A week night as news and current affairs are the most watched

The Winners: A weak night. By 7pm viewers had had enough and went their own ways, judging by the slide in viewing numbers from then on. Home and Away with 953,000 easily won the commercial battle at 7pm.

Seven News (6pm) — 1.377 million
Today Tonight (Seven) (6.30pm) — 1.266 million
Nine News (6pm) — 1.116 million
ABC News (7pm) — 1.056 million
A Current Affair (Nine) (6.30pm) — 1.030 million

The Losers: Viewers generally last night, apart from those who watched the ABC. It at least tried to give viewers something to watch. Nine’s Getaway, 858,000 at 7.30pm. Struggling, but second behind Ten.

News & CA: Seven news won all five metro markets (Sydney narrowly, by 3000 viewers) and won nationally. TT lost Melbourne to ACA, but won strongly elsewhere. In Sydney, ACA fell to 288,000 viewers, while TT rose 10,000 to 351,000 from the Seven News figure. The 7pm Project was a bit weak for Ten last night, easily beaten by Home and Away. The 7.30 Report had more viewers half an hour later, although from very different demos. That rarely happened before the Games holiday.

Seven News (6pm) — 1.377 million
Today Tonight (Seven) (6.30pm) — 1.266 million
Nine News (6pm) — 1.116 million
ABC News (7pm) — 1.056 million
A Current Affair (Nine) (6.30pm) — 1.030 million
Ten News (5pm) — 758,000
The 7.30 Report (ABC) (7.30pm) — 757,000
The 7pm Project (Ten) (7pm) –729,000
Lateline (ABC) (10.25pm) — 345,000
Late News/Sports Tonight (Ten) (10.30pm) — 299,000
SBS News (9.30pm) — 194,000
Lateline Business (ABC) (11pm) — 179,000
SBS News (6.30pm) — 167,000

In the morning:

Sunrise (Seven) (7am) — 419,000
Today (Nine) (7am) — 339,000

The Stats:

FTA: Seven (3 channels) narrowly with 28.4% from Nine on 27.9% (3), Ten with 18.6% (2), the ABC also had 18.6% (4 channels) and SBS, 6.4% (2). Seven leads the week with 31.0% from Nine on 27.5% and Ten with 20.1%.
Main Channel: Seven also won with 22.4%, from Nine on 21.5%, Ten with 17.7%, ABC 1, 15.9% and SBS ONE, 5.8%. Seven leads the week with 25.4%, from Nine on 21.9% and Ten with 19.4%.
Digital: GO won with 4.4%, from 7TWO on 3.9%, Gem was third with 2.1%, from 7MATE on 2.0%, ABC 2 was on 1.9%, ONE, 0.9%, SBS TWO, 0.7%, News 24, 0.5% and ABC 3, 0.4%. That’s a total FTA share of 16.8% for the nine channels. GO leads the week with 4.4%, from 7TWO on 3.2% and 7Mate with 2.5%. The digital channels had an FTA share of 13.6% in Sydney up to 20.5% in Perth and 20.4% in Adelaide.
Pay TV: Seven won with a share of 23.0% (3 channels), from Nine with 22.6% (3), Pay TV and its 100 plus channels, 16.2%, the ABC (4) on 15.1%, Ten (2), 15.0% and SBS on 5.2%. That left the 14 FTA channels to share 83.8%, with the nine digital channels with a total of 13.5% and the five main channels, 70.3%. Foxtel’s share ranged from a high of 18.8% in Sydney (usual) and 11.5% low in Adelaide (usual, but higher than most nights). Foxtel had a share of 16.5% in Brisbane.
Regional: WIN/NBN won with a share of 30.5%, from Prime/7Qld with 26.3%, SC Ten on 20.7%, the ABC, 15.8% and SBS on 6.7%. WIN/NBN won the main channels with 23.4%, from Prime/7Qld on 20.8%. GO won the digitals with 5.0%, from 7TWO and 7Mate on 2.7% each. The nine digital channels had an FTA share of 18.8%. Prime/7Qld still lead the week with 30.8% from WIN/NBN on 30.4%.

Major Markets: Foxtel did well, while the digital channels were OK.

Sydney: Seven won from Nine and the ABC in both the main channels and overall. GO won the digitals from 7TWO and 7Mate. Seven leads the week with Nine second and Ten third.
Melbourne: Nine won overall, from Seven and the ABC, while Nine won then main channels from Seven and Ten. 7TWO won the digitals from GO and Gem. Seven leads the week from Nine and Ten.
Brisbane: It was Nine from Seven and Ten overall, and Seven from Nine and Ten in the main channels. GO won the digitals, from 7TWO and 7Mate. Seven leads the week from Nine and Ten.
Adelaide: Seven won overall and in the main channels, with Nine and Ten second and third respectively. 7TWO won the digitals, from GO and Gem. Seven leads the week from Nine and Ten.
Perth: Seven won overall from Nine and Ten, and won the main channels, with Ten second and Nine third. GO won the digitals from 7TWO and 7Mate. Seven leads the week from Nine and Ten.

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

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Thankfully we now have viewing choice in the Free To Air TV world. Apart from the ABC last night, it was a dry old night, with Beauty and The Geek starring on Seven.

The ABC did well with the new drama Rake (900,000 and second behind Beauty and The Geek on Seven). But the ABC’s documentary, I, Spry: The Rise and Fall of A Master Spy, was a bit loose, and nowhere near the standard of the Bogle Chandler doco of a couple of years ago. Viewers gave it the thumbs down, only 545,000 people watched on average.

But when taken with the Murdoch interview revelations in The Australian Financial Review this morning, it’s clear that Australia was a very different world in the 1950’s and 60’s and into the 70’s. The Murdoch revelations are worth a doco on their own. Gerry Henderson will have to recast whole sections of his life, as will other commentators on the right and the left.

TONIGHT: There is One Day International cricket featuring Sri Lanka and the easy beats Australia in a rainy Sydney. That’s on Nine. Seven has Better Homes and Gardens, and then a repeat of a repeat of a repeat of Raiders of the Lost Ark, the first Indian Jones movie from 1981. Ten has Junior MasterChef and The 7pm Project, and repeats. The ABC has the increasingly strange Luther, and starts Identity, a new UK police drama that might be interesting.

Saturday: Movies on Seven, ignore, Rugby League Test on Nine (check your guides outside Sydney and Brisbane). Then Nine has Hey Hey it’s Saturday. Ten has movies: ignore. The ABC has New Tricks and new Spooks. The Ricky Gervais Show on SBS and Comedy School afterwards at 9.45pm might be worth a look on a good night to be out and about. Australia plays Wales early Sunday morning on Ten in Rugby Union.

Sunday: Well, Another One Day International cricket match featuring the easy beats and Sri Lanka — this time from Brisbane, so 60 Minutes has another night off. Seven has Sunday Night and Bones. The ABC, a repeat of Poirot: Evil Under the Sun. Ten has a fresh Modern Family, Junior MasterChef, but then runs the ARIA Awards from 8.30pm, which will send viewers to bed. SBS has Dateline at 8.30pm.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports