HDTV Ratings: March 3

For the first time, TV3’s Bones has out-rated TV2’s No Ordinary Family with 18-49 year-olds, albeit by the narrowest of margins.

Last night’s episode drew 9% compared with Family’s 8.9%.

So there was next to nothing in it — until you consider the turnaround from the previous week, when Bones was watched by 8% and Family, 9.5%.

But with 25-54 year-olds, the gap widened in Family’s favour: it drew 10.2% versus Bones’ 8.6%; last week the respective ratings in this demographic were 9.8% and 9%.

While Bones also was down in household shoppers with kids, from 11.1% to 10.8%, Family’s decline was steeper, from 14.6% to 13.1%.

The trend is worrying for TV2, which has seen its Thursday HD flagship drop from drawing around twice the viewers of its HD rival for its premiere to four episodes later being neck-and-neck.

However, TV3’s An Idiot Abroad struggles to reap the ratings it deserves, with only 4.4%-5.6% of the key demos, virtually half of TV2’s 20/20.

Fringe, meanwhile, continues to be competitive with its rivals’ late-night news half-hours.