Rami Malek in Bohemian Rhapsody (Image: 20th Century Fox)

Was the federal budget just one week ago last night? It seems so much longer. Viewers agree — the ABC pulled better figures last night.

The highlight of the night though was Nine’s Queen/Freddie Mercury movie, Bohemian Rhapsody — 719,000 — tying with Ten’s MasterChef which really should have done better. Seven’s Big Brother broke free with Lego Masters out of the way and averaged 836,000.

Be warned, I feel The Block on approach. Boredom quotient to rise.

But it was a weak night overall. The first six programs nationally were Seven and Nine News (in their half-hour splits), ACA and the 7pm ABC News. Nine from Seven, Ten and the ABC. Snooorrre

Breakfast: Sunrise, 465,000 nationally and 273,000 metro; Today, 302,000 and 204,000; News Breakfast, 266,000 and 171,000.

Regional top five: Seven News, 604,000; Seven News 6.30, 585,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 365,000; Home and Away, 356,000; 7pm ABC News, 334,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (29.5%)
  2. Seven (27.6%)
  3. Ten (19.3%)
  4. ABC (16.6%)
  5. SBS (7.0%)


Network main channels:

  1. Nine (21.5%)
  2. Seven (19.3%)
  3. Ten (12.2%)
  4. ABC (11.8%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.4%)


Top 5 digital channels:

  1. 7mate (3.6%)
  2. 7TWO, 10 Peach (3.5%)
  3. 10 Bold (2.8%)
  4. GO (2.6%)


Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.588 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.531 million
  3. Nine News — 1.185 million
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 1.158 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.021 million
  6. 7pm ABC News — 961,000
  7. Home and Away (Seven) — 929,000
  8. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 921,000
  9. 7.30 (ABC) — 873,000
  10. Big Brother (Seven) — 836,000


Top metro programs: none with a million or more viewers.

Losers: MasterChef Australia, again — neck and neck with Bohemian Rhapsody. The latter was better entertainment.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News – 983,000
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 946,000
  3. Nine News — 914,000
  4. Nine News 6.30 —875,000
  5. ACA (Nine) — 733,000
  6. 7pm ABC News — 627,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 576,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 493,000
  9. Ten News First (ABC) — 354,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 332,000


Morning (national) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 465,000/273,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 302,000/204,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC) —266,000/171,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 208,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 149,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 53,000


Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Credlin (Sky News) — 59,000
  2. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 58,000
  3. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 57,000
  4. The Great British Bake-Off (LifeStyle) — 51,000
  5. NRL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 50,000