HD Ratings: What’s Hot and What’s Not

The Nicolas Cage relic, National Treasure, mined more viewers than Three’s FBI comedy The Heat on Sunday.

But Three still won the night’s biggest shares of the core commercial demographics, thanks to a resurgent Newshub Live and the smoking hot The Block NZ: Firehouse.

Newshub Live topped 1 News in the 18-49 demo, seesawed with it among 18-39s and significantly closed the gap with 25-54s while TBNZ comprehensively out-rated chief rival My Kitchen Rules (except among household shoppers with kids, where the two were neck-and-neck).

But TVNZ 2 regained the lead when the 15-year-old National Treasure outshone The Heat.

It averaged 4.0% of 25-54 year-olds and 3.8% of 18-49s versus the latter’s 3.1% and 2.5%, and also trounced it in the other key demos.

TVNZ 1’s Cold Case averaged a solid 4.0% of 25-54s and a competitive 4.8% among HHS/k.

Prime’s The Show Must Go On drew 1.4% of 25-54s and Duke’s Top Gear also improved in this demo, rising from the season premiere’s 0.8% to 1.2%.

The final of Britain’s Got Talent on Saturday dominated the free-to-air ratings, with 25-54 and 18-49 averages of 5.1% and 3.2%, but lost to Sky’s Super Rugby coverage in these demos (6.4%/5.2% while Prime’s delayed coverage averaged 2.0%/1.7%).

Three’s Ice Age: Continental Drift crushed TVNZ 2’s Just My Luck but the race between leads-outs Back to the Future III and Inferno was close.

Three’s Graham Norton Show and Live at the Apollo dwarfed the competition on Friday, helping it to win the night in every key demo except 18-39.

TVNZ 2 ruled on Thursday, with Shortland Street, Police Ten 7, Highway Patrol and Wife Swap.

But Three’s The Titan Games scored a dead heat across the board with TVNZ 1’s George Clarke’s Amazing Spaces and the second hour of its movie, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, took out Coronation Street and Take Me Out.