The Glenn Dyer breakdown: Seven won what was an unmemorable night with Cosentino The Grand Illusionist at 7.30pm. It grabbed Sydney, but not Melbourne where the love affair with Big Brother, The Farmer Wants A Wife (life must be really boring for a lot of female viewers in Melbourne) and the News and ACA kept Nine in front of Seven for another night. Cosentino was the most-watched metro program with more than 1.2 million viewers, and the most-watched regionally and nationally with a total of more than 1.9 million people.

Gruen Planet on ABC 1 (more than 900,00 metro and over 1.3 million national viewers) with new TV network senior executive Russel Howcroft, who continued his long job application, which has now been successful. Looking at last night’s ep, the format definitely needs a shake-up at the end of this year.

Ten’s Puberty Blues was OK with 696,000 metro and 963,000 national viewers. The core audience again supported a program that is still uneven offering. It’s going a bit sudsy.

And The Farmer Wants a Wife on Nine (867,000 metro and 1.260 million national viewers) reminded us why this program is struggling. It’s tired and same old with a disjointed and disinterested narration.

Finally, I know there’s something Cosentino The Grand Illusionist can’t do and that’s transform Ten’s line-up and give it some ratings oomph. The network tried to do something by dumping I Will Survive from the 7.30 timeslot last night on the quiet and running back to back eps of Last Man Standing (which is even worse). The two eps averaged 343,000 and 3330,000 metro viewers, which is about what I Will Survive was getting, so no improvement there.

Ten put out a flyer yesterday detailing all the new and old series it’s fast-tracking from the US in coming weeks. That’s a mark of Ten’s desperation, not generosity towards viewers in these days of bit torrents and other ways of seeing the latest hot shows from the US.

Apart from impressionable TV and technology writers (fast-tracking isn’t a new idea, it’s been around as a hot topic now for three years), does anyone seriously think that Ten would be fast-tracking the dozen or so US programs if it wasn’t in the ratings black hole it now finds itself in? If you think otherwise, you’re fooling yourself. Ten has to quickly lift viewer numbers and ratings otherwise the 2013 ad rate and revenue share negotiations starting next month will see it fall further behind Seven and Nine (which has its own problems with an important meeting today in Sydney). Ten will probably tell the ad-buying groups that it will be in a better position to detail its 2013 schedule in November. Heaven knows what it will be trying to sell apart from The Biggest Loser and MasterChef.

Astute and knowledgable readers might note that Seven, which is not in ratings trouble, is not fast-tracking Downton Abbey’s third series — which started last Sunday night in the UK — because it’s a ratings winner, but it is fast-tracking the new series of The Amazing Race from the US because it’s a moderate performer here. The local version, which Seven makes, does better and Seven has it down for 2013. Running the US series would risk weakening the viewer interest in the local series. After all they are virtually the same program with only the accents changed to protect the innocent. Seven is fast-tracking the steady Once Upon a Time (which debuted earlier in the year and that appeals to young downloaders) and is also fast-tracking the dying Grey’s Anatomy.

Tonight: the Footy Shows on Nine and Ten should hold some interest with the AFL and NRL finals getting to the pointy end of the season. Better Homes and Gardens in AFL states tonight asks, is a Magpie tastier than a Swan, or is it possible for a Hawk to be made into a pie without using a Crow? The ABC has Rake (not a rugby hooker), Ten has not much at all. Inspector Morse continues to pull rank on his old offsider, Lewis at 8.30 or so on 7TWO. Nine also has Big Brother and the Confidential version, which is a load of marketing rubbish. SBS has the usual line-up of foodie programs, which should really be offering recipes for the AFL and NRL season (Sea Eagle Pie a la Storm anyone? Rabbit con Carne e stufato).

The top 10 national programs (metro & regional combined):

  1. Cosentino The Great Illusionist (Seven)
  2. Seven News — 1.787 million.
  3. Nine News — 1.666 million.
  4. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.562 million.
  5. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.463 million.
  6. Criminal Minds (Seven) — 1.415 million.
  7. 7pm ABC 1 News — 1.357 million.
  8. Big Brother (Nine) — 1.355 million.
  9. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.309 million.
  10. Gruen Planet (ABC 1) — 1.307 million.

The metro winners:

  1. Cosentino The Great Illusionist (Seven, 7.30pm) — 1.285 million.
  2. Seven 6pm News — 1.206 million.
  3. Nine 6pm News — 1.112 million.
  4. Today Tonight (Seven, 6.30pm) — 1.051 million.
  5. A Current Affair (Nine, 6.30pm) — 1.026 million.
  6. 7pm ABC 1 News — 1.016 million.

The losers: Ten, again, sadly.Metro news & CA: A better night for Seven News and Today Tonight. The News “only” lost Sydney and Melbourne to Nine and won the rest. TT won Sydney, just (1000 people), lost Melbourne 87,000, won Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

  1. Seven 6pm News — 1.206 million.
  2. Nine 6pm News — 1.112 million.
  3. Today Tonight (Seven, 6.30pm) — 1.051 million.
  4. A Current Affair (Nine, 6.30pm) — 1.026 million.
  5. 7pm ABC 1 News — 1.016 million.
  6. 7.30 (ABC 1, 7.30pm) — 758,000.
  7. Ten News At Five (Ten, 5pm) — 681,000.
  8. The Project (Ten, 6.30pm) — 629,000.
  9. The Project (Ten, 6pm) — 454,000.
  10. Lateline (ABC 1, 10.35pm) — 221,000.
  11. World News Australia (SBS ONE, 6.30pm) — 163,000.
  12. The Business (ABC 1, 11.10pm, rpt) — 112,000.
  13. Ten Late News (Ten, 10.30pm) — 96.000.
  14. World News Late (SBS ONE, 10.30pm) — 63,000.
  15. The Drum (News 24, 10pm, rpt) — 35,000.

In the morning: Today beat Sunrise for the second morning this week. Ten’s Breakfast woke up, or some viewers realised it is still on air.

  1. Today (Nine, 7am) — 341,000.
  2. Sunrise (Seven, 7am) — 325,000.
  3. The Morning Show (Seven, 9am) — 180,000.
  4. Mornings (Nine, 9am) — 128,000.
  5. News Breakfast (ABC 1, 7am) –40,000 + 31,000 on News 24.*
  6. Breakfast (Ten, 7am) — 46,000.

*On News 24 simulcast

Metro FTA: Seven (three channels) won with a share of 32.1% from Nine (three) on 27.7%, the ABC (four) was on 17.5%, Ten (three) was on 17.1% and SBS (two) ended on 5.6%. Seven now leads the week with 33.1% from Nine on 27.8%, the ABC on 18.4% and Ten on 15.7%.

Main channels: Seven won with 23.1% from Nine on 21.8%, ABC 1 was on 13.6%, Ten ended on 10.5% and SBS ONE was on 4.7%. Seven leads the week with 25.1% from Nine on 21.5%, ABC 1 on 14.1% and Ten on 10.4%.

Metro digital: 7TWO won with 4.9% from 7mate on 4.1%, Eleven was on 3.6%, ONE was on 3.1%, GO, 3.4%, Gem, 2.5%, ABC 2, 2.2%, ABC 3, 1.0%, SBS TWO, 0.9% and News 24 ended with 0.85. The 10 digital channels had an FTA share of 25.5%. 7TWO leads the week with 4.1%, from 7mate on 3.9% and GO on 3.4%.

Metro including pay TV: Seven (three channels) won with a share of 26.3% from Nine (three) on 22.6%, the ABC (four) was on 14.3%, Ten (three) was on 14.0% and SBS (two) ended on 4.5%. The 15 FTA channels had a total share last night of 84.0%, the lowest of the week so far. The 10 digitals channels share was 21.4% and the five main channels share was a low 62.6%. The 200-plus channels of Foxtel have pay TV the best figure for the week of 16.0% share last night. The Twenty20 cricket between Australia and Ireland was the most-watched program on the night.

The top five pay TV channels were:

  1. Fox 8 — 3.0%.
  2. Fox Sports 3 — 2.8%.
  3. LifeStyle — 2.5%.
  4. TV1 — 2.2%.
  5. Discovery — 1.9%.

The five most-watched programs on pay TV were:

  1. ICC Twenty20 Cricket (Fox Sports 3) — 120,000.
  2. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 76,000.
  3. Revolution (F8) — 75,000.
  4. The Simpsons (F8) — 75,000.
  5. Location, Location, Location Australia (LifeStyle) — 66,000.

Regional: Prime/7Qld (three channels) won with a share of 36.8% from WIN/NBN (three) on 27.9%, SC Ten (three) was on 15.3%, the ABC (four) was on 14.7% and SBS (two) ended on 5.2%. Prime/7Qld won the main channels with 24.9%, from WIN/NBN on 21.5%, ABC 1 was on 10.4% and SC Ten ended with 8.5%. 7TWO won the digitals with a 6.9% share, from 7mate on 5.1%. The 10 digital channels had an FTA share last night of 30.0%. Prime/7Qld leads the week with 37.6%, from WIN/NBN on 26.1%, ABC 1 is on 17.0% and SC Ten is on 14.3%.

The five most-watched programs in regional markets were:

  1. Cosentino The Grand Illusionist — 691,000.
  2. Seven News — 554,000.
  3. Nine News — 582,000.
  4. ACA — 537,000.
  5. Home and Away — 499,000.

Major metro markets: Seven won overall and the main channels everywhere except Melbourne where Nine won thanks to bogan TV in the shape of Big Brother being very popular. Ten slipped into third overall in Brisbane and Perth, thanks to solid performances by its digital channels, Eleven and ONE.  The ABC and ABC 1 were third everywhere else overall and in the main channels. 7TWO won the digital channels in Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide and shared Brisbane with 7mate. Eleven won Perth. Seven leads the week everywhere bar Melbourne where Nine leads. The ABC is third everywhere.

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

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports.