ScreenScribe

   The Nicolas Cage relic, National Treasure, mined more viewers than Three’s FBI comedy The Heat on Sunday. But Three still won the night’s biggest shares of the core commercial demographics, thanks to a resurgent Newshub Live and the smoking hot The Block NZ: Firehouse. Newshub Live topped 1 News in the 18-49 demo, seesawed with it among […]

A combined assault by TVNZ 1 and TVNZ 2 unseated Three’s top-rating talent of The Graham Norton Show and 7 Days on Friday. TVNZ 1’s Britain’s Got Talent dominated in the 25-54 and 18-49 demographics from 7.30-9.30 while TVNZ 2’s 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown topped 7 Days in all the core commercial demos. […]

TVNZ 2’s bid to emulate Three’s Friday night success flopped with its weekend debuts of Best Foods Comedy Gala and 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown. The programming flipped what was on Three’s schedule by pitting Kiwi comedy against British (The Graham Norton Show) and a hit UK panel show against NZ’s (7 Days). […]

➢ Lest we forget, indeed. The only network paying more than lip service to Anzac Day on April 25 will be Maori TV, which will devote most of its schedule to the commemoration, starting with The Auckland Dawn Service at 5.20am and continuing with the premieres of Kiwi Women of WWII (9am), In Foreign Fields […]

Tonight at the London Palladium will return on July 29 (TVNZ 1, 8.05) for an eight-week run, presumably to bridge the gap between Britain’s Got Talent, which ends Saturday, and the premiere of The X Factor UK. It will follow MasterChef Australia at the earlier hour of 7.00 and guest star James Blunt, Jennifer Hudson, Rick […]

TVNZ 1 has picked up the NZ rights to The X Factor UK and may air it in the same slot where Britain’s Got Talent has been a hit. The network hasn’t confirmed where it will schedule X Factor but chances are it will be 7.00 Saturdays given Talent’s success at this hour. At least it […]

New Zealand’s definitive guide to what’s airing nightly free-to-air in 1080i Saturday  Series Premiere: Saving Lives at Sea (TV1, 4.55) The Hunt (TV3, 4.55, R) Ados Addicted to Fishing (Prime, 5.00, R) 1 News at 6pm (TV1, 6.00) The Simpsons (TV2, 6.00, R) Newshub Live at 6pm (TV3, 6.00)  The Middle (TV2, 6.30, 5.1, R) Season Premiere: Britain’s Got Talent (TV1, 7.00) Network Movie […]

MediaWorks won’t be commissioning another series of X Factor NZ or even screening the UK version. Following comments by readers of this site, I asked the broadcaster if another series of the talent quest format was on the radar. And if not a local version, would it be picking up new episodes of the UK […]

TVNZ 1 will try to boost its weekend ratings with the return of Britain’s Got Talent and the premiere of The Naked Choir. BGT will form a two-and-a-half hour Saturday night variety block with another ITV talent show, The Next Great Magician, from April 29. The latter premieres this weekend at 7.00 with a double episode but thereafter will screen around […]

Top 20, 5pm-midnight, 25-54 Top 20, 5pm-midnight, 18-49 Top 20, 5pm-midnight, 5+