There will be no rejoicing in the executive suites of Nine, Seven or Ten today at the way their flagship programs performed in prime time last night. Seven’s The X Factor did best of all, but it was well down on 2013 figures. Nine’s The Block Glasshouse is now in its boring early series part, while Ten’s second series of The Bachelor started last night to less than stunning acclaim from the target audience. In fact, for the first time in months, not one of the trio of high profile “reality” programs could attract a million or more metro viewers —  the usual yardstick of success for a program as costly as these (usually $500,000 to and over $1 million an episode). Is this a sign voters are over this genre, or just these particular programs?

The X Factor had 1.534 million national/ 914,000 metro/ 620,000 regional viewers; The Block had 1.291 million national/ 814,000 metro/ 477,000 regional viewers and The Bachelor had 888,000 national/ 692,000 metro/ 196,000 regional viewers. And if it hadn’t been for the Glasgow Games on ONE and the main channel, Ten would had another very weak night, with only Offspring keeping the night afloat. Instead Ten won overall, but Seven won the main channels fairly easily.

The real star for Ten was of course Nina and her emotional confusions on Offspring (1.129 million national/ 846,000 metro/ 283,000 regional viewers). The cultural and moral differences between that high class romantic drama and the dross that The Bachelor is in reality, was stunning. Both are of course fictional, but one is well acted and believable (and enjoyable), while the other is dangerous to your mental wellbeing if you watch and take it at all seriously.

Network channel share:

  1. Ten (29.6%)
  2. Seven (28.6%)
  3. Nine (23.7%)
  4. ABC (14.0%)
  5. SBS (4.0%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (19.4%)
  2. Nine (16.7%)
  3. Ten (16.6%)
  4. ABC  (9.9%)
  5. SBS ONE (3.2%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. ONE (9.4%)
  2. 7TWO (5.8%)
  3. GO (3.8%)
  4. 7TWO (3.4%)
  5. Gem (3.2%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Nine News — 1.675 million
  2. The X Factor (Seven) — 1.534 million
  3. Seven News — 1.474 million
  4. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.415 million
  5. The Block Glasshouse (Nine) — 1.291 million
  6. ABC News – 1.142 million
  7. Offspring (Ten) — 1.129 million
  8. A Current Affair (Nine) – 1.122 million
  9. Nine News 6.30 — 1.088 million
  10. Criminal Minds (Seven) — 1.048 million

Top metro programs:

  1. Nine News — 1.152 million
  2. Seven News — 1.122 million
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 1.088 million
  4. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.023 million

Losers: Nine, Ten and Seven — their three high profile reality programs had a night to forget.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News — 1.152 million
  2. Seven News — 1.122 million
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 1.087 million
  4. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.023 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 948,000
  6. ABC News – 792,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC1) — 712,000
  8. Ten Eyewitness News — 608,000
  9. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 604,000
  10. The Project 630 (Ten) — 460,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 352,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 282,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC  86,000 + 56,000 on News 24) — 142,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 137,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 103,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 70,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8  (2.8%)
  2. TVHITS! (2.2%)
  3. LifeStyle,UKTV (1.7%)
  4. Discovery (1.5%)
  5. Fox Classics (1.4%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. The Recruit (Fox 8) – 85,000
  2. Family Guy (Fox 8) – 72,000
  3. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 68,000
  4. NCIS (TVHITS!) – 64,000
  5. NCIS (TVHITS!) – 57,000

*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.