Holmes rides rollercoaster

After low, steady ratings all week, Paul Holmes figures slumped on Thursday night despite a series of strong stories.

On Monday night, Paul Holmes reporter Steve Hopkins got the interview Paul Holmes was praying for - a tearful and, most importantly, exclusive interview with Whiti Hepi.

Hepi was the driver of the car that plunged into the Waikato River, drowning three teenage girls.

It was a gem of a story, yet - with very little audience to promote it to in the lead-up to Paul Holmes - 44 per cent of the people watching telly at 7pm were watching Close Up on TV One instead.

Holmes' scoop was watched by a mere 7 per cent of the audience.

In the end, only about 91,700 people saw the hard-won interview.

More had tuned in for the second half, which got 105,800 viewers, but by then Holmes was busy solving the problems of an elderly couple with help from politicians Nick Smith and Steve Maharey.

By the end of the week, the news for Paul Holmes was even gloomier.

After holding fairly steady around 90,000 to 100,000 throughout the week, on Thursday night it could capture just half that audience, 48,200.

It was just marginally higher than the 40,400 he got on Wednesday of the show's first week and a lesson in how volatile a viewing audience could be.

The head of the Christchurch Broadcasting School, Paul Norris, said it would be months before a verdict could be made on the show.

"I think Paul is looking more comfortable and the stories are stronger this week as well," he said.

"The interview with [Hepi] was a coup for the programme and the next night he had a good item about NZQA which he followed up well.

"A programme needs time to settle down and I won't be rushing to judge it for another couple of months."