Its debut episode was interrupted for some by a Sky TV outage but last night's ratings for The Block NZ reveal the technical glitch wasn't solely to blame for this year's lacklustre numbers.
Some 187,000 viewers tuned in for the second episode of The Block: Villa Wars last night, of which, 85,000 were aged 25-54.
That marks a drop of 31,000 viewers from the previous night's debut, which saw 218,000 viewers tune in, according to Nielsen.
The series, which has been a ratings winner for TV3 in the past, has failed to capture the same audience this year.
More viewers tuned in for The X Factor UK, which screened after The Block at 8.30pm.