The Block season final Glenn Dyer's TV Ratings ratings
(Image: Nine)

Bad news for Nine — The Block has finally run out of puff, and the rest of the 2021 ratings battle is going to be a very hard slog for the network so long as the home renovation veteran remains in the schedule. 

The program’s ratings slide to 886,000 nationally last night — a loss of 146,000 viewers from Sunday’s 1.03 million, up against The Voice and the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony. That nominally weak 1.03 million turned out to be a solid rating, and The Block should have hung on to more viewers than it did last night if it is to be a success this year.

Seven’s The Voice (a reboot of the program, which Nine dropped) averaged 1.67 million last night after a games-boosted return on Sunday night of 1.91 million. The Block didn’t even make Monday’s national top-10 programs list — it struggled into 11th spot, while The Voice managed third. Nine’s night wasn’t helped by the program that followed, Celebrity IOU, which rated 338,000 from 8.45pm. A celebrity renovation program and a dud. Repeats of repeats of Kath and Kim do better.

Seven’s total people performance was boosted by the AFL game on 7mate last night. That helped Seven’s total people share of 35.6% in the metros. The Voice and Seven’s 6pm news gave the channel a metro main channel share of 24.7%, 50% more than Nine’s very weak 16.2%. In fact, Nine’s share was closer to Ten’s (13.0%) and the ABC’s (11.3%) than it was to Seven’s.

The Block‘s failure was characteristic of its 2020 performance. Now it’s in need of its own renovation — a new host would help, and maybe a new format too…

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (35.6%)
  2. Nine (22.7%)
  3. Ten (19.8%)
  4. ABC (15.2%)
  5. SBS (6.7%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (24.7%)
  2. Nine (16.2%)
  3. Ten (13.0%)
  4. ABC (11.3%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.2%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7mate (7.3%)
  2. 10 Bold (3.6%)
  3. 7TWO, 10 Peach (2.5%)
  4. Gem (2.3%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.940 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.830 million
  3. The Voice (Seven) — 1.676 million
  4. Nine News — 1.468 million
  5. Nine News 6.30 — 1.395 million
  6. Home and away (Seven) —1.170 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.141 million
  8. 7pm ABC News — 1.131 million
  9. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.084 million
  10. 7.30 (ABC) — 901,000

Top metro programs: 

  1. Seven News — 1.245 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.175 million
  3. The Voice 9Seven) — 1.162 million
  4. Nine News — 1.089 million
  5. Nine News 6.30 — 1.032 million

Losers: The Block — needs some patch work.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.245 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.175 million
  3. Nine News — 1.087 million
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 1.032 million
  5. ACA (Nine) — 809,000
  6. 7pm ABC News — 749,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 609,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 567,000
  9. Australian Story (ABC) — 561,000
  10. Media Watch (ABC) — 466,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 520,000/318,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 381,000/264,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 346,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC) — 339,000/225,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 225,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) —56,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: West Coast vs. Melbourne (Fox Footy) — 150,000
  2. AFL: Monday Footy on Fox (Fox League) — 113,000
  3. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 70,000
  4. Paul Murray Live, Credlin (Sky News) — 65,000