CHANNEL 10's TV fast-track initiative has stumbled with poor...

CHANNEL 10's TV fast-track initiative has stumbled with poor ratings for the return of New Girl.


The double-episode return of the US sitcom was a ratings flop, coming a distant fourth in its time slot last night.

The 7.30pm episode of New Girl averaged 410,000 viewers nationally. The 8pm episode rose slightly - to 425,000 viewers.

New Girl was crushed by Seven’s The X Factor (1.432 million viewers) and Nine’s Big Brother (957,000 with 946,000 for Live Nominations)

Ten's sitcom was also easily beaten by the ABC’s 7.30 (906,000) and Australian Story (968,000).

New Girl stars Zooey Deschanel as Jessica Day, a teacher who shares an apartment with three men.

Ten is set to roll out a swag of fast-tracked shows over the next week including NCIS, NCIS: Los Angeles and Law & Order: SVU.

The second series of Homeland will return later this month.

The fast-tracked series are part of Ten's new 'Take a Fresh Look' initiative.

'Take a Fresh Look' is designed to lure viewers back to the network after recent ratings duds including Everybody Dance Now and The Shire.