Djokovic v Thiem draws in 2 million viewers

It was the first day and night of the 2020 ratings battle ratings. In prime time, an average of 2.04 million watched Djokovic beat Thiem in five sets to win the Australian Open men’s tennis title on Nine. 1.22 million watched the 2020 winner announced for I’m A Celebrity on Ten — and a modest 776,000 watched the revamped My Kitchen Rules (MKR) on Seven. Nine won the night easily from Seven and Ten.

One of the big questions yesterday however was: how would the new kid on the block do at Insiders, with David Speers stepping into the role of host. It seems viewers loved the change, with a record 614,000 viewers nationally on the ABC and News 24. The first Insiders edition for 2019 averaged 537,000 national viewers, which was helped by the speculation about the timing of the 2019 federal election and instability in the coalition government. This time it’s sports rorts, bushfires and the novel coronavirus — so no shortage of issues, plus the big attraction of the new host.

In regional markets it was Seven News with 530,000, the men’s final at the Australian Open tennis with 513,000, the tennis presentation with an average of 364,000, then I’m A Celebrity’s elimination episode with 340,000 and and the 7pm ABC News with 323,000.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (45.9%)
2. Seven (19.6%)
3. Ten (16.8%)
4. ABC (11.6%)
5. SBS (6.1%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (40.0%)
2. Seven (14.0%)
3. Ten (11.8%)
4. ABC (8.6%)
5. SBS ONE (4.0%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 10 Bold (3.3%)
2. 7TWO (2.3%)
3. GO (2.2%)
4. 7mate (1.9%)
5. Gem, 10 Peach (1.8%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Australian Open Tennis Day 14, Men’s Final (Nine) — 2.04 million
2. Seven News — 1.60 million 
3. Australian Open Tennis Day 14, Men’s Final Presentation (Nine) — 1.32 million
4. Nine/NBN News  — 1.28 million
5. I’m A Celebrity – Elimination (Ten) — 1.22 million
6. I’m A Celebrity – Grand Finale (Ten) —1.11 million
7. 7pm ABC News — 1.02 million
8. Australian Open Tennis Men’s Final Pre-Match (Nine) — 957,000
9. My Kitchen Rules (Seven) — 776,000
10. The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 717,000

Top metro programs: 

1. Australian Open Tennis Men’s Final (Nine) — 1.54 million
2. Seven News  — 1.07 million

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News —1.07 million
2. Nine News   — 966,000
3. 7pm ABC News — 702,000
4. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 508,000
5. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 335,000
6. Ten News First — 272,000
7. SBS World News  — 158,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Insiders (ABC. ABC News) — 614,000
2. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 474,000
3. Landline (ABC) — 404,000
4. Weekend Today (Nine) — 282,000 
5. Offsiders (ABC) — 261,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. Bathurst 12 Hour Race (Fox Sports) —66,000
2. Outsiders (Sky News) —63,000
3. Outsiders (Sky News) —50,000
4. WT20: Tri-Series, Australia v India (Fox Cricket) —48,000
5. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 41,000