On Sunday, TVNZ took the unusual step of putting out a ratings release, not about one of their own properties, but about MediaWorks’ in-depth current affairs programme 60 Minutes.
The emailed release had the subject line: ‘60 Minutes drops 300K viewers since Feb - Monthly News Ratings.’
That statement is not true, and the release itself contains a level of inaccuracy that requires correction.
Please note:
- 60 Minutes’ average audience in April was 256,500 people aged 5+. The figure of 130,060 quoted by TVNZ is incorrect.
- 60 Minutes grew its audience in April. For the month of April, an average of 256,500 people aged 5+ watched each episode of 60 Minutes, a healthy increase of 8 percent on the average 5+ audience for March which was 237,600.
- 60 Minutes’ ratings surged in February as people tuned in for coverage of the Christchurch earthquake. The figure of 422,100 quoted by TVNZ is an outlier, and cannot be compared meaningfully with other months’ ratings.
- Only one episode of 60 Minutes screened in February, and this episode was broadcast on 23 February, the day after the Christchurch quake. Not surprisingly, ratings were unusually high. It is misleading to use the February 23 ratings as any kind of benchmark.
60 Minutes has a new time and date – from this weekend, the programme will screen at 7.30pm on Sundays.
This is the only significant change being made to the programme in the next fortnight, and has been promoted through all the usual channels.
This new, premium timeslot reflects our confidence in the ability of the 60 Minutes team to consistently break news stories, deliver in-depth analysis on the issues that affect New Zealanders, and build their audience.