Seven News again topped the metro markets, thanks mostly to a big win in Perth. But the 105,000 national margin was still substantial. Seven News and the 6.30pm second bit of the 6 to 7pm broadcast, should beat Nine’s News and its 6.30pm bit in the first week of summer ratings.That is a substantial turnaround from ratings proper. And again, forget that it is the supposed weak summer ratings period. The 6 to 7pm battle between Seven and Nine is a fight to the finish and has always been a slugfest.

Seven News lost Sydney and Brisbane,but won Melbourne, again (this is getting to be a bit of a long lost winning habit in this market for Seven). Seven had a win in Adelaide, but beat Nine in Perth by a massive 125,000 viewers – more than doubling the 75,000 Nine News attracted last night.

As is now usual, the combined share of the digital channels and yes, including the solid figures for 9Life (2.8% last night) and SBS Food (1.5% last night), was just over 34%, much greater than any of the main channels for the networks, especially Seven and Nine. The top five metro programs were all news and current affairs, which again tells us how uninviting the main channel offerings were last night. The most watched program was Home and Away with 1.263 million, boosted by 500,000 regional viewers, a huge audience for this time of year. Seven won Total People and the main channels in the metros from Nine. In the regions it was Seven first and daylight second and third and a bit more.  Seven’s total share was more than 12 points, its main channel share was a solid five points.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (28.1%)
  2. Nine (25.6%)
  3. Ten (19.2%)
  4. ABC (18.4%)
  5. SBS (8.6%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (18.0%)
  2. Nine (16.0%)
  3. ABC (12.3%)
  4. Ten (12.2%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (5.9%)
  2. GO (4.7%)
  3. 7mate (4.2%)
  4. Eleven (3.9%)
  5. ABC 2 (3.4%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.263 million
  2. Seven News — 1.188 million
  3. Nine News — 1.175 million
  4. ABC News — 978,000
  5. 7.30 (ABC) — 990,000
  6. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 964,000
  7. QI (ABC) — 931,000
  8. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.132 million
  9. Air Rescue (Seven) — 887,000
  10. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 826,000

Losers: Sigh, us again. No wonder the dreary Christmas special of QI stood out — it at least had a bit of light and shade, colour and movement.Metro news and current affairs:

  1.  Seven News —948,000
  2.  Seven News/Today Tonight — 917,000
  3.  Nine News — 843,000
  4. Nine News (6.30pm) — 801,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 779,000
  6. 7pm ABC News – 710,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 699,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 486,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 464,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 370,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 335,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 311,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  98,000 + 51,000 on News 24) — 149,000
  4. Mornings (Nine) — 117,000
  5. Studio 10 (Ten) — 68,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8  (2.7%)
  2. LifeStyle  (2.1%)
  3. TVHITS  (2.0%)
  4. Disney Jr, UKTV, (1.9%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Arrow (Fox8) – 104,000
  2. Grand Designs Australia (LifeStyle) — 92,000
  3. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 83,000
  4. The Simpsons (Fox8) — 64,000
  5. Yup Yups (Disney Jr) — 61,000

*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.