The Winners: MasterChef was the most watched program last night with 1.799 million viewers, with Seven News on 1.552 million and Today Tonight third with 1.501 million. Nine News was 4th with 1.329 million and Spicks and Specks was next for the ABC at 8.30pm with 1.242 million viewers. A Current Affair was 6th with 1.227 million and Ten’s 8.30pm program Lie To Me was 7th with 1.215 million. Seven’s 7.30pm Border Security repeat averaged 1.203 million and the 7 m repeat on Nine of Two and a Half Men was 9th with 1.153 million. Home and Away averaged 1.056 million and 11th was the 7pm ABC News with 1.023 million people.

The Losers: Nine viewers from 7.30pm, Seven viewers as well. Oddball programs. We deserve better than what both networks offered up last night.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally and in every market but Melbourne. Today Tonight won everywhere. Ten News averaged 916,000, the late News/Sports Tonight, 372,000. The 7.30 Report averaged 727,000, Lateline, 233,000, Lateline Business, 145,000. Nine’s Nightline, 161,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 214,000, 182,000 for the late edition. 7am Sunrise, 390,000, 7am Today, 312,000.

The Stats:

FTA: Ten won with a share of 27.0% from Nine with 26.8%, Seven on 25.0%, the ABC with 16.0% and SBS on 5.2% Nine won Sydney and Melbourne, Seven won Brisbane, Ten won Adelaide and Perth. Seven leads the week with 28.4% from Nine on 27.3% and Ten on 24.6%.

Main Channel: Ten won here more easily with a share of 26.2%, from Nine on 24.8%, Seven on 23.0%, ABC 1 with 13.8% and SBS ONE on 5.0%. Nine won Sydney and Melbourne, Seven won Brisbane and Ten won Adelaide and Perth. Seven leads the week with a share of 25.9% from Nine with 24.6% and Ten on 23.5%

Digital: GO and 7TWO won with a share of 2.0% apiece, from ABC 2 with 2.8%, ONE on 0.8%, ABC 3, 0.5% and SBS TWO, 0.2%. That’s a total share of 7.3% for the six FTA digital channels. GO leads the week with a share of 2.7% from 7TWO on 2.5%.

Pay TV: Ten won with a share of 22.2%, from Nine with 22.0%, Seven on 20.6%, Pay TV, 14.9%, the ABC with 13.2% and SBS with 4.3%. That’s a total share for the 11 FTA channels of 85.1%, and Pay TV’s 100 channels shared in the 14.9% reported.

Regional: WIN/NBN won with a share of 29.6%, from Prime/7Qld with 26.8%, SC Ten on 24.8%, the ABC on 13.4% and SBS on 5.4%. WIN/NBN won the main channels with a share of 26.3%, from Prime/7Qld on 24.9% and SC Ten on 24.0%, GO won the digitals with a share of 3.4%, from 7TWO with 1.9% and ABC 2, 1.2%. Prime/7Qld leads with 29.2%, from WIN/NBN with 28.6%

(All shares on the basis on combined overnight 6pm to midnight All People)

Glenn Dyer’s comments: MasterChef, oh MasterChef, what a silly idea last night to do a beach theme. Sounds like the sort of tricked up freak food that drives people away and causes restaurants to close overnight. Beach food is fish and chips, or ham rolls wrapped at home.

Hey Hey it’s Saturday, oh Hey Hey it’s Saturday, what a tied old pastiche of what you once was you were last night. 995,000 viewers for two hours from 7.30pm is not good enough. Hey Hey ensured Nine won Sydney and Melbourne. Elsewhere it was again ignored. It was a top 10 program in both markets, forgotten elsewhere.

Seven did remarkably well last night with the oddest mixture of programs. It finished close third, and should have finished a distant third, but the line up seems to have performed above its weight. It consisted mostly of programming dross. Ten benefited from the lack of interest in Seven and Nine’s programs and won All People and in the demos.

TONIGHT: Italian Food Safari and Costa’s Garden Odyssey on SBS from 7.30pm to 8.30pm (it’s a final for both). Nine has Sea Patrol which is slowly steaming towards the same fate that awaits all local dramas that run out of sea room with viewers. Ten has MasterChef and the wonderful Glee, and the improving 7pm Project. The ABC has Clark and Dawe at the end of The 7.30 Report. Seven has the black hole.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports