A closer night, though Ten’s Masterchef Australia failed to make much of a mark (a fraction over a million national viewers) and was well topped by Nine’s The Voice (1.56 million). Seven’s House Rules’ reveal delivered a solid 1.33 million national viewers — but only 799,000 in the metros (still ahead of Masterchef with 767,000).

And that was the tale of the night. The latest episode in Grandchester on the ABC at 8.30 pm (902,000) shows the Brits do nostalgia better than we do. It was a bittersweet story combing racism, the luddites of the Church of England, normal human needs and emotions and the stultifying post-war mores of Britain. And the repeat of Inspector Banks was a reminder why the Brits also do contemporary crime shows better than anyone else. In the morning Insiders, with 513 000 national viewers, again underlined the futility of federal treasurers giving  their pre-budget set piece interview to Channel Nine’s lower rating Weekend Today Show with 369,000 nationally (even if the interviewer was the master himself, Laurie Oakes).

The A League final last night (won by Sydney FC) was watched by 275,000 on Fox Sports and 253,000 on delay on SBS Viceland — that’s reasonable audience of 528,000 all up. The post match presentation  had a sharp jump in viewers to 460,000 on Fox Sports and 349,000 on SBS Viceland.  That was 809,000 viewers for the post match heroics which was due to the tense (two great saves by the Sydney goalie) penalty shoot out, and ran into the time slot for the post game show.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven, Nine (28.9%)
  2. Ten (17.5%)
  3. ABC (14.6%)
  4. SBS (10.1%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (21.1%)
  2. Seven (20.0%)
  3. Ten (12.1%)
  4. ABC (10.4%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.2%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. SBSViceland (4.2%)
  2. 7mate (3.9%)
  3. 7TWO (3.1%)
  4. Eleen (2.8%)
  5. ONE (2.7%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News  — 1.85 million
  2. The Voice (Nine) — 1.56 million
  3. Nine/NBN News — 1.55 million
  4. House Rules (Seven) — 1.33 million
  5. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 1.05 million
  6. Sunday Night (Seven) — 1.05 million
  7. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.01 million
  8. 7pm ABC News —981,000
  9. Grandchester (ABC) — 902,000
  10. The Suspects (Seven) — 717,000

Top metro programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.18 million
  2. The Voice (Nine) — 1.08 million
  3. Nine News  — 1.05 million

Losers: Ten — Masterchef should really have done better

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.18 million
  2. Nine News — 1.05 million
  3. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 715,000
  4. Sunday Night (Seven) — 659,000
  5. 7pm ABC News – 658,000
  6. Ten Eyewitness News — 315,000
  7. SBS Word News  — 173,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Insiders (ABC, 361, 152,000 on ABC News) — 513,000
  2. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 477,000
  3. Landline (ABC) — 411,000
  4. Weekend Today (Nine) — 369,000 
  5. Sports Sunday (Nine) — 225,000
  6. Offsiders (ABC) — 221,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox Sports 505 (5.0%)
  2. Fox Footy  (4.9%)
  3. Fox Sports 506 (2.7%)
  4. Fox Sports 503 (2.3)
  5. TVHITS  (2.1(%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. A League: Grand Final Post Game Show (Fox Sports 505) — 460,000
  2. A League: Grand Final  (Fox Sports 505) — 275,000
  3. Football: The Mavericks (Fox Sports 505) — 213,000
  4. AFL:Melbourne v Hawthorn (Fox Sports 503) — 160,000
  5. AFL: Sydney v Brisbane (Fox Footy) — 157,000