HDTV Ratings: October 17

TV3 scored a rare Monday night win with its one-off screening of The X Factor USA in an HD face-off with top-rating staples This Is Your Life* and The Mentalist.

The episode that couldn’t air in its normal Friday slot, because of a scheduling postponement in the US, helped TV3 to win the night with 18-49 year-olds.

This Is Your Life's Paul Holmes

The talent quest also won its two-hour slot in the 18-49 and 25-54 demographics.

It averaged an 18-49 rating of 11.3% (compared to Life’s 6.8% and The Mentalist’s 10.2%) and a 25-54 rating of 11% (compared to Life’s 9.4% and Mentalist’s 9.9%).

The X Factor also was tops with 18-39 year-olds (11.3%) and household shoppers with kids (15.7%).

However, TV3’s re-run of Bones at 9.30 was out-rated by the second half of Life (and TV2’s SD cop show, Rookie Blue) in the 18-49 and 25-54 demos, and tied with Life among HHS/kids.

TVNZ’s live Life telecast peaked at 10.9% of 25-54s, 7.8% of 18-49s, 6.1% of 18-39s and 9.4% of HHS/kids.

* In another extraordinary example of TVNZ’s inability to capitalise on HD’s potential, TV One didn’t publicise This Is Your Life as being in HD. The oversight occurred only days after its HD-promoted presentation of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest aired in SD, because it was the last run of the original licence. The broadcaster assures ScreenScribe.tv this weekend’s screening of At World’s End will be in HD because it’s under a new license.