(Image: AAP/Lukas Coch)

I just can’t do it any more — too old, not enough stamina — so I’m planning to go to bed late and wake up to continue watching the last matches at the Australian Open in Melbourne to get the business end some time around dawn. (Tried it on Monday night/Tuesday morning and missed the end. Did it again on Tuesday and slept in this morning.)

Perhaps Tennis Australia can start the night sessions two hours earlier? Who cares about what Nine wants? The day two night session had 635,000 viewers but the pre-match stuff from 7pm started with a reasonable 521,000 (after the back half of Nine’s news averaged 870,000 nationally). Close to 100,000 more people watched the night coverage on Gem.

Over on Seven, it was nice to see Steve Smith remind the world of just how tip-and-run cricket should be played. His century at Coffs Harbour deserved an audience bigger than last night’s 495,000 — it was like watching a Roger Federer masterclass from centre court on Rod Laver Arena.

The tennis helped Nine win the night in total people and the main channel from Seven, Ten and the ABC.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (34.0%)
  2. Seven (27.4%)
  3. Ten (15.6%)
  4. ABC (13.9%)
  5. SBS (9.1%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (22.2%)
  2. Seven (19.6%)
  3. ABC (9.4%)
  4. Ten (9.2%)
  5. SBS (4.7%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. GO (4.3%)
  2. 7mate (3.5%)
  3. 10 Bold, 10 Peach (2.8%)
  4. Gem (2.7%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.387 million
  2. Seven News 6.30pm — 1.321 million
  3. Nine News — 891,000
  4. Nine News 6.30pm — 870,000
  5. 7pm ABC News — 834,000
  6. Home and Away (Seven) — 740,000
  7. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (R, Seven) — 725,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 649,000
  9. Australian Open Tennis, day two night — 635,000
  10. Australian Open Tennis, day two night pre-match — 521,000

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

Regional top 5: Seven News, 497,000; Seven News 6.30pm, 475,000; 7pm ABC News, 289,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 285,000; Home and Away, 280,000.

Losers: tennis OK, the BBL game OK for Steve Smith.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 890,000
  2. Seven News 6.30pm — 847,000
  3. Nine News — 653,000
  4. Nine News 6.30pm — 648,000
  5. 7pm ABC News — 548,000
  6. 7.30 (ABC) — 447,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 268,000
  8. Ten News First — 260,000
  9. The Project 6.30pm — 153,000
  10. SBS World News — 128,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 351,000/209,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 262,000/173,000
  3. ABC News Breakfast — 249,000/161,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 202,000
  5. ABC News Mornings — 199,000
  6. Today Extra (Nine) — n/a
  7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 47,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

  1. Cricket: BBL (Fox Cricket) — 181,000
  2. Cricket: BBL Big Break (Fox Cricket) — 164,000
  3. Cricket: BBL (Fox Cricket) — 151,000
  4. Cricket: B4 The Bash (Fox Cricket) — 85,000
  5. Cricket: BBL Post Game (Fox Cricket) — 50,000