Campbell's first night pulls 415,300 punters

That gust of air surging through Eden Terrace yesterday morning was a collective sigh of relief from TV3's Flower St headquarters.

Its main man, John Campbell, had not toppled rival Close Up from its throne, but he had proven the gloomy Nostradamuses wrong.

On its first outing, TV3's new current affairs show pulled 415,300 viewers, shy of Close Up and Shortland Street, but stronger than expected in a three-way 7pm contest which media gurus said would suffer from current affairs fatigue.

On Monday night Close Up was watched by 501,800 viewers - 80,000 viewers down on its Monday night average for the past four weeks.

Its audience share was at 32 per cent, down from 40 per cent.

Campbell Live took more viewers in TV3's target demographic of 18- to 49-year-olds, as well as TVNZ's 25- to 54-year-old target, and was strong in the Auckland area.

Shortland Street held steady on 440,600 viewers, although its audience share was slightly down.

Paul Holmes held his position - viewership was slightly up and its audience share steady.

Total Media's Martin Gillman admitted he was eating humble pie after predicting Campbell Live would struggle to do as well as The Simpsons, which had just over 200,000 viewers on average.

"Hats off to John. We were pleasantly surprised by how well it did. One show doesn't make a series, but I've sent him a large jar of milk bottle and jelly airplane lollies to say well done. He confounded us all."

Campbell featured little in the first show, which focused almost solely on a drivers' licence scam.

What the viewers thought will be apparent over the next few weeks. Commentators have attributed Campbell's initial success to a mix of viewers shopping round on the show's first night, the end of daylight savings, and the hype which surrounded its launch.

The launch of Campbell Live was preceded by a weekend of harsh words from TVNZ boss Bill Ralston, who said TV3 had made a "major cock-up" and would rue the decision to start Campbell Live.

Yesterday, Ralston was in a gracious mood, saying it was a "good debut" albeit helped by the end of daylight savings, and the hype.

"It was a highly professional product, as you would expect from TV3 and John Campbell.

"I expected the audience to shop around and it will do so for the next few weeks while people see who they feel most comfortable with.

"I don't believe he can get 60 Minutes-type stories every night, so we have yet to see the mix, the personalities, and style of that programme. We will wait and see a month down the track if TV3 can sustain the pace."

TV3 head of news Mark Jennings was delighted but well aware of opening night honeymoon ratings.

"We are pleased, but we have to temper it because it's only one night ... The key is getting them back night after night."

Advertising media buyers were impressed.

Advertising slots on Campbell Live were going for about the same rate as those on 3 News, meaning it had to sustain its viewers to keep ad prices up.

Mr Gillman said Campbell managed to lift the overall numbers of people watching current affairs, rather than poaching viewers from other channels.

"They have managed to increase the number of viewers watching television, which is what TV3 said they would do.

"The end of daylight savings will have had an effect, but they were right and I was wrong."

"Now they have to have the stories to hold it."