HD Ratings: Too Many Cooks

TVNZ 2’s double-billing of MasterChef Australia and MKR: The Rivals brought home the bacon for the network on Wednesday.

It was a case too many cooks for TVNZ 1 and Three to compete against.

The duo dominated in three of the core commercial demographics and even among 18-49 year-olds MasterChef was still competitive with Three’s Bondi Rescue hour.

The latter was down sharply on the previous week, which didn’t help lead-out Head High in its new slot.

The Kiwi rugby drama averaged only 2.2% of Three’s 25-54 demo, which was three-tenths of a rating point less than its Sunday night broadcast.

Of course, it was a same-week repeat so it’s likely the next episode will rate higher.

But the fact it opened with 4.0% of 25-54s and closed with only 1.3% doesn’t suggest Beauden Barrett prospects.

The season final of 9-1-1, which aired an hour later than normal, topped the 9.30 hour in the 25-54, 18-49 and 18-39 demos.

Despite TVNZ 2’s culinary conquests, it only won the night with household shoppers with kids; TVNZ 1 had the biggest shares of the other core demos.

Here are Wednesday’s 20 most-watched primetime programmes on the free-to-air HD channels (excluding +1 and in order of their 5+ rating and audience share):