HDTV Ratings: November 21-22

TV3’s Inside NZ special on child poverty helped the network to win last night’s ratings and boosted viewership of its HD crime hit, NCIS.

Bryan Bruce’s investigation was extraordinarily popular across the board, winning its slot in all of the key demographics except 18-49, where it narrowly lost to TV2’s The Amazing Race.

Moreover, NCIS not only retained much of the bumper lead-in provided but in most demos built on it.

For instance, Inside NZ rated 14.9% of household shoppers with kids and NCIS 14.7%.

But with 25-54 year-olds, NCIS increased TV3’s viewership from 11.1% to 12.7%, and scored an even bigger gain among 18-49 year-olds, from 9.6% to 12%.

Even TV2’s target audience, 18-39 year-olds, opted for TV3’s line-up, with 9.5% tuning into Inside NZ and 12.9% into NCIS.

NCIS’s sister show, Los Angeles, couldn’t maintain the momentum but still easily won the 9.30 hour with 9.7% of 25-54s, 8.6% of 18-49s, 7.4% of 18-39s and 9.1% of HHS/kids.

By comparison, TV2’s HD rival, The Celebrity Apprentice, averaged over its two-hour slot 6.6% of 25-54s and 18-49s, 5.9% of 18-39s and 7.4% of HHS/kids.

But TV2 owned Monday night, with its HD anchor, The Mentalist, crushing the competition.

It rated 12.3% of the demo TV One and TV3 chase, 25-54s, whereas One’s HD re-run of Criminal Minds managed only 6.5% and 3’s SD re-run of the movie, Jarhead, 6.9%.

The popularity of TV2’s Monday schedule means even a late-night HD drama like the US Shameless is rating surprisingly well.

It won the 11pm hour with 3.9% of 25-54s, 4.2% of 18-49s, 4.3% of 18-39s and 5% of HHS/kids.