HDTV Ratings: February 10-13

The ratings for three of TV3’s HD comedies will be giving the network plenty to laugh and cry about.

The erudite Modern Family (above) continues to attract only half the audience it deserves.

Opposite last night’s HD premiere of North on TV One, it drew only 5.9% of both the demos TV3 is targeting this year — 18-49 and 25-54 year-olds – and 7.5% of household shoppers with kids.

North, on the other hand, rated between 11% and 13.7% in these demos.

TV3 also will be despairing over An Idiot Abroad’s first-night numbers on Thursday: 18-49, 4.9%; 25-54, 5%; HHS/kids, 5.4%.

TV2’s 20/20 Special Edition pulled two-to-three times as many viewers in these demos, partly thanks to a strong lead-in from its HD newcomer, No Ordinary Family: 18-39, 13%; 18-49, 13.3%; 25-54, 14.5%; and HHS/kids, 17.6%.

These numbers vastly improved on the anaemic ratings the network previously endured at 8.30pm Thursday with two consecutive HD seasons of The Vampire Diaries.

The flow-on continued through to Fringe beating Nightline at 10.30pm: 18-39, 5.5%; 18-49, 4.9%; 25-54, 5.1%; and HHS/kids, 5.6%.

But TV3 enjoyed a boost on Friday with the HD premiere of Super City on the back of the popular 7 Days, in which chameleon star Madeleine Sami was a panellist.

It couldn’t beat the second half of TV2’s Dating in the Dark but nonetheless posted super numbers for a new Kiwi comedy in fringe primetime: 18-49, 7.4%; 25-54, 7.2%; HHS/kids, 9.5%.

It benefitted from not only 7 Days’ synergy but also a long-overdue pick-up in the popularity of The Graham Norton Show.

In her Dominion Post review, critic Jane Bowron acknowledged Sami’s talent for “being able to replicate such a smorgasbord of characters” – she plays five – but argued: “It works for the theatre but not for television and so far only two of the five characters – Georgie the homeless woman and Azeem the taxi driver – warrant further investigation.”