The Winners: Seven News was tops with 1.565 million, World’s Strictest Parents on Seven at 7.30pm was second on debut with 1.541 million and Spicks and Specks did the 1960s and was repaid for it with a solid 1.394 million viewers at 8.30pm. A Current Affair averaged 1.306 million viewers and beat Today Tonight with 1.297 million. Nine News averaged 1.296 million people and Home and Away averaged 1.285 million and 7th spot. Then came Nine’s 7pm repeat of Two and a Half Men with 1.207 million and The Chaser averaged 1.199 million at 9pm for the ABC. 10th was the 7pm ABC News making a return to the million viewer list. It averaged 1.109 million people. 11th was Seven’s repeat of Criminal Minds at 8.30pm with 1.058 million people and the new Simpsons averaged 1.053 million at 7.30pm for Ten, followed by the 8pm episode with 1.009 million. Cold Case at 9.30pm averaged 1.006 million for Nine and RPA at 8.30pm for Nine averaged 1.003 million and 15th spot. Ten’s 8.30pm episode of Law and Order SVU averaged 880.000 and The New Inventors at 8pm on the ABC averaged 948,000. The Cook and The Chef averaged 704,000 at 6.30pm, which would be close to its best ever audience, if not the best.

The Losers: Australia’s Perfect Couple on Nine at 7.30pm: 798,000. It’s worse than a loser, its terminal. House at 9.30pm on Ten, 544,000: poor, even for a repeat. The 7pm Project (See below).

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally and in every market but Melbourne. Today Tonight lost nationally and in Sydney and Melbourne. TT was very weak in Melbourne, down nearly 90,000 viewers. The 7.30 Report averaged 967,000, Lateline, 171,000 and Lateline Business, 93,000. Ten News averaged 942,000, the late News/Sports Tonight, 294,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 183,000, the late edition, 308,000. Nine’s late News, 219,000. 7am Sunrise, 375,000, 7am Today, 302,000.

The Stats: Seven won with a share a 6pm to Midnight All People share of 27.6% (23.6% a week ago), from Nine with 24.8% (30.4% — it was the third State of Origin game). Ten was on 19.8% (24.5%). The ABC was on 19.2% (15.4%) and SBS was on 8.5% (6.2%). Seven won Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Nine won Melbourne where Seven seems to be on the nose again. Ten still leads the week, 27.8% to Seven with 26.4% and Nine on 22.3%. Seven is positioned to win the week. In regional markets a different result with WIN/NBN winning for Nine with 26.0% from Prime/7Qld with 25.5%, the ABC with 19.9%, Southern cross (Ten) with 19.3% and SBS with 9.3%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Will we be reading that The 7pm Project is dead over the weekend? After last night, the program fell from loser status to borderline survival: 874,000 last night followed 1.285 million on Monday night and 1.073 million on Tuesday night, which was still acceptable. But 874,000 isn’t and Neighbours at 6.30pm with 936,000 people had more viewers. And when a program can’t hold viewers from a well-positioned lead in like Neighbours, which is rating very strongly this week, the time for the axe is brought closer.

The program has lost more than 30% of its original night’s audience in three nights. The 7pm Project was better supported by 16 to 39 females than males. Among 18 to 49s (Ten’s other main target demographic) support was tepid, although women were stronger viewers than men. If it survives it will be because of the program’s appeal to prized female viewers. It’s not that the program is a flop, it isn’t, but it’s not nasty enough at times, nor is it sharp enough.

It needs to be a compulsory stop for its target audiences who know they will see or hear something sharp and on the pace about the news, even if it might be considered poor taste by older viewers. It needs something each night that people will talk about, or moan about on talkback the next morning. There’s still a feeling of FM cool about it, which it doesn’t need.

Apart from that, comment about Australia’s Perfect Couples and World’s Strictest Parents can be summed up by the ratings: 798,000 for the Nine product and 12.54 million for the Seven program: both at 7.30pm. One won’t last. Guess!

Tonight: Seven has The Amazing Race back at 7.30pm (which is Getaway for competitive people), Double Take at 8.30pm and then at 9pm, TV Burp. After the way The 7pm Project‘s figures have dropped, there’s probably a nervous gulp or three at Seven. But watch and give both a chance

The ABC’s highlights are a doco at 8.30pm on surveillance and the return of Q&A at 9.30pm. Now tonight’s line up doesn’t thrill me, but I’ll watch because it’s not the Footy Shows. Getaway is Nine’s highlight tonight. Ten also has Rush at 8.30pm.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports