Seven won easily in metro and regional markets. Nine was second, Ten, third and the ABC fourth, but in the regions, the ABC’s main channel slipped into third ahead of Ten. Nine did well in the demos with The Block, but 800 Words and The X Factor again topped the lists, with 2.017 million and 1.807 million national viewers respectively — first and second nationally, in the regions and the metros. In fact the performance of both programs in the regions was much stronger than in the metros. 800 Words averaged 825,000 regional viewers and The X Factor had 715,000 — proportionately much stronger performances than in the metros. Nine’s The Block had 1.175 million national viewers solid, with 858,000 metro and just 316,000 regional viewers. It just doesn’t rate in regional markets compared to Seven’s pair.

But the most interesting development was with the 5.30pm part of the new program The Chase Australia which again easily beat Hot Seat on Nine, 642,000 to 543,000. That saw Nine News end the night with less than one million metro viewers for a second night in a row — the start of a trend or two lucky nights in a row for Seven? Seven News scored a rare win in Sydney with 309,000 to 307,000, in Melbourne Nine won easily, 328,000 to 282,000, while in Brisbane, Nine won narrowly, 184,000 to 181,000.

Seven won easily in Adelaide and Perth. What the 5.30pm bit of The Chase is doing is providing more available viewers at 6pm for Seven News than previously, thereby helping Seven News narrow the gap on Nine in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane (with the odd win) and maintaining the gaps in Adelaide and Perth. It is the first time in well over a year that Nine News had less than a million metro viewers on consecutive nights in metro markets. It may all go to water tonight or tomorrow night, but The Chase is working for Seven at the moment. Million Dollar Minute did the same for a while for Seven, but viewers tired on it, and Nine grew the gap over Seven.

And 7.30 saw its national audience dip to 1.015 million from 1.329 million on Monday night as its metro audience down to 691,000 from 970,000. The reason was the absence of Malcolm Turnbull  who was interviewed on Monday night. That 364,000 fewer national viewers was more than a quarter of 7.30’s Monday night audience, a substantial interest in the new PM — one that wasn’t there for Tony Abbott.

The breakfast battle is closer: Sunrise yesterday had 318,000 metro viewers, Today, 310,000. News Breakfast on the ABC and News 24 had another solid metro audience of 174,000, and Studio 10 on Ten continues to slowly improve with another 70,000 audience (72,000 yesterday).

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (32.3%)
  2. Nine (26.3%)
  3. Ten (18.1%)
  4. ABC (16.7%)
  5. SBS (6.6%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (24.9%)
  2. Nine (18.5%)
  3. Ten (11.9%)
  4. ABC (11.7%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.7%)

Top digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (4.2%)
  2. GO, Gem (3.9%)
  3. 7mate, ONE (3.2%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. 800 Words (Seven) — 2.017 million
  2. The X Factor (Seven) — 1.807 million
  3. Nine News — 1.394 million
  4. Seven News  – 1.346 million
  5. Home And Away (Seven) — 1.301 million
  6. A Current Affair (Nine)  — 1.215 million
  7. ABC News — 1.191 million
  8. The Block (Nine) — 1.175 million
  9. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.0067 million
  10. Nine News 6.30 — 1.031 million

Top metro programs:

  1. 800 Words (Seven) — 1.192 million
  2. The X Factor (Seven) — 1.092 million
  3. Seven News — 1.069 million
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 1.031 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.028 million
  6. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.012 million

Losers: Again there was a fair amount of TV to watch last night. Me? After dipping in to the regulars such as 7.30, The Block and The X Factor, I settled back for another great up of Foyle’s War on 7TWO (sadly missed because of odd working hours years ago).Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.069 million
  2. Nine News 6.30 — 1.031 million
  3. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.028 million
  4. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.012 million
  5. Nine News — 994,000
  6. ABC News – 815,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 691,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 616,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 529,000
  10. Foreign Correspondent (ABC) — 482,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 318,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 310,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC 1, 119,000 + 55,000 on News 24)
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 150,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 122,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 72,000

Top pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8  (2.7%)
  2. UKTV (2.0%)
  3. Fox Footy , Nick Jr(1.8%)
  4. LifeStyle (1.7%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: All Australian Team  (Fox Footy) – 123,000
  2. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 97,000
  3. Paw Patrol (Nick Jr) – 83,000
  4. AFL: On The Couch (Fox Footy) – 73,000
  5. Dora and Friends (Nick Jr) – 73,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2015. 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.