TV ONE Election Coverage Winning Ratings

FRIDAY 12 SEPTEMBER 2014

The 2014 General Election is fast-approaching and ONE News will lead be leading the way with coverage.ONE News was the most-watched programme in New Zealand in August, with an average audience of over 700,000 viewers aged 5+.

The first ONE News Leaders Debate was the second most watched show in August (on Thursday 28th), viewed by an average audience of 643,000 viewers aged 5+. In the 25-54 demographic it had 223,300 viewers (27% share).

The ONE News Multi-Party Leaders Debate on Friday 5 September attracted an average audience of 483,000 viewers (5+). In the 25-54 demographic it reached an audience of 151,600 people (21% share). Both debates were the most watched shows during their time zones amongst the 5+ demographic.

Q+A on Sunday mornings has also seen a huge uptake in viewer numbers over the election period. Since mid-August, Q+A has been watched by an average audience of 123,000 viewers aged 5+ per episode – which is an additional 36,000 more viewers per episode compared to the previous month.

Vote Compass, a unique online tool surveying voters on a variety of policy issues, was launched by ONE News on 17 August and has also seen an incredible level of engagement. To date, the survey has had more than 244,000 responses.

TVNZ’s Head of News & Current Affairs, John Gillespie, says; “It’s been really exciting to see how many viewers are engaging with our Election coverage across all our news programmes and platforms. The numbers watching our debates are great. Our whole ONE News team has been doing a brilliant job, and I’m looking forward to the final debate and then our Election weekend coverage.”

TV ONE Election Weekend: Full Coverage

On Saturday 20 September, after the 6.00pm ONE News hour, Mike Hosking, Toni Street, Corin Dann, Simon Dallow, Heather du Plessis-Allan are in the studio until midnight as election results come in from around the country. Joining them will be guest commentators, including; Michelle Boag, Mike Williams, Stacey Morrison and Wallace Chapman.

ONE News presenters and reporters – including Rawdon Christie, Melissa Stokes, Peter Williams, Katie Bradford and Michael Parkin - are out on location at every political party base; talking to voters as well as candidates and covering the reactions as votes are counted.

On Sunday 21 September, TV ONE delivers a commercial-free morning of post-election programming. At7.30am Tagata Pasifika will has a live show focusing on the Pacific MPs, who will be guests on the show. National made a big campaign push for Pacific voters, so Tagata Pasifika will reveal whether the community has been won over.

Q+A has a two-hour election special from 8.000am with Political Editor Corin Dann and host Susan Wood bringing in-depth analysis of the election result. Which party will be forming a new Government? How many parties will be in talks Sunday morning? What will be their bottom lines in negotiations?

Q+A has interviews with all the major parties, plus analysis from our extended panel which includes Auckland University Political Scientist Dr Raymond Miller.

At 10:00am Marae has a one-hour special covering the Māori seats, hosted by Scotty Morrison and Miriama Kamo. Reporters are in every electorate capture the election drama, and the winning candidates are invited into the studio. Making sense of the results will be a panel including Willie Jackson, Tau Henare, Dion Tuuta and Tina Wickliffe.

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