In the aftermath of the Don Burke scandal, someone had the good idea that he should appear on A Current Affair in an exclusive interview with Tracy Grimshaw to try and soften the blow from the 7.30/Fairfax disclosures. That was a bad move for Burke, and if it was an attempt at media manipulation it was a total failure. Grimshaw slowly filleted him, producing gems such as self-diagnosed Asperger’s Syndrome, claims that it was all a witch hunt, confirmation of extra marital affairs, admissions that he was difficult, and denial after denial. It nicely set up the 7.30 report which paid Grimshaw tribute by screening excerpts from her Burke interview at the end of the program. 

Viewers responded, especially to 7.30 which ended up the third most watched program on the night nationally with nearly 1.2 million people. ACA did well with nearly 1.15 million. It was a rare example of where rival media outlets fed off each other and acknowledged the work of others.

Nine, Seven, Ten and the ABC all shared the honours last night — Ten’s Have You Been Paying Attention averaged 1.06 million viewers and won the 8.30pm slot. The ABC returned Back Roads at 8pm and the story from Heather Ewart on Corryong in northern Victoria was one of the best in the whole two and a bit series so far. It deserved its 1.09 million national audience last night and more. In breakfast another win for Seven’s Sunrise which got another 300,000 plus metro audience. These have been coming more frequently since Nine gave Lisa Wilkinson the push and George Gardner won’t change that in 2018. For so late in the year it was a solid night of TV and one where the virtues of TV current affairs interviewing and reporting were underlined. 

In the regions Seven News topped the night with 532,000, followed by Home and Away with 454,000, then Seven News/Today Tonight with 446,000, followed by Back Roads with 348,000 and then the 5.30pm bit of The Chase Australia with 339,000. 7.30 averaged 332,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (26.0%)
  2. Nine (25.0%)
  3. ABC (21.8%)
  4. Ten (20.1%)
  5. SBS (7.1%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (17.3%)
  2. Seven (17.2%)
  3. ABC (16.0%)
  4. ABC (13.9%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.0%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7mate (3.9%)
  2. ONE (3.6%)
  3. GO (3.5%)
  4. 7TWO, ABC 2 (3.2%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News  — 1.481 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.383 million
  3. 7.30 (ABC) — 1.195million
  4. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.188 million
  5. Nine/NBN News — 1.155 million
  6. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.150 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.146 million
  8. Back Roads (ABC) — 1.090 million
  9. 7pm ABC News — 1.088 million
  10. Have You been Paying Attention (Ten) — 1.060 million

Losers: Anyone who missed Tracy Grimshaw’s Don Burke interview on ACA and then 7.30’s report.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 956,000
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 937,000
  3. Nine News (6.30pm) — 893,000
  4. Nine News —869,000
  5. 7.30 (ABC) — 863,000
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 816,000
  7. 7pm ABC News —764,000
  8. Foreign Correspondent (ABC) — 644,000
  9. Media Watch (ABC) — 570,000
  10. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 511,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 529,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 403,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC, 185,000 + 91,000 on ABC News ) — 158,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 235,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 177,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 135,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) —77,000
  2. Outlander (showcase) — 72,000
  3. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 56,000
  4. The Walking Dead (Fx) — 50,000
  5. PML Overtime (Sky News) — 49,000