The Winners: Seven News was tops with 1.217 million (with a better night in Sydney). Today Tonight was second with 1.147 million. Cougar Town at 8.30pm for Seven averaged 1.089 million and Nine News, 1.030 million. So You Think You Can Dance on Ten, 914,000 for an hour from 8pm. The Biggest Loser, 828,000 last night for Ten. Law and Order SVU on Ten at 9pm, 902,000. How I Met Your Mother on Seven at 9pm, 890,000. A Current Affair, 958,000.

The Losers: Getaway, 833,000. I know it’s early in the year and it rates better in winter, but last night there was nothing on against it. The White Room on Seven at 7.30pm, 678,000. Goner. Medium on Ten at 10pm, 597,000. Loser, but Ten has nothing much else for that late evening slot. Hot Seat, 521,000, for Nine. Deal on Seven in the same 5.30pm slot, 512,000. Both weak.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally and in every market bar Melbourne where Nine won. Today Tonight won everywhere, with the usual big margins in Adelaide and Perth boosting narrower wins in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Ten News, 721,000, the late News/Sports Tonight, 298,000. The 7pm ABC News, 872,000. The 7.30 Report, 665,000. Lateline, 206,000, Lateline Business, 113,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 160,000. 134,000 for the late edition. 7am Today, 364,000, 7am Sunrise, 354,000.

The Stats:

FTA: Nine won with a combined overnight All People 6pm to midnight share of 30.5%, from Seven with 26.8%, Ten with 22.8%, the ABC with 14.9% and SBS with 4.8%. Nine now leads the week 30.6% to 28.9% for Seven. Nine won Sydney (where Seven was again noticeably weak), Melbourne and Brisbane. Seven won Adelaide and Perth.

Digitally: GO won with 4.0%, m7 TWO was second with 3.0%, ABC 2, 1.5%, ONE, 1.4%, ABC 3, 0.6%, SBS ONE, 0.5%. a high 11% all up for the digital channels on a poor night on the main channels. GO leads the week with a share of 3.3% to 7TWO’s 2.7%.

Main Channels: Nine won with 26.8% from Seven on 23.9%, Ten with 21.4%, the ABC, 12.9% and SBS, 4.3%. Nine leads the week, 27.3% to 26.2% for Seven.

Pay TV: With Pay TV included, the shares were: Nine on 24.4%, Seven with 21.4%, Ten on 18.2%, Pay TV with 17.7%, the ABC with 11.9% and SBS with 3.9%. FTA’s 11 channels had an 82.3% share, Pay TV’s 100 plus channels, 17.7%, which was its highest share of the week so far on the worst night of viewing for the FTAs. In fact adding the 11% for the FTA digital channels to Pay TV’s share, we had 28.7% of the available audience last night not watching the main channels with their expensive programming.

Regionally: It was a win for Nine with WIN/NBN on a combined overnight All people’s share of 31.0%, from prime/7Qld with 25.2%, Southern Cross (Ten) with 21.3%, the ABC with 16.5% and SBS with 5.9%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Seven lost again to Nine, which won because of the Games’ 848,000 people outweighed anything else for the rest of the night. Seven News picked up in Sydney, but Nine won Melbourne. TT won Sydney and Melbourne. Cougar Town lost 200,000 viewers. It is a sad program. Tragic night, really, sad. They should be paying us to watch some of this tripe instead of getting a $250 million handout.

Nine’s average daily audience for the Games is now 506,000 after five days, compared with 580,000 after the first three days. It was 740,000 for the 2006 Games on Seven and 980,000 for the 2002 Games, also on Seven (and the closest to the current games because they were in Salt Lake City, which is only an hour or so in front of Vancouver). The audiences for the games might be down, but no one is turning on to other programs, it seems they are not watching.

Seven said it won primetime on the main channels in 16-39s, 18-49s and 25-54s. Nine won All People.

TONIGHT: Cricket on Nine, the games. Silent Witness on the ABC (against my better judgment). The Biggest Loser on Ten. Better Homes and Gardens on Seven. Poor.

SATURDAY: Games (from 7.30pm, so be warned); the repeat of Blue Murder on the ABC at 9.15pm; movies on Ten and Seven (private equity bean counter programming). Weak.

SUNDAY: Twenty20 cricket and games on Nine. Sunday Night on Seven and Bones. The Good Wife and Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation on Ten; the second part of the Monty Python story on the ABC at 8.30pm. Better.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports