HDTV Ratings: April 26-29

Touch is turning into a drama that’s proving untouchable for all the wrong reasons.

Sunday’s episode, opposite the free-to-air HD premiere of Valentine’s Day, was the lowest-rating yet.

It averaged only 2.6%-3.3% of the key demographics, faring worst with household shoppers and ‘best’ with 25-54 year-olds.

Lead-out House, once a staple of TV3’s schedule, is down sharply, too, averaging only 1.8%-3.8%.

It was a soft night overall for TV3, with lousy ratings for Would I Lie to You? and 60 Minutes as well.

Clearly the network can’t afford to sustain numbers like these on one of the week’s most-watched nights.

So expect an overhaul within the next week or two, with both signature drama series likely to be replaced by movies in the short term.

TV2’s Sunday movie, Valentine’s Day, dominated the night, winning the slot in all the key demos with ratings of 8.7%-12.0% while TV One’s HD drama, Call the Midwife, averaged a solid 6.0% of the network’s target audience, 25-54 year-olds.

At 7pm, The Food Truck battled it out with The Big Bang Theory for HD honours, with the latter winning easily in the 18-39 and HHS demos but being seriously challenged for 25-54 and 18-49 viewership.

On Saturday’s, TV3’s Terra Nova was back on relative terra firma, with ratings of 4.0%-5.4%, and while TV One’s ratings for Hyundai Country Calendar were down on the previous week, averaging 5.4%-10.1%, it still comfortably won its slot in most demos.

TV3’s HD re-run of 28 Weeks Later was competitive, out-rating TV2’s movie in most demos and rivaling TV One’s Come Dine With Me in others.

Friday belonged to TV2, with its two-hour American Idol rolling aside everything in its wake.

It scored nearly four times the 25-54 viewership of TV One’s Titanic and twice that of TV3’s Glee (which finished third after Coronation Street); The Graham Norton Show was more competitive but still lost in every demo to Idol.

On Thursday, TV2’s Once Upon a Time again won its slot while TV3’s HD rival The Finder continues to struggle to find a sizeable audience, averaging about half of the competition’s 25-54 and 18-49 viewership, and a third of its 18-39 and HHS viewership.