HDTV Ratings: September 10-12

The critics were scathing but viewers were happy to rub shoulders with The Ridges on Wednesday.

The series premiere averaged an impressive 9.0% – 13.2% of the major demographics, with viewership holding up over the half-hour and the show largely winning its slot.

Reviewers weren’t as enamoured, however.

The NZ Herald said “they’re no match for the Kardashians” and Stuff dubbed it “a hot mess of tedious interactions between mother and daughter and mind-numbing scenes of relative domestic bliss”.

Wrote Jane Clifton in The Dominion Post: “The Ridges did not disappoint – provided you approached it with the fatalistic expectation of much giggling, squealing, faffing about with make-up and frocks, and the odd man-slave.

“Anticipated by most viewers with righteous contempt and covert fascination, this new reality series … is monumentally pointless.”

Unless you’re a TV programmer: its launch helped the season premiere of Drug Bust to win its half-hour with a 9.0% – 11.5% average.

It may even have bolstered the series premiere of Underbelly: Badness, which averaged 6.8% – 7.2% — beating TV One’s Ramsay’s Best Restaurant (which has been demoted to one of the week’s worst slots) and proving competitive with TV2’s HD comedies, Anger Management and Cougar Town.

However, TV3’s early evening success couldn’t breathe new life into The Killing’s ratings: it averaged only 2.3% – 3.5%, which means its primetime prospects are short-lived. (TV One’s Castle largely won the 9.30 hour, with 4.6% – 6.9%.)

Another of TV3’s new dramas, Tuesday’s Tricky Business, went belly-up in its second week (2.5% – 3.6%) against TV2’s HD rival, The Mentalist (8.7% – 16.5%).

TV2’s Body of Proof easily won its slot, with 5.8% – 12.6%.

TV2’s Grey’s Anatomy (10.6% – 11.9%) and Private Practice (7.1% – 12.2%) dominated Monday’s ratings, although TV3’s X-Men: The Last Stand was more competitive with the latter (4.9% – 7.3%); TV One’s Unforgettable largely finished third (4.4% – 6.8%).