HDTV Ratings: March 2

TV3’s Hawaii Five-O is performing better than SVU in its new 8.30pm Wednesday slot, with last night’s episode scoring a big jump in a key demographic.

It was watched by 9.1% of household shoppers with kids.

This was still well behind TV2’s HD sitcom double-bill: The Big Bang Theory (18.6%) and Cougar Town (14%).

But it was up sharply on the previous week’s 7.6% and was steady with 18-49 and 25-54 year-olds.

The bigger HHS/kids viewership also fed into HD stablemate Sons of Anarchy, which posted 11.2% compared to 9.6% the previous week.

The new HD episode of Two and a Half Men recorded a healthy rise at 7.30pm, possibly because of the publicity about star Charlie Sheen’s meltdown but more likely due to 60 Minutes drawing far fewer viewers than last week’s season premiere about the Christchurch ‘quake.

Men was watched by 16.8% of 18-49 (compared to 13.6% last week), 17% of 25-54 (13.7%) and 20.5% of HHS/kids (18%).

With TV2’s target audience, 18-39 year-olds, it climbed from 15.1% the previous week to 16.9%.

Meanwhile, TV One’s Politically Incorrect (HD) Guide to Teenagers drew 11.1% of 25-54 and 13.9% of HHS/kids to easily beat the second half of 60 Minutes but not TV2’s Scrubs.