As Nine won another night thanks to The Block (1.94 million nationally) and The Big Bang Theory (1.42 million nationally), we had news of a new drama planned for 2018. According to media reports overnight, UK star Dominic Monaghan is to star in a miniseries entitled Bite Club. The host of the BBC’s Wild Things will play a troubled police officer and dog handler in the “unconventional police procedural miniseries” from Sony Pictures TV and Channel Nine. It will be an eight part drama (so it will get the Australian mini-series tax deduction). 

According to the blurb from the producers, Monaghan’s character, Stephen Lamb, and an ex-lover (both of whom survive a “terrifying” shark attack) “are thrown together by fate to hunt down murderers” . Lamb grew up in an abusive family, was chained to a dog and bitten as a child, and as a result has developed a serious psychosexual perversion that will play out across the series,” The Hollywood Reporter said. For a PR blurb to describe a shark attack as “terrifying” is over the top nonsense. Has anyone known a shark attack to not be “terrifying”? And the title, Bite Club is a weak pun on Fight Club. Has this one jumped the shark before a frame is shot?

In regional markets The Block was tops with 599,000 viewers, followed by Seven News with 536,000, with Seven News/TT in 435,000, 800 Words was fourth with 415,000 and Home and Away was fifth with 413,000. Tonight Sophie saves the day (for Ten at least) as she is supposed to take one of the “steers” from her herd for a day of “old-fashioned romance” (bloomers and no base running?).

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (33.6%)
  2. Seven (24.8%)
  3. Ten (19.1%)
  4. ABC (14.9%)
  5. SBS (7.5%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (26.3%)
  2. Seven (17.1%)
  3. Ten (12.7%)
  4. ABC (9.8%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. ONE (4.0%)
  2. Gem (3.4%)
  3. 7TWO (3.2%)
  4. 7mate (3.0%)
  5. ABC  2 (2.8%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. The Block (Nine) — 1.943 million
  2. Seven News  — 1.521 million
  3. The Big Bang Theory (Nine) — 1.421 million
  4. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.374 million
  5. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.293 million
  6. Nine/NBN News — 1.270 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.199 million
  8. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.125 million
  9. 800 Words (Seven) —1.039 million
  10. 7pm ABC News — 1.018 million

Top metro programs:

    1. The Block (Nine) — 1.344 million
    2. The Big Bang Theory (Nine) — 1.020 million

Losers: Seven, Ten and the ABC (especially weak Catalyst)

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 985,000
  2. Nine News — 977,000
  3. Nine News (6.30pm) — 973,000
  4. Seven News/Today Tonight — 939,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) —832,000
  6. 7pm ABC News —712,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 553,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 531,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 428,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 324,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 462,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 430,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC, 160,000 + 84,000 on News 24) — 244,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 241,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 176,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 100,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Paul Williams Live (Sky News) — 61,000
  2. Jones & Co (Sky News) — 51,000
  3. Victoria (BBC First) — 48000
  4. PML Overtime (Sky News) —48,000
  5. NCIS (TVHITS) — 44,000