HDTV Ratings: November 6-7

The Walking Dead enlivened TV2’s late-night ratings when season three premiered 10.30 Wednesday.

It averaged 3.4% – 5.9% of the key demographics, and out-rated lead-in Revolution (4.6% – 6.9%) among household shoppers with kids.

However, it was least popular with TV2’s target audience, 18-39 year-olds, despite the third season largely being acclaimed as the best yet.

The Hollywood Reporter reckons it and Dexter “have come back from rocky seasons to show how it’s done” while closer to home the NZ Herald said the premiere “made quite an impression …particularly the opening six minutes, which ratcheted up the life-or-death tension without any dialogue, and the final scene, for which no dialogue can explain the horror.”

Stuff’s On the Box dubbed it “an episode which seems to indicate that the show is moving in a much heavier, much grittier, much gorier direction befitting the zombie hordes at the centre of the post-apocalyptic series.”

Wednesday also was a strong night for The X Factor USA (8.3% – 10.2%) and saw The Block Australia rebound (8.2% – 9.6%) after drawing half as many viewers on Monday and Tuesday.

Other Wednesday winners included The Middle (11.3% – 12.9%) and The Big Bang Theory (11.2% – 12.4%) while among the losers was Criminal Minds (2.7% – 6.0%).

The Mentalist (7.8% – 12.6%) and Body of Proof (5.8% – 9.7%) dominated Tuesday’s HD ratings but the SD seasons of Wildest India and One Born Every Minute won their respective hours among 25-54s.