HDTV Ratings: Criminal Minds vs X2

In the first head-to-head HD contest of the new year, last night’s TV One’s season-six premiere of Criminal Minds arrested more 25-54 year-old viewers than TV3’s X2.

After 21 years of targeting 18-49 year-olds, TV3 has switched its focus to the older demographic, leaving its traditionally younger audience to the new-look C4, which will relaunch as Four on February 6.

Criminal Minds averaged 11.4% of 25-54, to earn a 27.9 channel share, compared with X2’s 10.0 rating/28 share.

X2 largely held its own with TV2’s SD movie, Over Her Dead Body, and its last half-hour won the 10pm-10.30pm period outright, opposite Tonight and the first half of Ghost Whisperer.

Ironically, with TV2’s traditional viewership, 18-49, X2 narrowly out-rated Criminal Minds.

Meanwhile, MediaWorks TV will use the Flight of the Conchords episode of The Simpsons to launch the SD-only Four at 6pm on Waitangi Day.

Other new shows to Four include Joel McHale’s comedy about returning to college, Community; Total Wipeout, a spin-off of Wipeout hosted by Richard Hammond; Outsourced, a new comedy about a US catalogue-based company whose call centre gets outsourced to Mumbai; and spy drama Covert Affairs.

Switching from TV3 to Four will be America’s Next Top Model (the season where they come to New Zealand), The Biggest Loser, all new episodes of The Simpsons and the Top Chef spin-off, Just Desserts.

Four also will introduce a 6am-10am and 2pm-4pm weekday kids’ block that includes the return of Sesame Street to New Zealand screens for the first time in more than a decade.