HD Ratings: Three’s Grand Design Falters

Thursday continues to be Three’s most vulnerable weeknight after asserting its dominance on Sundays and Mondays with Dancing With the Stars, on Wednesdays with its newest ratings phenomenon, Lego Masters Australia, and keeping competitive on Tuesdays with Lost & Found.

But Thursdays have long been its Achilles heel, with comedy series like Jono and Ben and Modern Family failing to fire at 7.30 ahead of movies that rate inconsistently.

It’s now trying to strengthen the post-Project hour with one of its most popular imports, Grand Designs UK.

But in relocating the series it’s pitting the ageing renovation hit against TVNZ 1’s cheekier and sparkier George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces.

TVNZ 1 has long reserved Thursday evenings for this genre, so it’s surprising to see Three go like-on-like.

But there are signs the gambit could pay off. Thursday’s Grand Designs averaged 3.8% of 25-54 year-olds, the demographic Three and TVNZ 1 target.

That was a point behind Spaces but a point up on what double-eps of Modern Family typically averaged, and a point higher than the previous week’s season premiere.

The gap was the same among 18-49s but much wider in Spaces’ favour among household shoppers with kids. However, GDUK won the 18-39 vote.

Neither series could match the appeal of Police Ten 7 and Booze Patrol Australia, but these shows are starting to feel the heat.

Spaces provided a decent lead-in for another TVNZ 1 newcomer, Gordon, Gino & Fred’s Road Trip, to easily win its slot in all the core commercial demos except 18-39 (where it was competitive with Three’s movie The Bank Job).

In the other key demos it rated strongly, with 5.8% of 25-54s, 4.7% of 18-49s and 5.3% of HHS/k.

Averages that high stymied The Bank Job, although expecting to capitalise on a B-grade thriller this dated in primetime was optimistic.

It averaged 1.0% – 2.6% of the core demos, which was sub-par for the slot but still ahead of TVNZ 2’s Whiskey Cavalier and Take Me Out (except among HHS/k).

Last week was the first in which TVNZ 2 experimented with back-to-back broadcasts of Whiskey and, not surprisingly, it’s axed the strategy and demoted the action hour to 9.30 Wednesdays from this week.

Thursday’s second episode rated on a par with Wednesday’s, averaging 2.5% of the network’s 18-49 viewership, 2.8% of 25-54s, 1.9% of 18-39s, 4.2% of HHS/k.

Earlier on Thursday, TVNZ 1’s Seven Sharp out-rated The Project, as did 1 News with Newshub Late.

TVNZ 1 won the night with the biggest shares of all the core demos except 18-39, which TVNZ 2 led.