HD TV Ratings: October 17

Wednesday’s Underbelly: Badness bounced back with a vengeance in the ratings while newcomer Revolution lacked the firepower of its premiere.

The latter averaged 6.4% – 8.2% of the key demos compared with 8.8% – 12.6% for Tuesday’s launch.

But it still easily won the 9.30 hour opposite The Killing’s shockingly dire 1.2% – 2.2% and Castle’s 2.9% – 5.1%.

Moreover, over the hour its viewership climbed across the board.

This was the reverse of what happened Tuesday after the season finale of My Kitchen Rules gave it a head start. (If you missed either episode of this bland, sci-fi adventure, TV2 is repeating both from 11.05 Saturday).

Underbelly, meanwhile, enjoyed a similar advantage with the hour-long season-finale of The Ridges as its lead-in.

The crime drama averaged 7.9% – 8.5% compared with 4.6% – 6.1% the previous week.

However, viewership slipped sharply over the hour, with the 25-54 demo that TV3 targets declining from 11.0% at the start to 7.3% at the end.

The Ridges posted its best ratings since the premiere, averaging 8.9% – 11.6% to beat TV2’s sitcoms in each key demo.

The Middle’s return averaged 6.7% – 9.3% ahead of Anger Management’s season finale (6.4% – 8.3%) and Cougar Town (7.1% – 8.2%).

TV One’s Criminal Minds repeat averaged a respectable 4.9% – 7.8% and its HD lead-in, Is Modern Medicine Killing You?, 5.8% – 10.1%.