Viewer are switching off the 6pm news bulletins on Seven and Nine and their 6.30pm “current affairs” programs, and the ABC is the chief beneficiary.

Nine News is a disaster area with its Monday to Friday average audience falling to 1.223 million, down from 1.329 million in 2006 and 1.336 million in 2005. It was a better story for Seven News, which shed just 11,000 viewers from 2006, falling from 1.439 million to 1.428 million. And it still had higher audiences than in 2005 when it averaged 1.366 million.

The 7pm ABC News lifted its average audience by just over 7% to 1.05 million. Still a long way behind the commercials, but it improved sharply in the second half of the year, particularly during the election campaign.

A Current Affair averaged 1.174 million in 2007, its lowest average so far this decade. It fell from 1.255 million in 2006 and an average of 1.259 million in 2005. Today Tonight had far more viewers with an average of 1.364 million, but that was down from 1.420 million in 2006 and 1.396 million in 2005.

In contrast, three of the ABC’s 6.30pm programs added viewers this year. Monday night’s Talking Heads hosted by Peter Thompson lifted its audience 7%, Wednesday evening’s The Cook and The Chef , starring Maggie Beer, was up a very sharp 31% and Can We Help? boosted its audience by a very solid 35% on Friday nights. They must be doing something right.