It’s official: the 2021 ratings period is over. Seven says it won, which it did in total people. Nine says it won 25-to-54 and 16-to-39, as well as grocery buyers with children, which it did. And Ten… well, Ten was back in the pack (but the ABC had more viewers and a bigger share than Ten over the year).
BVOD — that’s broadcast video on demand — also perked up, thanks to Nine’s Married At First Sight and Love Island and Seven’s Big Brother and Home and Away. Ten’s Bachelor and Bachelorette were popular as well.
But if it hadn’t been for Seven’s AFL coverage it would have lost badly to Nine, which had better performing non-sport and news programming. Apart from the rugby league State of Origin weeks, Seven won most weeks from the start of the AFL season in mid-March to the end of the season on September 25. So despite the usual boasts from Seven, led by CEO James Warburton, it was the AFL wot did it for Kerry Stokes’s TV arm. It is yet another season in which the popularity of AFL helped Seven survive (uh, as did the $87 million cut in payments to the AFL in the depths of the pandemic-hit 2020 ratings year).
First night of non-ratings summer ratings? Lego Masters Brickmas part two won it for Nine with 1.05 million — the most watched non-news program. Insiders got 644,000 and a top 10 spot. Bluey had 510,000 in the AM ep, 205,000 for the PM repeat — a 715,000 total.
The final analysis: Seven a distant second after Nine, ABC in third place, and Ten in its now usual summer position of a distant fourth.
Regional Top 5: Seven News, 463,000; Border Security, 301,000; Lego Masters Brickmas, 294,000; Nine News, 292,000; Homicide with Ron Iddles, 260,000.
Network channel share:
- Nine (32.9%)
- Seven (36.7%)
- ABC (16.9%)
- Ten (15.3%)
- SBS (8.5%)
Network main channels:
- Nine (24.8%)
- Seven (20.4%)
- ABC (11.6%)
- Ten (9.7%)
- SBS ONE (5.8%)
Top 5 digital channels:
- 10 Bold (2.8%)
- 7TWO (2.7%)
- 10 Peach (2.5%)
- GO, 9Life (2.4%)
Top 10 national programs:
- Seven News — 1.386 million
- Nine News — 1.168 million
- Lego Masters Brickmas (Nine) — 1.055 million
- 7pm ABC News — 991,000
- Border Security (Seven) — 931,000
- 60 Minutes (Nine) — 834,000
- Homicide with Ron Iddles (Seven) — 686,000
- Death In Paradise repeat (ABC) — 675,000
- Insiders (ABC) — 644,000
- Total Control (ABC) — 540,000
Top metro programs: None with a million or more viewers.
Losers: Summer non-ratings…
Metro news and current affairs:
- Seven News — 920,000
- Nine News — 876,000
- 7pm ABC News — 640,000
- 60 Minutes (Nine) — 577,000
- Nine News Late — 369,000
- The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 369,000
- Ten News First — 282,000
- The Sunday Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 217,000
- SBS World News — 151,000
Morning (national) TV:
- Insiders (ABC) — 644,000
- Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 413,000
- Landline (ABC) — 368,000
- Weekend Today (Nine) — 291,000
- Offsiders (ABC) — 199,000
- Sports Sunday (Nine) — 182,000
Top five pay TV programs:
1. Outsiders (Sky News) — 67,000
2. Outsiders (Sky News) — 65,000
3. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 41,000
4. Chris Smith Tonight (sky News) — 37,000
5. The Real Housewives of Melbourne (Arena), 24 Hours In Emergency (LifeStyle) — 33,000
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