HDTV Ratings: March 24-27

Bones rattles rival

Bones has recovered in the ratings after TV3 switched it to a different night but the news is not getting better for The Good Wife in its new Sunday slot.

Programmers tinker with success at their peril. Bones has taken weeks to bed into to its 8.30pm Thursday slot but the gamble paid off.

Last week it narrowly won against TV2’s HD opposition, No Ordinary Family, in the demographics that matter most to TV3: 18-49 and 25-54 year-olds.

The gap was reversed — and wider — with household shoppers with kids: Bones drew 13.4% and Family, 16.2%.

But the improvement in Bones’ fortunes also has perked up An Idiot Abroad’s ratings, with the HD road trip comedy less than a rating point behind TV2’s 20/20 in the 18-49 and 25-54 demos and well ahead of TV One’s How the Other Half Live.

But after three weeks, the ratings are dire for The Good Wife, which TV3 hastily scheduled after The Gruen Transfer flopped at 9.30pm Sunday.

Last night’s episode of the excellent legal drama was watched by only 3.8% of 18-49 year-olds and 4.8% of 25-54 year-olds, with TV2’s movie, PS I Love You, and TV One’s Offspring thrashing it in both demos as well as HHS/kids (although in this demo at least Wife’s rating climbed from 5% to 5.8%).

TV3’s other Sunday night HD highlight, Modern Family, also continues to rate abysmally – last night it scored highest with 25-54: 5.3%.

TV3’s Friday HD staples – Glee, The Graham North Show, Super City – were down or steady in their viewerships while its Saturday HD movie, Just Married, had predictably pedestrian ratings for such an antiquity.

Earlier in the night, TV One’s HD season of Hyundai Country Calendar beat the competition by a country mile.