By LOUISA CLEAVE
TV3 news watchers are happier with presenters John Campbell and Carol Hirschfeld than TV One viewers are with Judy Bailey and Richard Long.
A CVM/DigiPoll survey of the 6pm news found TV One was still the most popular bulletin, with almost 70 per cent of people polled stating
they watch One News.
However, TV3 viewers gave their channel a higher rate of satisfaction in almost every area of the bulletin, except the weather report.
Of the 530 people interviewed last month, 367 said they watched TV One and 163 said TV3.
Daily television ratings by ACNielsen show TV One still well ahead of TV3 nationally.
The most recent figures, for Thursday night, showed TV One winning 744,450 viewers and TV3 with 283,600, in the national five-plus demographic.
TV3 attracted 155,160 viewers in its target demographic of 18-to-49-year-olds, and TV One attracted 241,360.
The CVM/DigiPoll asked people from around the country to rate the news bulletin they watched at least twice a week.
They were asked to rate content and presenters on a scale of one to 10, with one being "poor" and 10 being "excellent".
3 News watchers gave Campbell and Hirschfeld an 8.4 for warmth and personality, and Long and Bailey viewers gave the presenters an 8.2.
In overall news content and delivery, TV3 viewers rated the bulletin 7.9 and TV One followers said 7.8.
Weather presenter Jim Hickey gave One News its highest satisfaction rating, with 8.3 for warmth and personality.
TV3's weather presenter, most recently Toni Marsh since the departure of Augie Auer, rated 7.7 for warmth and personality.
Sports news on TV3 was given 7.9 out of 10 by its viewers, and TV One loyalists judged sport on their channel 7.4 out of 10.
TVNZ head of news and current affairs Heaton Dyer said the differences in the channels were "marginal".
TV3's head of news and current affairs, Mark Jennings, said he was heartened and humbled by the loyalty shown by TV3 viewers.
He said he believed the "journalists as news anchors" approach had made an impact on viewers.
