A win for Nine and a better night for Ten. It did see another dip in the audience for MasterChef Australia, and that drip drip loss of viewers is starting to look worrying for the faded ratings giant. It started with 1.153 million national viewers, so has shed nearly 90,000 viewers this week, so far. I know this is the winnowing section of the early rounds, but it is still failing to connect with the audience and grow it, or at least preserve the original base. Still, Ten had that, plus good figures for The Project at 7pm and the final episode of this series of Puberty Blues gave Ten another good third in metro and regional markets after Nine and Seven. Also, it’s staple program Law and Order SVU was renewed by NBC for a 16th season.

The Voice (2.510 million national/ 1.795 million metro/ 716,000 regional viewers) has now lost just under 400,000 viewers since its return episode. It produced a possible winner last night in Fely Irvine, but she was a former professional singer with Hi-5 (a kids show that was on Nine. She stopped singing with them on Christmas Eve 2011). So there’s a solid body of teeny girl fans who would know her. Unlike many of the others auditioning who are amateurs, or who have limited professional experience, she has considerable experience. Still, she was a knockout last night, and a great back story to boot. Another competitor from last night was on Ten’s Australian Idol a decade ago. The talent pool is much smaller than we think. I wonder how many people double up by trying out for The Voice and then going to The X Factor (which is auditioning now for Seven)?

Nine’s Mom, (1.774 million national/ 1.276 million metro / 498,000 regional viewers) followed The Voice on Nine and was boosted by its lead-in for the first time since debuting a couple of weeks ago. Mom is from the same producers as The Big Bang Theory and Two And A Half Men. Seven’s House Rules (1.527 million national/ 965,000 metro/ 562,000 regional viewers) has remained stable this week at around 1.5 million national viewers, once The Voice and MasterChef Australia started. That should encourage Seven, which is using House Rules as a blocker against The Voice and MasterChef. ABC1’s Chris Lilley program Jonah From Tonga managed 553,000 national / 414,000 metro / 140,000 regional viewers. A good example of making too many trips to the same ideas well. You drown viewers after a while and they can’t be bothered.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (33.8%)
  2. Seven (27.8%)
  3. Ten (19.2%)
  4. ABC (14.5%)
  5. SBS (4.7%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (27.1%)
  2. Seven (19.1%)
  3. Ten (13.5%)
  4. ABC 1  (9.6%)
  5. SBS ONE (3.6%)

Top digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (4.6%)
  2. 7mate (4.1%)
  3. GO (3.5%)
  4. Gem, Eleven (3.2%)
  5. ABC2 (2.5%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. The Voice (Nine) – 2.510 million
  2. Nine News — 1.821 million
  3. Mom (Nine) — 1.774 million
  4. Seven News — 1.720 million
  5. House Rules (Seven) — 1.527 million
  6. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.453 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.221 million
  8. ABC News — 1.176 million
  9. Nine News 6.30 — 1.158 million
  10. The Blacklist (Seven) — 1.151 million

Top metro programs:

  1. The Voice (Network) – 1.795 million
  2. Mom (Nine) — 1.277 million
  3. Nine News — 1.249 million
  4. Seven News — 1.219 million
  5. Nine News 6.30  — 1.158 million
  6. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.078 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.001 million

Losers: Nine’s Today, another morning yesterday under 300,000 metro viewers. Seven’s Sunrise has remained solidly above 300,000 (with 377,000 yesterday), while Today’s audience keeps bouncing around. It seems as though the audience can’t decide about Today this year. Metro markets are where the battle happens in the breakfast timeslots (Forget Wake Up on Ten — it’s irrelevant) because Sunrise has a lock on regional markets. The ABC’s News Breakfast has lifted its audience this year — is it stealing viewers from Today and not Sunrise?Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News — 1.249 million
  2. Nine News (6pm) – 1.147 million
  3. Seven News — 1.219 million
  4. Nine News 6.30  — 1.158 million
  5. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.078 million
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 1.001 million
  7. ABC News — 813,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 684,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News – 659,000
  10. 7.30 (ABC1) — 593,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 377,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 285,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 169,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC1  69,000 + 42,000 on News 24) — 111,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 104,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 38,000
  7. Wake Up (Ten) — 33,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. TVHITS! (2.8%)
  2. Fox 8  (2.4%)
  3. LifeStyle  (2.2%)
  4. Discovery Channel (1.8%)
  5. SKY News (1.7%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: 360  (FX) – 78,000
  2. The Simpsons (Fox 8) – 71,000
  3. Family Guy (Fox 8) – 62,000
  4. Phil Spencer Secret Agent Down Under (LifeStyle), Family Guy (Fox 8) – 61,000
  5. NCIS  (TVHITS!) – 60,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2013. The data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM. (All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight all people.) and network reports.