HDTV Ratings: August 3-8

Highlights of the past week include:

• Last night’s free-to-air HD premiere of Star Trek on TV3 easily out-rated TV One’s HD opposition, Criminal Minds: Suspect Behaviour and Castle, but was just as decisively beaten by TV2’s The Mentalist and Body of Proof, drawing 8.4% of 25-54 year-olds and 8.9% of 18-49 year-olds
• TV3’s Sunday HD premiere of State of Play proved a ratings disaster, attracting only 5.3% of 25-54 year-olds versus Sunday Theatre’s 8.2% and Troy’s 7.2%; however, the new 7pm comedy Raising Hope improved on its premiere with a 25-54 rating of 7.2%
• TV3 had more luck with its Saturday HD premiere, The Day the Earth Stood Still, which didn’t rate much better but still won the slot in all of the key demographics except household shoppers with kids, while TV2’s HD premiere of Appaloosa won the late-night movie contest
• Expect TV2 to revamp its Friday line-up, with even a repeat of TV3’s Graham Norton Show so thrashing The Vampire Diaries at 8.30pm that the latter drew fewer 18-39 year-olds than lead-out Nikita: 5.6%, which was nearly nine rating points lower than Norton (the gap was even wider among 18-49 and 25-54 year-olds)
• TV2’s Chuck on Thursday also continues to struggle, with the HD spy romp beating TV3’s movie, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but only with ratings of 6.4%-7.6% in the key demos
• But TV2’s The Walking Dead has dented TV3’s Sons of Anarchy’s appeal, with last Wednesday’s episode easily beating the penultimate episode of the bikie drama in all the major demos.