Glenn Dyer’s TV ratings: a dismal night all round

The 6-7pm news broadcasts dominated viewing lists last night. That just about sums up the paucity of choice for viewers, apart from The Checkout and Call The Midwife on ABC1 and MasterChef on Ten. MasterChef had 1.333 million national viewers, Call The Midwife had 1.256 million and The Checkout 1.123 million. Nine’s Footy Show did well with 1.128 million national viewers, with near season highs in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Nine won the weak night, starting with the 6pm news, up in Sydney by 75,000 and in Melbourne by 111,000. Seven won Brisbane by 39,000. But in the morning, Sunrise beat Today badly — 361,000 to 271,000 in metro markets. The 90,000 margin for Sunrise was one of the largest in recent months. Just as Seven is under great pressure at 6pm, Nine’s Today seems to be falling behind Sunrise — it started the week with a couple of mornings with more than 300,000 viewers and then fell under that level on Wednesday and Thursday. Something is wrong.

Seven’s House Rules continues to close the gap on The Voice. House Rules audience is up 20% so far this year, with gains in all demos. The Voice’s ratings are down 8% (but still substantial). The worry is the fall of 15% in the size of its audience in the 16 to 39 demo, the core age group for the program. No Delta Goodrem? House Rules’ audience is up 16% in this demo (and in many others).

Network channel share:

1. Nine (28.8%)
2. Seven (25.8%)
3. Ten (21.1%)
4. ABC (18.3%)
5. SBS (5.9%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (20.9%)
2. Seven (17.7%)
3. Ten (14.7%)
4. ABC 1  (13.2%)
5. SBS ONE (4.7%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. GO (5.2%)
2. 7mate (4.2%)
3. 7TWO (4.1%)
4. Eleven (3.5%)
5. ABC2 (3.0%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Nine News — 1.641 million
2. Seven News — 1.534 million
3. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.385 million
4. MasterChef Australia  (Ten) – 1.333 million
5. Call The Midwife (ABC1) — 1.256 million
6. The Big Bang Theory repeat episode 2 (Nine) — 1.219 million
7. The Footy Show (Nine) — 1.128 million
8. The Big Bang Theory repeat episode 1 (Nine) — 1.124 million
9. The Checkout (ABC1) — 1.123 million
10. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.097 million

Top metro programs:

1. Seven News — 1.149 million
2. Nine News — 1.131 million
3. Seven News / Today Tonight — 1.039 million
4. Nine News 6.30 — 1.026 million

Losers: TV viewers generally — except for MasterChef Australia on Ten and The Checkout and Call The Midwife on ABC1.Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.149 million
2. Nine News — 1.131 million
3. Seven News / Today Tonight — 1.039 million
4. Nine News 6.30 — 1.026 million
5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 918,000
6. ABC  News — 680,000
7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 655,000
8. 7.30 (ABC1) – 640,000
9. Ten Eyewitness News — 620,000
10. The Project 6.30 (Ten) — 449,000

Morning TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) – 361,000
2. Today (Nine) – 271,000
3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 172,000
4. News Breakfast (ABC1  80,000 + 49,000 on News 24) — 129,000
5. Mornings (Nine) — 105,000
6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 38,000

Top five pay TV channels:

1. Fox 8  (3.0%)
2. TV1  (2.3%)
3. LifeStyle  (2.0%)
4. UKTV (1.8%)
5. Fox Classics (1.7%)

Top five pay TV programs:

1. River Cottage Australia  (LifeStyle) – 132,000
2. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 124,000
3. Futurama (Fox 8) – 72,000
4. Family Guy (Fox 8) – 66,000
5. Restoration Man  (LifeStyle) – 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.