NZ on Air has revealed that viewer numbers for the thriller series The Cult - on which the taxpayer-funded agency forked out nearly 10% of its television budget - are not as high as it had hoped for.
But chief executive Jane Wrightson said the public should not to jump to conclusions about the show's success because it was early days - the eighth episode aired last week.
TVNZ also admits viewer numbers could be better.
The Cult, which screens on Thursdays at 8.30pm with a catch-up episode every Wednesday, received almost $6.5 million in taxpayer funding.
"[Viewer numbers are] a little lower than we're comfortable with - there's no doubt about that," Ms Wrightson said.
"It's a series that does take some time and attention to follow - which is a good thing - but its genre means that it doesn't necessarily attract big viewing numbers."
Ms Wrightson said it was too soon to be concerned because drama series were quite complex and generally took time to attract audiences.
International shows arrived here after much more hype than locally produced dramas.
"Here we have to start from scratch."
