Hope for Humans But Where’s Mr. Robot?

Does Mr. Robot’s fate depend on Humans’?

Ratings for Humans may not be quite as grim as reported last week when the drama’s consolidated viewership is taken into account, too.

The second episode’s live ratings were down sharply on the premiere’s but the release of consolidated ratings later this week may help to redress the imbalance.

There are two types of delayed viewing measures: overnights, which is the viewing of a programme on the day that it was broadcast (including live and time shifted viewing); and consolidated, which is all viewing of a programme, live and time shifted, within seven days of the original broadcast.

Whereas Humans’ premiere averaged an 8.8% overnight rating of TV3’s target audience, 25-54 year-olds, its consolidated rating jumped 2.5 points to 11.3%.

Humans’ channel share of this audience also rose markedly, from 23.1% for overnight to 25.4% for consolidated.

That was a much bigger boost than any of TV3’s other primetime shows received, with most improving less than a point (the key exceptions were MasterChef NZ, which was up 1.1 points on its Sunday broadcast, and 7 Days, which was up 1.2).

While TV3 executives will be hoping for an upsurge in live viewing tonight, they’re not commenting on the whereabouts of another sci-fi sensation, Mr. Robot.

It’s not about robots — the title’s an acronym — but a computer hacking group.

TV Guide dubbed the USA Network commission “the summer’s most wildly original new series” while the New York Times thought it “a cyber-age thriller infused with a dark, almost nihilistic pessimism about the Internet, capitalism and income inequality. And that makes it kind of fun.”

The Hollywood Reporter called it “gripping“, Entertainment Weekly acknowledged “the show may not click with everyone, but it left me electrified,” and Variety reckons it has “the jittery feel of a British thriller, and an absurdist sense of entrenched interests vs. a weird insurgency: a conceit that vaguely recalls Terry Gilliam’s Brazil.”

Despite the buzz about the series, TV3 is unusually coy about its scheduling plans. That may be because programmers haven’t decided if it’s bound for the HD network or sister SD channel Four.

In which case, the more viewers that tune in to Humans, the better the chances of Mr. Robot winding up in HD on 3.

Of course, it’s possible MediaWorks may still be negotiating for the rights. Normally it would have acquired them through its Universal NBC deal but given many of the distributor’s sci-fi series now air exclusively on Sky’s The Zone, there may be pay-TV (or even streaming) competition for Mr. Robot’s services.