TVNZ 2 Dumps Comedies for Undateables

TVNZ is replacing its Monday night comedies with new episodes of The Undateables.

The latest season of the British reality hit will air 8.45 Mondays from March 27 in place of Life in Pieces and The Mick.

The two sitcoms have struggled to rate, even off the back of My Kitchen Rules, allowing Three’s Married at First Sight Australia to surge ahead in popularity.

Last night’s episode of MAFSA averaged 7.3% of 25-54 years compared to 3.6% for Life in Pieces and 3.1% for The Mick.

In the 18-49 demographic, which is TVNZ 2’s target audience, MAFSA averaged 6.5% versus 3.4% for Life in Pieces and 2.7% for The Mick.

Compounding the sitcoms’ underwhelming appeal has been TVNZ 1’s new drama, APB, tanking after its premiere ahead of absymal ratings for Blindspot in its new 9.30 Monday slot.

Last night, in its third week, APB averaged 2.1% of 25-54s and Blindspot, 1.4%.

Nigel Latta’s Mind Over Money also has been liquidating viewers, with last night’s episode averaging only 3.5% of 25-54 on the heels of Fair Go’s 5.4%.

Both were hammered by MKR (8.0% of 25-54s, 7.3% of 18-49s) and Three’s The Block (6.0% of 25-54s, 4.3% of 18-49s).

The rot for TVNZ 1 started even earlier, when Three’s The Project walloped Seven Sharp in three of the four core commercial demos, including 5.1% of 25-54s vs 3.4% — and that was despite 1 News delivering SS the bigger lead-in.

As a result, Three won the night in two of the key races: 25-54 (26.8% vs TVNZ 1’s 18.3% and TVNZ 2’s 23.4%) and 18-49 (27.4% vs 1’s 14.4% and 2’s 24.7%).