KEY POINTS:
Poor old Betty Suarez has once again been shafted by the beautiful people.
TV2 has pulled its popular Golden Globe-winning comedy Ugly Betty mid-series to make way for Dancing with the Stars on its notoriously suffering sister channel. The third series of the hugely popular celebrity dance-off starts the same night on TV One, and TVNZ says there ain't room for both in the schedule.
So Betty won't be back until after DWTS' eight-week run.
TV2 said the Ugly Betty audience was too similar to that of DWTS but hopes its replacement, Daybreak - about a cop who relives the same action-packed day every day - will attract a different audience. Boys, we presume.
The mid-season break was "always planned" but remained confidential because of sensitivities over the launch date of DWTS.
The decision is likely to leave a bad taste in viewers' mouths, as Ugly Betty is the country's second-highest rating show among 18-49-year-olds after Desperate Housewives.
It's not the first time the channel has made abrupt schedule changes. Last year it upset viewers by interrupting The Sopranos four episodes short of the final.
DWTS moved from its Sunday slot last year after the successful re-establishment of TV One's Sunday Theatre. The channel's programmers said they were keen to jazz-up the midweek schedule by screening the "iconic" programme on Tuesdays.
That could cause headaches for fans of TV3's medical drama House, watched by an average of 250,000 viewers aged 18 to 49.
TV3 accused their competitors of counter-programming but were confident House would continue to rate highly. The channel said its priority was to screen popular shows on their regular nights. Now there's a good idea.
