The Winners: Ten finally got a prime time hit from Oprah, on her last full day in Australia. About time. Seven and its Sunrise program, have been making hay from the visit. Seven has claimed the loveable American billionaire as their own.

  1. Oprah! The Interview (Ten) (7.30pm) — 1.204 million
  2. Seven News (6pm) — 1.193 million
  3. Nine News (6pm) — 1.124 million
  4. The Oprah Winfrey Show (Ten) (8pm) — 1.088 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) (6.30pm) — 1.008 million

The Losers: Again, where to start…

News & CA: Today Tonight was the odd one out last night as viewers rationed their news and current affairs consumption. TT fell as a result. The 7pm Project on Ten had more viewers in Melbourne (295,000) than did TT on Seven half an hour earlier (258,000). That’s not strictly comparable, but it’s always nice when you can claim bragging rights, even in summer. Seven News lost Melbourne to Nine, 326,000 to 381,000. Seven won the rest (Sydney by just 2,000).

In the morning Sunrise again topped the 400,000 mark and beat Today. Sunrise won Sydney, Today won Melbourne.

  1. Seven News (6pm) — 1.193 million
  2. Nine News (6pm) — 1.124 million
  3. A Current Affair (Nine) (6.30pm) — 1.008 million
  4. ABC News (7pm) — 967,000
  5. Today Tonight (Seven) (6.30pm) — 955,000
  6. The 7pm Project (Ten) (7pm) — 839,000
  7. Ten News (5pm) — 763,000
  8. The 7.30 Report (ABC) (7.30pm) — 735,000
  9. Late News/Sports Tonight (Ten) (10.30pm) — 276,000
  10. ABC News Late (10.25pm) — 253,000
  11. SBS News (6.30pm) — 170,000
  12. SBS News (9.30pm) — 129,000

In the morning:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) (7am) — 414,000
  2. Today (Nine) (7am) — 332,000

The Stats:

  • FTA: Nine (3 channels) won with 27.5% from Seven (3) on 26.0%, Ten was on 23.8% (2), the ABC, (4), 15.3% and SBS (2), 7.5%. Seven leads the week with 29.8% from Nine on 27.5% and Ten on 19.2%.
  • Main Channel: Ten won with 23.1%, from Nine on 21.7%, Seven was on 17.6%, ABC 1, 12.6% and SBS ONE, 5.8%. Seven leads the week with 21.1%, from Nine with 19.9% and Ten on 18.4%.
  • Digital: 7TWO won with 5.3%, from Gem on 3.4%, 7Mate was on 3.1%, GO was on 2.3%, SBS TWO finished with 1.7%, ABC 2, 1.3% and ONE, ABC 3 and News 24 all ended with 0.7% each. That made a total FTA share for the nine channels of 18.8%. The nine channels had FTA shares ranging from a low of 18.5% in Sydney, to a high of 23.5% in Adelaide and more than 18% elsewhere. 7TWO leads the week with 5.4%, from GO on 4.0% and Gem on 3.7%.
  • Pay TV: Nine (3 channels) won with a share of 22.1%, from Seven (3), on 20.9%, Ten was on 19.1% for its two channels, Pay TV (100-plus channels) finished with 16.6%, the ABC (4 channels), 12.3% and SBS (2), 6.0%. That left the 14 FTA channels to share 83.4% of prime time viewing last night. That was made up of 15.4% for the nine digitals and 68.0% for the five main channels, the highest of the week so far. Foxtel’s shares ranged from the usual peak in Sydney; last night it was 20.1%, which was good enough for second overall in market. The low was 11.6% in Adelaide (as usual). The rest of the markets had shares above 15%.

Major Markets: A very mixed night. Nine won overall in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Seven won overall in Adelaide and Perth. In the main channels, Nine and Ten tied Sydney, Ten won Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, Seven won Perth. 7TWO won the digitals in each of the five metro markets, 7Mate and Gem, plus GO shared the minors. Seven leads the week everywhere bar Melbourne, where Nine is in front. The ABC is in third place in Perth.

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

Glenn Dyer’s comments: The Oprah tour has finished. Good bye, it’s back to sleep for the rest of summer. Wake me up if Australia manages to win a session in any of the remaining three Ashes Tests. Nine certainly hopes they do.

TONIGHT: Rex in Rome. Forget the rest, just tune in to this charming howler, and imagine yourself being there. Note though that this episode is very summery. It has been very cold and wintery in Rome, especially for PM Berlusconi.

Avoid The Trophy Room on the ABC at 8.30pm. It no longer has the virtue of being new and untried. Last week its debut was very trying.

Elsewhere, Medical Emergency/Under the Hammer on Seven. Raising Hope/Modern Family/NCIS LA on Ten. Nine has more of the same including Cold Case. The 7pm Project on Ten, The 7.30 Report on the ABC, or go out.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports