Or List It Australia matching TVNZ 2’s Ten 7 Aotearoa and Motorway Patrol.

TVNZ 1 won the night with shares nudging 30% while Three led TVNZ 2 in both key demos.

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