HD Ratings: Weekend Round-Up

Three’s network movie premiere of The Magnificent Seven roped in twice as many 25-54 viewers as TVNZ 1’s launch of baby-snatching drama series The Cry.

The western reboot averaged 6.0% of both networks’ core demographic vs 3.3% for The Cry.

But in the hour that the two locked horns, the gap was much wider: 7.1% vs 3.1%.

Over the hour, The Cry’s 25-54 viewership declined from 4.2% to 2.8% while over the same period, The Magnificent Seven’s improved from 6.8% to 7.2%.

The trend was the same in the other key commercial demos, but with an even bigger gulf between the movie and the drama.

TVNZ 2’s Australian Survivor finished second at 8.30, distinctly trailing TM7 but week-on-week was up at least one rating point in the age demos and two points among household shoppers with kids.

It was helped by lead-in My Kitchen Rules NZ building up steam, with an 18-49 average of 4.8% (vs 3.9% the previous week) and 5.7% of 25-54s (vs 4.7%).

But it still lost to Three’s first Sunday broadcast of Australian Ninja Warrior (5.8% of 18-49, 6.6% of 25-54).

Shortland Street reigned supreme at 7.00, although warhorse Hyundai Country Calendar was amazingly competitive in the 25-54 demo.

And at 6.00, the network news hours were neck-and-neck, with 1 News winning the 25-54 and 18-49 demos and Newshub Live the 18-39 and HHS demos.

Prime’s The Brokenwood Mysteries was steady at 8.30, with 1.4% of 25-54s on the back of Ocean Predators’ 1.2%.

The network’s delayed international rugby coverage and Sky Sport’s live telecast squeezed the other FTA channels’ viewership on Saturday, with TVNZ 2’s movies Police Academy and Gone in 60 Seconds faring best.

Three’s light ent line-up rebounded on Friday, after shockingly low ratings the previous week.

The Graham Norton Show and 7 Days won their slots in the age demos and was competitive with TVNZ 1’s The X Factor UK in the HHS demo.

Not surprisingly, TVNZ 1’s cynical attempt to milk more mileage from yet another Kath & Kim re-run bombed while Doctor Who continued to finish third for TVNZ 2 at 7.30.

Seven Sharp and The Project were competitive, with the former narrowly winning the 25-54 demo, the latter dominating HHS and both level-pegging with 18-49 and 18-39.

It capped a strong week for The Project, which also won in the 25-54 demo on Wednesday and Thursday.