The X Factor NZ has delivered its lowest ratings yet in the face of last week's controversy involving a manslaughter-convicted contestant.
Last night 252,610 Kiwis tuned in to watch the TV3 talent show, according to television website Throng.co.nz.
The episode began with a formal apology from host Dominic Bowden for upsetting the family of Jeremy Frew, who was stabbed to death in Whanganui in 2004. X Factor contestant Shae Brider was sentenced to eight and a half years in jail for his part in the 16-year-old's killing.
"We acknowledge that Shae's interview on the show was only one side of the story and did not allow for the victim's family to tell their side and for that we at TV3 unreservedly apologise for any hurt or distress that this has caused the family," Bowden said.
"It was never our intention to cause offence and for that we are truly sorry."
But the apology may have fallen on deaf ears, as last night's audience tuning in for the first episode of the show's Boot Camp stage, marked a drop of more than 100,000 viewers from the previous show last Tuesday.
Throng editor and blogger Regan Cunliffe said on his website today, that last night's episode shouldn't be directly compared with last Tuesday's.
"In many cases, viewers tune in for the auditions and then tune in and out for key events like, the reveal of the finalists who made it through Boot Camp, as opposed to all of Boot Camp itself," Cunliffe said.
358,300 viewers tuned in for last Tuesday's episode, which was the most-watched this season, statistics on Cunliffe's website showed.
"If we compare Sunday to Sunday, the actual drop is only 51,890 viewers. However, there was a 67% increase in the number of viewers tuning in for the screening on TV3 Plus 1, which resulted in the overall drop only down 7% on the previous week," Cunliffe said.
On TV3's opposition network TV One, home-renovation show Our First Home managed to beat The X Factor NZ for Kiwi's remotes for the second time last night, since both series went head-to-head with each other.
The show had 330,530 viewers watching, which was 76,040 more eyes than TV3 and 68,900 more people than last Tuesday's episode. The first time both series went head-to-head, on February 15, Our First Home had 345,100 viewers over The X Factor NZ's 304,500.
Our First Home's audience numbers are on a downward trend though.
Although it managed to gain more viewers than The X Factor NZ's premiere and its February 10 episode, Our First Home's audience numbers on February 15 were down 100,500 viewers from its previous week premiere of a massive 445,600 viewers.
Throng statistics show the trend continuing, with more viewers tuning in for first episode of the week on Sunday and a dwindling viewership on the Monday and Tuesday.
Everyone will be watching the ratings of these two shows closely, to see if The X Factor NZ's controversy improves the ratings for Our First Home.
Source: Stuff.co.nz and Throng.co.nz
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