HD Ratings: Tuesday Tug of War Tightest

Tuesday has become one of the most competitive nights for the HD networks, with their flagship dramas seesawing in the ratings as their viewership yo-yos from one week to the next.

The Player, which averaged 1.8% – 6.9% of the core commercial demographics, won the 8.30 hour with viewers aged 25-54.

But TV2’s Step Dave (4.6% – 8.8%) held the slot in the other key demos while TV3’s The Blacklist (2.7% – 6.3%) mostly trailed by mere tenths of a rating point.

At 9.30, TV2’s Empire (2.7% – 5.7%) won two of the core demos, as did TV1’s Battle Creek (2.0% – 4.2%), and TV3’s 7 Days of Sport (2.4% – 2.9%) was competitive in the 18-39, 18-49 and 25-54 matches.

At 7.30, TV3’s The Block NZ: Villa Wars (6.0% – 11.1%) out-rated TV2’s My Kitchen Rules NZ (5.6% -10.0%) in all the key demos except 18-39, where two-tenths of a rating point separated them.

The popularity of both shows dented the appeal of TV1’s Highway Cops and Piha Rescue, which finished third for the hour.

The intensity of the tug of war was reflected in TV3’s unusually high channel shares for the night, although TV2 still won in three of the core demos:

On Monday, The Block NZ again was tops in three of the demos and only just pipped in the fourth while at 8.30 an improving Heroes Reborn averaged 3.9% – 5.3% to challenge TV1’s Criminal Minds (3.9% – 6.6%) and TV2’s Wentworth (5.8% – 7.7%) in crucial demos.

TV3 had a powerhouse Sunday, winning in the 18-39, 18-49 and 25-54 demos, with The Block NZ and Grand Designs carrying the night, while TV1’s highly acclaimed The C-Word flopped (1.8% – 3.4%).

TV1 dominated Saturday night and on Friday TV3’s The Goldbergs (1.3% – 2.0%) opened abysmally against TV2’s Toy Story 3 (4.4% – 4.9%).

Why TV3 thought the ex-TV4 comedy had a chance beggars belief when a far better option at 7.00 Friday would be hot-off-the-satellite episodes of The Simpsons.

However, TV3’s Funny Girls started strongly at 10.00, averaging 4.1% – 5.5% to win in all the key demos off the back of 7 Days’ 4.9% – 6.5%.