Dancing With the Stars outwits, outplays Survivor NZ

Things are heating up on the dancefloor, but there's also a battle brewing between rival networks TVNZ and Three.

That's because both have launched new local reality shows in the 7pm timeslot on Sunday night, with plenty at stake.

Survivor NZ appeared on TVNZ 2 last Sunday, while Three kicked off a new season of Dancing With the Stars last night.

It's the second season of Survivor NZ, and with several changes made to the format, including reducing episodes to one per week and more than doubling the prize money in a bid to amp up the drama - and the ratings.

Meanwhile, Three has enlisted many of its own Mediaworks staff to take part in Dancing With the Stars, including newsreader Samantha Hayes and Robert Rakete.

So who won last night? According to Nielsen ratings, Three comfortably won the night with its 90-minute debut of Dancing With the Stars.

It nabbed 213,469 viewers in the 25-54 age bracket. In comparison, Survivor NZ pulled 119,013 viewers.

It's still early days but Andrew Szusterman, chief content officer for MediaWorks, said the network was delighted with the show's performance.

"We're thrilled that Dancing With The Stars NZ did so well on its first night out. It won its timeslot in the key 25-54 demographic and helped Three to win the night," he said.

"To outperform the finale of the 2015 series on night one shows we have an exceptional cast with a mixture of old and new faces New Zealand has tuned in for."

A TVNZ spokesperson told the Herald the network was "pleased" with how Survivor was rating, especially with viewers watching it time-shifted and OnDemand.

"Feedback and engagement with the show has been overwhelmingly positive, so we're happy to see the changes we've made since season one are being so well received.

"We hope Kiwis continue to enjoy our bigger and better local version of the world's toughest game."