HDTV Ratings: April 24-25

TV2’s search for a stronger 9pm Wednesday comedy than Happy Endings will have to continue.

Last night it tested the waters with an episode of Mike & Molly, which averaged 8.7%-12.6% — on a par with Happy Endings — and easily won its slot opposite the second halves of Castle and The Almighty Johnsons.

But it still shed about a third of its lead-in, The Big Bang Theory.

Of course, Bang’s a formidably hard act to follow but  TV2 needs something sturdier than Happy Endings as the lead-in to its 9.30 hour.

Case in point: Wednesday’s double-episode finale of The Walking Dead was out-rated by a movie-length episode of Sons of Anarchy.

The zombie drama averaged 4.1%-5.9%, and although Sons beat it in every quarter-hour segment in each of the major demographics, Dead’s audience grew over the two hours whereas the bikie hit’s declined over 90 minutes.

Sons averaged 6.4%-8.8% while its lead-in, The Almighty Johnsons, drew 6.4%-8.0%.

TV One’s 8.30 whodunit Castle climbed from 5.6% of the network’s target audience, 25-54 year-olds, the previous week to 7.1% but Harry’s Law was the same, on 4.5%, while TV2’s Shortland Street–Bang line-up was typically in the mid-high teens across the key demos.

Tuesday’s finale of Nature’s Great Events on TV One wasn’t as popular as previous instalments, averaging 4.8%-10.6%, but won the 8.30 hour with 25-54s and household shoppers.

TV2’s Go Girls was more popular with the 18-39 and 18-49 demos, while TV3’s NCIS finished a competitive third in all age groups except 18-39.

Los Angeles spin-off averaged a steady 5.2%-6.9%, challenging TV2’s SD cop show, Rookie Blue, in all demos except HHS.

TV3’s Missing Pieces also continues to be competitive at 8pm, beating TV2’s HD comedy Suburgatory for the 25-54 vote and narrowly losing to it in the 18-49 race (7.4% versus 7.7%).

At 7.30, TV2’s The Middle averaged 9.5%-14.5% to easily win its slot.