An easy win to Nine in metro markets as the The Voice Kids Australia stood out. Seven had a split night thanks to the Carlton-Collingwood AFL game which went live on Seven’s main channel in Melbourne and Adelaide, but not in Western Australia, Queensland or New South Wales, where where it was on 7mate.

The Voice Kids Australia had 2.296 million national/ 1.665 million metro/ 631,000 regional viewers. MasterChef had 1.306 million national/ 952,000 metro/ 354,000 regional viewers (and failed to get to a million metro viewers with House Rules absent last night). Nine’s House Husbands also did sort of OK with 1.243 million metro/ 914,000 metro/ 329,000 regional viewers. It too failed to reach the million viewers mark in the metros with Seven all but gifting the night in the metros with the AFL in Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. Seven’s A Place To Call Home got to 999,000 without Melbourne or Adelaide. They had double episodes last week.

Collingwood v a weak Carlton was yawn material  up to and including the game. Just 731,000 people watched on Seven and 7mate nationally and a further 287,000 on Fox Footy. That’s just over a million nationally, which doesn’t get anything more than a weak hurrah. According to media reports this morning Collingwood boss Eddie McGuire is upset at the low attendance  last night (and so he should be), where just 40,936 people watched. It was the lowest MCG crowd between the two clubs since 37,813 attended the 1921 semi-final, according to Fairfax. A further 10,000 people who had reserved seats didn’t front, the reports said, so the money goes to Collingwood. But I reckon based on last night’s weak audience figures, Eddie might have a silent partner in the Seven Network. The AFL must be very arrogant if they reckon after football on Friday night, Saturday arvo and night and Sunday arvo, its fan base would cop another game on a night traditionally given to watching anything but sport. It is the biggest viewing night of the week because there is no football on and the mix of news/current affairs/ reality and drama programming (and occasionally comedy) is pitched at the widest possible audience, not just AFL desperates. Football on a Sunday night is not the tradition in Australia as it is in the US with Sunday Night football on NBC the most watched program on US television outside of the annual Super Bowl.

Scheduling the Sunday night game meant the AFL all but forced Seven to hand the night to Nine in the metros. In the regions, Seven got up in a close one from Nine, with the ABC in front of Ten as MasterChef Australia again bombed in the bush. Seven had a big win last week in metro and regional markets, thanks to House Rules.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (32.3%)
  2. Nine (27.8%)
  3. Ten (20.2%)
  4. ABC (16.1%)
  5. SBS (3.6%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (27.0%)
  2. Nine (21.0%)
  3. Ten (13.6%)
  4. ABC1  (12.2%)
  5. SBS ONE (2.8%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. ONE (3.9%)
  2. 7TWO (3.8%)
  3. 7mate, GO (3.0%)
  4. Eleven (2.8%)
  5. Gem (2.3%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. The Voice Kids  (Nine) – 2.296 million
  2. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 2.1 17 million
  3. Seven News — 2.010 million
  4. Nine News – 1.882 million
  5. Grand Designs (ABC1) — 1.376 million
  6. MasterChef Australia (Ten) — 1.306 million
  7. House Husbands (Nine) — 1.243 million
  8. ABC News — 1.207 million
  9. Anh Does Iceland (Seven) — 1.196 million
  10. The Checkout: Snack Size (ABC1) — 1.135 million

Top metro programs:

  1. The Voice Kids  (Nine) – 1.665 million
  2. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 1.553 million
  3. Seven News — 1.394 million

Losers: Seven’s normal audience base in metro and regional markets were the losers last night. The overwhelming majority doesn’t like AFL, especially on a Sunday night.Metro news and current affairs:

  1.  60 Minutes (Nine) — 1.553 million
  2. Seven News — 1.394 million
  3. ABC News  – 801 million
  4. Sunday Night (Seven) — 651,000
  5. Ten Eyewitness News — 514,000
  6. SBS World News — 221,000

Morning TV:

  1. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) – 320,000
  2. Insiders (ABC1, 196,000, 79,000 on News 24) — 275,000
  3. Weekend Today (Nine) – 264,000
  4. Landline (ABC1) — 258,000
  5. Financial Review Sunday  (Nine) — 162,000
  6. The Bolt Report repeat (Ten) — 143,000
  7. Offsiders (ABC1) –130,000
  8. The Bolt Report (Ten) — 118,000

Top pay TV channels:

  1. Fox Footy  (9.2%)
  2. Foxtel Movies Premiere, Fox 8, Fox Sports 1 (2.1%)
  3. TVHITS! (2.0%)
  4. LifeStyle, Fox Sports 3  (1.6%)
  5. Foxtel Movies Action, Cartoon Network (1.4%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: Adelaide v Port Adelaide (Fox Footy) – 337,000
  2. AFL: Collingwood v Carlton (Fox Footy) – 287,000
  3. AFL: Footscray v Melbourne (Fox Footy) — 188,000
  4. NRL:Auckland v Penrith (Fox Sports 1) –154,000
  5. The Simpsons (Fox 8) – 71,000

*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.