The Winners: The first episode of Underbelly: The Golden Mile averaged 2.237 million people at 8.30pm for Nine, with the 9.30pm second with 2.071 million. Seven News averaged 1.745 million in 3rd. 60 Minutes averaged 1.442 million at 7.30pm. Nine News, 1.422 million. Seven’s The Force at 8pm averaged 1.319 million people and Sunday Night was 7th at 6.30 pm for Seven with 1.309 million people. 8th was Border Security on Seven at 7.30pm with 1.274 million (and was marked as a repeat in some guides, but not in the ratings results this morning). Nine’s Domestic Blitz averaged 1.184 million at 6.30pm, Seven’s Bones was 9th with 1.172 million people at 8.30pm and Ten’s 7.30pm episode of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation averaged 1.106 million people. Ten’s The Biggest Loser averaged 882,000 at 6.30pm, Castle on Seven at 9.30pm, 831,000, The Good Wife on Ten at 8.30pm, 809,000.

The Losers: Nothing really last night. The Underbelly juggernaut was simply overwhelming. Even Domestic Blitz averaged 1.18 million at 6.30pm and was easily beaten by Seven’s Sunday night with 1.309 million. Tess of the D’Urbervilles on the ABC at 8.30pm, 419,000.

News & CA: Seven News won well with over 1.7 million viewers because of the timing of the end of the Fremantle/Cats AFL game in Perth yesterday evening. It finished just before the News in Perth which averaged a huge 310,000 for Seven. Seven News was also strong in Melbourne with 576,000. Nine News was boosted in Sydney by the NRL game as the lead in. So Seven lost Sydney, won Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. The 7pm ABC News averaged 786,000. Ten News, 560,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 156,000, Dateline, 118,000. In the mornings, Weekend Sunrise averaged 408,000, Landline on the ABC at Noon, 248,000, Weekend Today on Nine, 238,000, Insiders, 226,000, Offsiders, 155,000 at 10.30pm, Inside Business at 10am, 154,000. Meet The Press on Ten was pre-empted by the Masters Golf.

The Stats:

FTA: Nine won with a share of 40.6% from Seven with 27.7%, Ten with 18.1%, the ABC with 10.6% and SBS, 3.0%. Nine won four of the five metro markets. Seven won Perth.

Main Channel: Nine won this one with 35.2% from Seven with 25.2%, Ten with 16.9%, ABC 1 with 9.8% and SBS ONE with 2.7%. Nine won four metro markets, Seven won Perth.

Digital: GO won with 5.4%, from 7TWO with 2.5%, ONE with 1.2%, ABC 2 with 0.5%, SBS TWO with 0.3% and ABC 3 with 0.2%. the six FTA digital channels totalled 10.1%.

Pay TV: Nine won with 34.0% from Seven with 23.2%, Ten with 15.2%, Pay TV, 13.8%, the ABC, 8.9% and SBS with 2.5%. The 11 FTA channels had a total share of 86.2%, Pay TV’s 100-plus channels, 13.8%.

Regional: A big win to WIN/NBN with 38.2% from prime/7Qld with 27.3%, SC Ten with 17.7%, the ABC with 12.9% and SBS with 4.3%. WIN NBN won the main channels with 33.9% from Prime/7Qld with 25.5%. GO won the digital channels with 4.3% from 7TWO with 1.8%.

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

Glenn Dyer’s comments: The weekend: Nine won All People last week, and the digital channels, Seven won the main channels. In regional areas WIN/NBN won the main channels, won the big battle and GO won the digitals. But Easter is now over and last night the battle resumed.

Last night: Underbelly returned for its third series. Less nudity, solid writing, good characters, but there’s also a sense of unreality. The first two series were based on known bad people and naughty folk, especially the Moran family in Melbourne and Mr Asia. The third is a combination of bent cops and someone never convicted of a crime, nightclub identity John Ibrahim. The program glamorises his life.

But with 2.23 million people watching the first episode and 2 million the 9.30pm second episode. Viewers liked it, especially in Sydney where Nine had a 44% share against 37% in Melbourne. But the audiences in Melbourne were higher for the two episodes than Sydney, 762,000 vs. 732,000 for episode 1 and 689,000 for episode two and 672,000 in Sydney.

In regional areas episode 1 was watched by 720,200 people and episode 2 by 648, 525. That made for 2.94 million for the first episode and 2.68 million for the second, it was a big hit. Overall there was turnoff of 260,000 people between episodes, which wasn’t bad.

Ten was squeezed out last night, as was the ABC and SBS. Including yesterday morning, the Masters Golf and Tiger Woods didn’t rate on Ten: 112,000 on Friday morning, 121,000 on Sunday morning on the Ten main channel, 44,000 on ONE. The Today and Sunrise programs on Seven and Nine were easily winners (in fact Sunrise was an easy winner on both days over the weekend).

Finally, the cross promotion between the ABC Radio networks and ABC TV (especially tonight’s Australian Story on the two thieves nick-named Dumb and Dumber) and Four Corners (a report on the pollution in the Hunter Valley), is getting to discomforting levels. Dumb and Dumber’s self justifications are not news, nor is advance tips/ grabs from a Four Corners report. Both are slotted into news programs and into radio chat for nothing but promotional purposes. I know the commercial networks do it, but that is no justification for the ABC to go down that route.

TONIGHT: Two and a Half Men on Nine, Four Corners, Australian Story and Q&A on the ABC. The Biggest Loser on Ten. Seven had Desperate Housewives and a nice program at 7.30pm on the surprising story of the baby elephant at Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports