One News ratings hold firm

Newsreader Judy Bailey's absence from One News has had little impact on ratings.

Bailey has been off work since late last year with an illness thought to be a mild form of meningitis.

Competitor channel TV3's cricket coverage appears to have had a greater effect on One News.

AC Nielsen's rating figures show an afternoon of cricket on TV3 gives the channel's 6 pm news bulletin a boost, while TV One loses viewers.

However, One News has retained its dominance in the ratings compared with a year ago. Last week it drew an average of 613,000 viewers compared with 3 News' 300,000.