The Winners: Sea Patrol returned to Nine at 8.30pm and averaged 1.235 million people. That was a good return and helped by Seven being so weak. Today Tonight was second with 1.232 million and Seven News was 3rd with 1.223 million. The 7pm ABC News averaged 1.131 million and The Biggest Loser on Ten at 7.30pm averaged 1.080 million. Getaway at 7.30pm averaged 1.030 million for Nine and 7th nationally. A Current Affair was 8th and the last program with a million or more viewers with 1.028 million.

The Losers: Seven last night. In Sydney, the NRL program The Matty Johns Show hardly set the night on fire, but was better than the week before. The Bounce in Melbourne faded again. Everything else after that was down: Cougar Town at 8.30pm, 708,000, How I Met Your Mother at 9pm, 704,000. Both do well on 16 to 39s and 18 to 49s, but one is rubbish, the other not too bad.

News & CA: Seven News lost Sydney and Melbourne rather noticeably, but won Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. TT won everywhere and nationally. ACA‘s weakness was a big surprise, it dropped sharply in Sydney and less so in Melbourne after Nine News had done so well. The 7pm ABC News in Sydney with 323,000 viewers, beat Seven (307,000) into second behind Nine with 349,000. It was the same result in Melbourne where the ABC News averaged 339,000, Seven, 337,000 and Nine, 367,000. Lateline averaged 205,000, Lateline Business, 131,000. Ten News averaged 808,000 and the late News/Sports Tonight, 286,000. SBS News at 6.30 pm, 155,000, the late edition, 168,000. 7am Sunrise, 291,000, 7am Today, 331,000.

The Stats:

FTA: Nine won with a share of 32.9% from Seven with 24.1%, Ten with 20.9%, the ABC, 17.3% and SBS with 4.9%. Nine won everywhere and leads the week, 32.7% to 29.1% for Seven.

Main Channel: Nine won with a share of 27.6%, from Seven with 21.0%, Ten with 19.6%, ABC 1 with 15.2% and SBS ONE with 4.6%. Nine won all five metro centres and leads the week, 29.4%, to Seven’s 26.4%.

Digital: GO won with 5.2%, from 7TWO with 3.1%, ABC 2 with 1.6%, ONE with 1.2%, ABC 3 with 0.5% and SBS Two with 0.3%. The six FTA digital channels had a total share of 11.7%. GO leads the week with 3.4% from 7TWO with 2.7%. Digital viewing in Adelaide and Perth were again high, Perth in particular where the six channels had nearly 15% of the audience last night.

Pay TV: Nine won with a share of 27.1%, from Seven with 19.9%, Ten with 17.2%, Pay TV with 15.3%, the ABC with 14.3% and SBS with 4.0%. The 11 FTA channels had a total share of 84.7%, pay TV’s 100 plus channels, 15.3%.

Regional: WIN/NBN won with a share of 32.1%, from Prime/7Qld with 23.4%, SC Ten, 19.6%, the ABC, 15.2% and SBS, 7.1%. WIN/NBN won the main channels with 28.6% to Prime/7QLd with 21.8%, GO won the digitals with 3.5%, from ABC 2 with 1.8% and 7TWO with 1.6%. WIN/NBN leads the week with 32.6% , with Prime/7Qld on 27.8%.

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

Glenn Dyer’s comments: There will be some long faces around the Seven Network this morning. Rival Nine taught Seven a ratings 2010 lesson. Keep it simple, put on a solid Australian drama in Sea Patrol, 1.235 million viewers, win the night.

Possibly the only thing Seven could be pleased with was the fact that it’s Matty Johns Show in Sydney and Brisbane had more viewers (but the totals were down) than Nine’s program, The NRL Footy Show. The Matty Johns Show program had 249,000 viewers in Sydney and 214,000 in Brisbane. Nine’s The NRL Footy Show had 191,000 and 107,000. So a win to Seven, but the margin was a bit thinner.

For The Bounce, the AFL footy show of Seven’s in southern markets, it’s looking like the ump will have to do something, perhaps change the ball. The Bounce is deflating. It averaged 249,000 in Melbourne, Nine’s Footy Show, 335,000 at 9.30pm.

The 7.30 Report beat The Bounce in Melbourne, in Sydney and nationally with Kerry O’Brien’s interview with US President Barack Obama, 938,000 to 754,000 for Seven’s The Bounce. The Biggest Loser beat it as well. Seven finished 4th at 7.30pm.

Nine won all markets and in Melbourne, Seven finished third on the combined overnight and main channels. Ten was second and its offerings last night, with the except of The Biggest Loser, were weak.

Kerry O’Brien did well with Barack Obama, but the real story between 7pm and 8pm is the continued advance of Ten’s The 7pm Project: 800,000 viewers on a low viewing night was more viewers than on Tuesday and Wednesday nights when more people watch the box. It is now hurting Seven’s Home and Away which is still ahead, but the gap is closing.

TONIGHT: NRL on Nine in the north; AFL on Seven in the south. Lewis at 8.30pm on Seven in the north will be worth a look. More crime from the UK on the ABC, Waking the Dead. The Biggest Loser and The 7pm Project on Ten.

SATURDAY: Blue Murder on the ABC at 9.20pm. AFL on Ten in southern markets early, northern markets late. Nothing elsewhere. NRL on Foxtel/Austar.

SUNDAY: The morning chats, with an overload of guff about health. Underbelly on Nine. Only an hour. The fading V is on at 9.30pm. Ten has The Biggest Loser final at 8.30pm for two hours, after an hour at 6.30pm split by Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation. Seven has Sunday Night and Bones. SBS has Dateline. The ABC starts the new Doctor Who with the new Doctor Who at 7.30pm.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports