The Traitors ratings revealed: How many Kiwis tuned in to watch Paul Henry’s new show?

Paul Henry is back as the host of The Traitors. Photo / Warner Bros Discovery

Paul Henry’s new murder mystery show The Traitors landed on our screens on Monday, promising twists, turns and a hefty helping of drama. But did it deliver?

It’s a brand-new format for New Zealand audiences, based on a 2021 Dutch series titled De Verraders and then picked up by the US, Australia and the UK - where it’s become hugely popular with viewers.

The Warner Bros Discovery ANZ version, filmed at a luxury lodge in New Zealand, stars Henry and a host of beloved local celebrities and public figures including Matt Heath, Kings, Brodie Kane and Mike Puru, as well as several everyday Kiwis.

The show involves 19 contestants taking part in several group and solo missions to build up a prize worth $70,000. But hidden among the cast are three “traitors”, chosen by Henry, who must work to “murder” - or eliminate - the “faithful” contestants, whose job is to discover the traitors.

But the proof is in the pudding - that is, those coveted TV ratings. So, how did the show rate with Kiwi viewers in its first week?

A spokesperson for Warner Bros. Discovery told the Herald that the first episode was “the highest-reaching local premiere on ThreeNow this year”.

They added that the first two episodes, which screened on Monday and Tuesday, saw a total audience reach of 457,300 people in the 5 and over age bracket across the two nights.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s senior director of production for Australia and New Zealand Vicki Keogh said in a statement to the Herald, “We commission local productions strategically with a laser focus on what will drive audiences to our digital platform and generate maximum talkability.

The cast of The Traitors NZ. Photo / Warner Bros Discovery

“To see audiences actively seeking out The Traitors NZ on ThreeNow from the day of launch is particularly pleasing and follows the pattern of success seen with this format in other territories.”

But how did those ratings compare to the broadcaster’s biggest rival TVNZ in the same time slot?

A spokesperson for TVNZ revealed that according to Nielsen, The Traitors came second in its slot behind TVNZ1 across both Monday and Tuesday nights. Shows like Your Home Made Perfect, Home And Away, The Simpsons, and The Summit screen at the same time as The Traitors on TVNZ channels.

They added that the Nielsen data, which measures average audience reach, reveals The Traitors premiere episode drew an average audience of 130,000, with the second viewed by an average audience of 108,000, both in the 5 and over age bracket.

Neither the data from TVNZ or Discovery is said to include the ThreeNow figures, which would add to the totals.

And the UK version of the show wasn’t an instant hit with audiences - the BBC’s Steven McIntosh wrote in December last year that the show’s initial ratings “paint a mixed picture”. The opening episode first drew in 2.9 million viewers, a number that’s “respectable but not outstanding” in terms of the UK’s population.

Warner Bros Discovery ANZ's new show, The Traitors found its perfect host in Paul Henry. Photo / Warner Bros Discovery

But he noted that the viewership increased on iPlayer, the BBC’s on-demand video service, in the days and weeks that followed, and soon hit five million on the first episode.

Could the same thing happen in New Zealand? Time will tell if the weekend audiences can boost the buy-in.

Reviewing the first episode of the show, which screened on Monday night, Herald entertainment reporter Lillie Rohan wrote, “It’s light and fluffy in parts, despite the show aiming to be one revolving around deception, and it feels like exactly the thing reality TV is missing at the moment.

“While we all love a Married At First Sight dramatic dinner party or a sneaky Celebrity Treasure Island confession cam moment, watching The Traitors’ fun and vibrant - yet somehow serious - episodes is proof that reality shows don’t need to be nasty to be good.”