Around 40 percent of Seven Sharp’s audience have abandoned the show since TVNZ’s new current affairs programme premiered on Monday.
According to the latest overnights from Nielsen, Seven Sharp has seen a decline in viewership for the fourth straight day. Last night’s post-Waitangi show had 297,000 people aged 5+ tune in, compared to the 497,000 who tuned in at the start of the week.
Seven Sharp’s viewership is currently sitting just above Campbell Live, which saw a slight bump following its Waitangi Day special to post 248,000 viewers.
Most worrying for TVNZ is the number of people jumping the channel right after watching its 6pm news. Television blog and community Throng says more than half the audience from One News didn’t continue to the 7pm format last night.
It’s unclear if these viewers are changing channels or simply turning the TV off, but most of the other free-to-air shows in the 7pm time slot have kept a steady audience throughout the week.
Monday 4 February
Seven Sharp: 497,000
Shortland Street: 661,000
Campbell Live: 243,000
CGW: 65,000
Tuesday 5 February
Seven Sharp: 401,000
Shortland Street: 583,000
Campbell Live: 222,000
CGW: 27,000
Wednesday 6 February
Seven Sharp: 326,000
Shortland Street: 565,000
Campbell Live: 239,000
CGW: 63,000
Thursday 7 February
Seven Sharp: 297,000
Shortland Street: 638,000
Campbell Live: 248,000
CGW: 52,000
Source: Nielsen 5+ viewership for 7pm