April 14, 2015 1:00pm by David Farrar

Seven Sharp vs Campbell Live

Throng has compiled this chart. It shows the ratings since Seven Sharp started.

When it comes to Campbell Live though, the average audience of 281,669 viewers in 2013 was the best they’ve ever been. During that year, Campbell Live regularly beat Seven Sharp and broke a number of ratings records. Things were looking great. TVNZ had opened the door and Mediaworks looked set to capitalise on it. Unfortunately for them, TVNZ made further changes in 2014 with the introduction of Mike Hosking and Toni Street and with it came the ratings growth and the upward ratings trajectory that the management team had hoped for the year earlier.

In 2014, the average audience for Campbell Live fell 22% to 219,406 viewers per night. So far in 2015, the average audience is down a further 13% to 191,432. Overall, this equates to a 32% drop in the average nightly audience.

It is worth pointing out that if Campbell Live does fold, I am sure the talents of John Campbell will not be wasted. He is generally an excellent broadcaster and am sure he would be picked up elsewhere. It might not be a daily show, but we do not have a lack of current affairs shows in NZ. We have: