HD Ratings: Wife Swap a Great Match for TVNZ 2

TVNZ 2’s premiere of Wife Swap Australia and TVNZ 1’s The Apprentice Aotearoa were neck-and-neck in the key commercial demographics on Monday but both lost to Three’s 9-1-1.

The emergency workers drama averaged 3.1% of 25-54 year-olds vs 2.7% each for Wife Swap and Apprentice.

In the 18-49 stakes, 9-1-1 and Wife Swap averaged 2.2%, and Apprentice 2.1%. But in the three quarter-hour segments where 9-1-1 and Wife Swap went head-to-head, the drama narrowly won.

Both shows slightly built their viewerships over the hour while Apprentice’s declined before rebounding.

9-1-1, however, had the advantage of a bigger lead-in from The Block NZ, which averaged 4.9% of 25-54s and 3.8% of 18-49s to beat TVNZ 1’s Fair Go and Highway Cops, and TVNZ 2’s MasterChef Australia.

MasterChef drew more 18-49s than TVNZ 1’s 7.30 duo but fewer 25-54s.

TVNZ 2’s re-run of Renters won the 9.30 hour in both core demos while Three’s 9-1-1: Lone Star see-sawed with TVNZ 1’s It’s Your Fault I’m Fat.

At 7.00, TVNZ 1’s Seven Sharp and TVNZ 2’s Shortland Street competed fiercely for 25-54 and 18-49 honours: Seven Sharp averaged 7.0% and 5.6% respectively, and Shortland Street 6.4% and 5.2%.

TVNZ 1 led Three by three rating points in each major demo to win the night’s biggest shares.