The Winners: This Is Your Life was reborn on Nine last night with Eddie McGuire telling us how wonderful all the stars are. The audience for Nine’s highlights of the Oscars from 9.40pm (to around 12.30am) died, averaging just 505,000. The live broadcast from 12.30pm averaged 353,000. The half hour red carpet with Today hosts Karl Stefanovic and a slightly stunned looking Lisa Wilkinson, averaged 155,000. The Oscars highlights were beaten by Good News Week (554,000) at 9.30pm to 10.30pm on Ten. Seven also won the major demos as well, thanks mostly to My Kitchen Rules, plus Bones.

  1. My Kitchen Rules (Seven) (7.30pm) — 1.461 million
  2. Today Tonight (Seven) (6.30pm) — 1.323 million
  3. Seven News (6pm) — 1.286 million
  4. Nine News (6pm) — 1.098 million
  5. Bones (Seven) (8.30pm) — 1.080 million
  6. Home and Away (Seven) (7pm) — 1.050 million
  7. This Is Your Life (Nine) (8.30pm) — 1.043 million
  8. ABC News (7pm) — 1.035 million

The Losers: Nine (except for This Is Your Life). A Current Affair (971,000), the Two and A Half Men repeat at 7pm, just 614,000. Ten, viewers vanished, again. Glee was the only success. House was promoted to 8.30pm by Ten last night, but just 685,000. It finished just in front of Four Corners and Media Watch on the ABC.

News & CA: Seven News lost Melbourne, won the rest, Today Tonight beat ACA everywhere. 6PM With George Negus managed to do OK.

The big story for mainstream news and current affairs continues to be the loss of viewers by ACA. It’s a bigger story than the sad figures for Ten from 6pm to 7pm. TT beat ACA by 361,000 viewers last night. The losses were big in Perth (as usual), but solid elsewhere. And for no apparent reason (the two programs were not that different last night).

  1. Today Tonight (Seven) (6.30pm) — 1.323 million
  2. Seven News (6pm) — 1.286 million
  3. Nine News (6pm) — 1.098 million
  4. ABC News (7pm) — 1.035 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) (6.30pm) — 971,000
  6. The 7.30 Report (ABC) (7.30pm) — 819,000
  7. Australian Story (ABC) (8pm) — 790,000
  8. Ten News (5pm) — 785,000
  9. The 7PM Project (Ten) (7pm) — 755,000
  10. Four Corners (ABC) (8.30pm) — 632,000
  11. Media Watch (ABC) (9.15pm) — 611,000
  12. Q&A (ABC) (9.35pm) — 567,000
  13. 6PM With George Negus (Ten) (6pm) — 425,000
  14. Ten Evening News (6.30pm) — 324,000
  15. Lateline (ABC) (10.30pm) — 268,000
  16. SBS News (6.30pm) — 201,000
  17. Late News/Sports Tonight (Ten) (11pm) — 199,000
  18. SBS News (9.30pm) — 135,000
  19. Lateline Business (ABC, 11.05 -11.35 pm) — 114,000

In the morning:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) (7am) — 368,000
  2. Today (Nine) (7am) — 297,000

The Stats:

  • FTA: Seven (3 channels) won with a share of 33.5%, from Nine (3) on 27.0%, Ten (3) was on 18.3%, the ABC (4) finished with 16.1% and SBS was on 5.2%. Seven leads the week with 31.0% from Nine on 27.6% and Ten with 19.6%.
  • Main Channel: Seven won with 24.4% from Nine on 21.5%, Ten was on 14.2%, ABC 1, 13.0% and SBS ONE, 4.1%. Seven leads the week with 22.8% from Nine on 21.3% and Ten on 15.9%.
  • Digital: 7TWO won with 5.1%, from 7Mate on 4.0%, Eleven, with 3.5%, Gem was on 3.2%, GO finished with 2.3%, ABC 2, 1.8%, SBS TWO, 1.1%, News 24, 0.8%, ONE was on 0.6% and ABC 3, 0.4%. That gave an FTA prime time share last night of 22.8% for the 10 channels. 7TWO leads the week with 4.2% from 7Mate on 4.0% and GO on 3.5%.
  • Pay TV: Seven (3 channels) won with a share of 28.1% from Nine (3) on 22.6%, Ten (3) was on 15.3%, the ABC (4) and Pay TV (100 plus channels) finished with 13.5% each and SBS (2) was on 4.4%. The 15 FTA channels had a total share of TV viewing last night in prime time of 86.5%, made up of 19.2% watching the digitals and 67.3% watching the five main channels.
  • Regional: Prime/7Qld won with a share of 32.2% (3 channels), from WIN/NBN (3) on 29.0%, the ABC (4) finished with 17.6%, SC Ten (3) was on 16.4% and SBS (2), 4.8%. Prime/7Qld won the main channels with 23.5% from WIN/NBN on 22.8%. 7TWO averaged 5.5%, Eleven, 4.0% and GO, 3.4%. The 10 digitals had an FTA prime time share last night of 24.1%. Prime/7Qld leads the week on 31.0% from WIN/NBN on 29.0%.

Major Markets: Seven won everywhere, overall and in the main channels. Ten was very weak in Sydney where the ABC beat it into third overall and in the main channels. The ABC also tipped Ten out of third in the main channels in Brisbane. 7TWO won everywhere bar Melbourne which was won by 7Mate. Seven leads the week in every market from Nine and Ten.

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

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Seven, very easily, Ten was weak. This Is Your Life stopped Nine joining Ten’s rout. But it is a bit rich when a program that first aired in Australia over 30 years ago can save a network’s night.

Employment update: Denise Eriksen is now the head of Current Affairs at ABC News and Current Affairs.

TONIGHT: Packed to the Rafters and Conviction Kitchen on Seven. End of night and week. NCIS new and a repeat on Ten. Ten also has the fading Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation. The ABC has another in its excellent series After the Deluge, this one looking at Grantham and the Lockyer Valley which were devastated on January 10 by the Big Flood. The ABC also has Foreign Correspondent. SBS has Insight. Nine has pushed Top Gear back to a 8.30pm start.

Nine has dropped a repeat of The Big Bang Theory at 8pm after the fresh episode of the same program at 7.30pm. Nine is treating The Big Bang Theory as the new ratings go to instead of the fading Two and a Half Men.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports