The Winners: Seven News was tops with 1.398 million people, with Today Tonight second with 1.331 million and Nine News third with 1.138 million and A Current Affair 4th with 1.082 million. Nine’s repeat of The Mentalist at 8.30pm averaged 1.074 million people and 6th was the 7pm ABC News with 1.070 million viewers. Getaway was 7th for Nine at 7.30pm with 1.037 million and The Biggest Loser averaged 1.030 million for Ten for half an hour from 7.30pm (its third million plus audience in a row). Home and Away averaged 1.024 million at 7pm for Seven, in front of Nine’s repeat of Two and a Half Men with 1.006 million. So You Think You Can Dance program on Ten at 8pm averaged 878,000. The 7pm Project, 798,000 for Ten, which is again solid.

The Losers: Well, Seven again. Cougar Town, not good in anyway, 757,000 viewers. How I Met Your Mother straight after at 9pm (776,000). It’s a far better program from Cougar Town; the content is more amusing and not an insult. Ten’s repeat of Law And Order SVU (680,000) at 8.30pm.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally as did Today Tonight. I don’t know if it’s the second week of holidays and or the ending of daylight saving, but the wobble seen in Seven News’ Sydney performance in February and for part of last month, seems to have gone. Strong, 400,000 plus figures and good margins over Nine News. And the same can be said for Seven’s Sunrise (391,000 yesterday morning, over Nine’s Today, 303,000) The gap seems to have widened again in favour of Sunrise for the time being. Ten News averaged 786,000 last night and 233,000 for the late News/Sports Tonight. Nine’s Nightline averaged 257,000 in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. The 7.30 Report averaged 788,000. Lateline, 239,000, Lateline Business, 106,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 165,000, 100,000 for the late edition.

The Stats:

FTA: For the third night in a row Nine won easily with Seven not in the hunt. Nine finished with a share of 31.9% from Seven with 26.0%, Ten with 20.0%, the ABC with 17.0% and SBS with 5.2%. Nine leads the week with a share of 29.0%, from Seven with 26.7%. Nine won all five metro markets.

Main Channel: Nine won here as well with a share of 26.7% (more than Seven’s combined share), from Seven with 22.7%, Ten with 18.9%, ABC 1 with 14.9% and SBS One on 4.6%. Seven won Sydney, Nine won the other four metro markets. Nine leads the week 25.2%, from Seven with 23.7%.

Digital: GO won the Digital channels with 5.2%, from 7TWO with 3.3%, ABC 2 with 1.7% ONE with 1.1%, SBS TWO with 0.6% and ABC 3 with 0.4%. The six FTA digital channels had a total share of 12.3%. In Adelaide and Perth the six FTA digital channels had total shares of more than 17% for both markets. GO leads the week 3.8% from 7TWO with a 3.0% share.

Pay TV: Nine had a share of 26.0%, Seven 21.2%, Ten, 16.3%, Pay TV, 16.1%, the ABC, 13.9% and SBS, 4.2%. The 11 FTA channels had a total share of 83.9%, Pay TV’s 100 plus channels averaged 16.1%.

Regional: A big win to WIN/NBN with 31.2%, from Prime/7Qld with 25.4%, the ABC with 18.4%, SC Ten, 17.4% and SBS, 7.6%. WIN/NBN won the main channels with a share of 27.7% from Prime/7Qld with 23.8%. The digital channels were won by GO with 3.5%, ABC 2, 1.7% and 7TWO with 1.6%. WIN/NBN lead the week from Prime/7Qld.

(All figures on the basis of combined overnight All People 6pm to midnight)

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Last night was the first night the Seven and Nine footy shows were on the same night without any one off events, such as Easter, to muddy the figures. Nine’s program won the night with more viewers: 814,000 to 768,000. That was due to a 363,000 audience for the AFL show on Nine in Melbourne. Seven’s AFL footy show called The Bounce didn’t exactly set the field, 250,000 in Melbourne.

But in Sydney and Brisbane Seven again destroyed the NRL program on Nine. The Matty Jones Show saw another slip in its figures to 267,000 from 294,000 in Sydney last week. The Brisbane audience was 144,000. But the Nine program was watched by just 135,000 in Sydney and 102,000 in Brisbane for 90 minutes from 9.30pm. The Sydney figure is appalling. It can’t go on.

By the way, the Matty Johns show has a character called Don Kirk, a gardening expert. After a rough start, last night’s skit was very, very subversive. To those in the TV industry with memory, last night’s skit recalled quite a few stories and tales. The beard on Don Kirk is the clue.

Italian Food Safari on SBS at 7.30pm, a very tasty 395,000 for a clever food program. Costa’s Garden Odyssey, 286,000, loved his work on the backyard and the raised gardens. Beats anything Don Burke did. And the programs were the only things of interest on TV last night.

Here’s a tip to all you trainspotters about ratings. How to recognise that it has been a poor night the night before? When Seven News, Today Tonight, Nine News and A Current affair top the most watched list in any combination, as they did last night. It means viewers found nothing to really grab their attention after 7pm.

TONIGHT: Football on Nine and Seven. Movies in markets where the NRL and AFL is not shown live. The final episodes for ABC series, Whitechapel and Place of Execution. The Biggest Loser on Ten, and a repeat of NCIS. Numb3rs returns at 10pm on Ten. That is almost ratings purgatory.

SATURDAY: AFL on Ten, NRL on Foxtel. Nothing on Seven or Nine. The ABC has fresh Blue Murder at 9.20pm. Seven trots out Four Weddings and a Funeral, again.

SUNDAY: Ratings start, so the morning chats on the ABC return after their Easter break. The poor, overworked dears. Fresh episodes of Sunday Night, The Force and Bones and Castle. Fresh episodes of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, The Good Wife and House on Ten (after The Biggest Loser at 6.30pm). Fresh episodes of Domestic Blitz, 60 Minutes at 7.30pm and Underbelly 3 returns to Nine at 8.30pm for two hours of fiction (despite what the promos might claim). The ABC has a bodice ripper in yet another remake of Tess of the D’Urbervilles

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports