A great return for Mad As Hell had 891,000 national viewers, with 622,000 in the metros and 269,000 in the regionals. It was beaten by Offspring though, which had 993,000 with 724,000 in the metros and 269,000 in the regions. That is down sharply from 2016’s return on the same night in June when it grabbed 1.28 million nationally with 959,000 in the metros and 326,000 in the regionals. Still a solid audience and with Masterchef’s 1.24 million national viewers, Ten had the best looking demographics last night, even though Nine won the night overall and in the main channels in the metros.

Offspring — welcome back, but perhaps a touch too Neighbours at times, but still a long in front of Wanted, and the equal of Janet King, although storylines are very different. Who says there’s a dearth of roles for females on Australian TV? Throw in Love Child on Nine and there’s a very solid quartet. All are far better TV and stronger roles than the Last Resort, Married At First Sight, First Dates, Seven Year Switch, Yummy Mummies and the Real Housewives of Melbourne and Sydney on Foxtel.

In regional areas, Seven News was again king with 646,000 viewers followed by Seven News/Today Tonight with 515,000. Home and Away was 3rd with 469,000, the 5.30 part of The Chase Australia was fourth with 439,000 and The Force was fifth with 419,000 — all from Seven and indicative of the result in regional markets.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (27.0%)
  2. Seven (26.4%)
  3. Ten (21.8%)
  4. ABC (16.1%)
  5. SBS (8.7%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (18.0%)
  2. Seven (17.7%)
  3. Ten (16.5%)
  4. ABC (11.4%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.9%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. GO (3.3%)
  2. 7mate (3.2%)
  3. 7TWO (2.9%)
  4. ONE, Eleven (2.6%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News  — 1.731 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.535 million
  3. Nine/NBN News — 1.3265 million
  4. Nine/NBN News (6.30pm) — 1.301 million
  5. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.248 million
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.240 million
  7. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.125 million
  8. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.078 million
  9. 7pm ABC News — 1.040 million
  10. Border Security (Seven) — 1.020 million

Top metro programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.086 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.020 million
  3. Nine News — 1.020 million

Losers: Anyone who missed Mad As Hell and Offspring.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.086 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.020 million
  3. Nine News — 1.020 million
  4. Nine News (6.30pm) — 981,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 884,000
  6. 7pm ABC News – 692,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 612,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 564,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 471,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 390,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 520,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 413,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC,  174,000 + 83,000 on News 24) — 257,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 255,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 160,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 118,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. TVHITS  (2.9%)
  2. Fox 8  (2.4%)
  3. Sky News (2.0%)
  4. LifeStyle  (1.9%)
  5. Nick Jr, Disney Jr (1.7%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 88,000
  2. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 63,000
  3. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 50,000
  4. AFL: The Greatest (Fox Footy) — 40,000
  5. Puppy Dog Pals (Disney Jr) — 40,0000