KEY POINTS:
Half a million people watched as John Key and Helen Clark went head to head in the first televised debate of the election.
But for younger viewers, the chance to size up the country's next Prime Minister was no competition for Shortland Street.
Figures from AGB Nielsen Media Research showed younger viewers tended to shun the party leaders during the first half hour of Tuesday's debate, run by TVNZ and online video portal YouTube.
Shortland Street was the favourite option for viewers aged between 18 and 49 between 7 and 7.30pm, winning 35 per cent of viewers.
Over the duration of the hour and a half debate, just over a third of people watching television chose to watch Clark and Key - making them the most popular option.
An average of half a million viewers aged 5 plus were watching the debate at any one time.
A total of 1,078,000 people tuned in at some point in the debate, but anyone who switched on for a minute would appear in the ratings.
TVNZ said the YouTube debate was the first of its kind in the world. Kiwis from as far away as London used online video clips to ask pre-recorded questions.
TV3 will hold a leaders debate on November 3 and TVNZ has a second debate planned for November 5. Tuesday's debate can be seen at www.youtube.co.nz/debate
