Glenn Dyer’s TV ratings: ABC wins on quality

Last night was the debut of The Weakly, sorry, The Weekly: an ABC cross between any of the US news/ comedy shows (John Stewart or Bill Maher), Good News Week (on Ten), Mad As Hell and The Project. A forced debut last night at 8.30pm, so let’s give a few more weeks of its 20 week season to settle down and find its voice. But viewers turned on nationally from QI at 8pm and stayed, which is promising. QI had 843,000 viewers nationally, The Weekly had 1.038 million, and they then left ABC when the latest Agony Aunts and Uncles series started  at 9pm — it averaged 782,000 viewers nationally. That will please the ABC. Charlie Pickering should stop being forced. He should be confident enough to come across as a clever, articulate host and not need to cloak his sharpness with a bit of bumbling and apology. So go for it Charlie, grab the big brass ring, make the program yours and not a clone of the other one. Be more ruthless on the skits by Kitty Flanagan and Tom Gleeson — you are the star.

Elsewhere, Seven’s night easily in metro and especially in regional markets where daylight was second and third. The Block did well for Nine — third nationally with more than 1.5 million viewers, still almost 700,000 behind The Beast (AKA My Kitchen Rules). On pay TV last night, another night of flogging endless repeats of  The Simpsons, which paid off for the flagship Fox8 channel which won the night, again. The Simpsons have been repeated so many times on Fox 8 and Ten that viewers must be word perfect for every single word of dialogue and nuance.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (34.3%)
2. Nine (26.8%)
3. ABC (16.7%)
4. Ten (16.6%)
5. SBS (5.6%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (26.6%)
2. Nine (20.2%)
3. ABC 1 (12.5%)
4. Ten (11.1%)
5. SBS ONE (4.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. GO, 7TWO (4.0%)
2. 7mate (3.7%)
3. Eleven (3.5%)
4. ABC2 (2.8%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. My Kitchen Rules (Seven) –  2.204 million
2. Nine News — 1.703 million
3. The Block (Nine) — 1.520 million
4. Seven News — 1.456 million
5. ABC News — 1.369 million
6. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.367 million
7. Criminal Minds (Seven) — 1.294 million
8. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.177 million
9. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.081 million
10. Nine News 6.30 — 1.073 million

Top metro programs:

1. My Kitchen Rules (Seven) – 1.521 million
2. Nine News — 1.166 million
3. Seven News — 1.137 million
4. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.081 million
5. Nine News 6.30 — 1.073 million
6. The Block (Nine) — 1.061 million

Losers: Parky’s Favourite Australians on Ten at 7.30 pm: 709,000 national viewers, 485,000 in the metros and 223,000 in the regionals. Nostalgia freaks. Viewers recognised this for what it is, a cheap bit of ratings spakfilla. Wonderland on Ten at 8.30 pm — 527,000 national viewers. Dross. The Bold and The Beautiful had more viewers at 4.30pm on Ten with 553,000. Now that’s what I call a real soap.Metro news and current affairs:

1.  Nine News — 1.166 million
2.  Seven News — 1.137 million
3.  Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.081 million
4.  Nine News 6.30 — 1.073 million
5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 989,000
6. ABC News — 910,000
7. Ten Eyewitness News — 607,000
8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 598,000
9. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 472,000
10. 7.30 (ABC) — 455,000 *
    *7.30 was pre-empted in Sydney for an hour long news broadcast covering the NSW floods and storm damage

Morning TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) – 378,000
2. Today (Nine) – 319,000
3. Mornings (Nine) — 147,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 140,000
5. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  97,000 + 42,000 on News 24) — 139,000
6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 53,ooo

Top pay TV channels:

1. Fox8  (5.1%)
2. LifeStyle  (2.5%)
3. Arena, UKTV (1.7%)
4. TVHITS  (1.6%)

Top five pay TV programs:

1. Selling Houses Australia (LifeStyle) – 161,000
2. The Flash (Fox8) – 182,000
3. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 94,000
4. The Simpsons (Fox8) —  92,000
5. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 89,000

*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.