Kiwis Turn To TVNZ For Global, Domestic Politics

Kiwis Turn To TVNZ For Global And Domestic Political News

Ratings for TVNZ's ONE News Election Specials, and its coverage of the American Election, indicate a very solid appetite for politics in New Zealand households.

Last night's final live televised debate between Helen Clark and John Key recorded a rating of 12.7, which translates to an average audience of 499,600 New Zealanders.

The fact that it screened on Fireworks Night, and hard on heels of the announcement of the outcome of the US Presidential race, appears to have had little or no impact on viewership - with the ratings result only fractionally below the 13.1 rating for the first debate between the two prime ministerial candidates on October 14.

The minor party leaders' debate on October 27 rated a healthy 9.6 - which translates to 375,900 viewers.

TV3's debate between Clark and Key on Monday night recorded a rating of 7.1, or 280,900 viewers.

TVNZ's coverage yesterday afternoon of the US election as it unfolded attracted a cumulative audience of 600,000 viewers during the course of the five hour broadcast.

Then ONE News at 6pm, which offered a comprehensive summary of the historic result, achieved a rating of 18, with more than 1,000,000 people tuning in over the course of the hour.

The ONE News team is now focusing on preparations for New Zealand's general election coverage on Saturday. It will be broadcast live from the atrium of the TVNZ headquarters in Auckland, which has been transformed into a giant studio for the occasion.

*All ratings data sourced from AGB Nielsen Media Research

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