Walking Dead on Last Legs

TVNZ 2’s late-night Tuesday premiere of Walking Dead: Dead City drew fewer adult viewers than the re-run of CSI that followed it.

It averaged a 0.96 rating/25.35 share to notch up 19,615 viewers aged 25-54 — nearly 4,000 fewer than for CSI an hour later.

It also shed a third of the viewership for lead-in Phrogging: Hider in My House, which averaged a 1.51 rating/21.16 share (30,940 viewers) to win the 9.30 hour.

Another premiere, TVNZ 1’s Huge Homes With Hugh Dennis, fared less well.

It averaged a mere 1.45 rating/12.84 share (29,768) against TVNZ 2’s NCIS: Hawai’i (2.68 rating/23.44 share, 54,904).

Huge Homes was hindered by a paltry lead-in from a re-run of Your Home Made Perfect (1.88 rating/12.73 share, 38,609), which was decimated by TVNZ 2’s MasterChef Australia (5.26 rating/33.87 share, 107,880).

In its second broadcast, Three’s 7.30 rival Million Dollar Island sunk to a 1.88 rating/12.72 share (38,526).

That was bad news for episode two of anthology drama Accused, which could muster only a 0.80 rating/8.52 share (16,416) — even fewer than the tally for Walking Dead two hours later.

The popularity of TVNZ 2’s line-up meant its share of 25-54 year-olds for the night challenged TVNZ 1’s.

The shares were: TVNZ 1, 26.61; TVNZ 2, 25.03; Three, 15.97; Duke, 5.85;  Bravo, 5.12;  Rush, 2.69; Prime, 1.92; Eden, 1.64; HGTV, 0.93.

TVNZ 2 narrowly won the night’s biggest share of 18-49 year-olds, the demographic it targets, with 23.97 vs TVNZ 1’s 23.85 and Three’s 14.19.

The night’s most-watched programmes in the 25-54 demo were: 1 News, The Chase (5.30), MasterChef Australia, Seven Sharp, Shortland Street, Newshub Live at 6pm, Home and Away, The Chase (5.00), NCIS: Hawai’i and The Project.