The Winners: As nights goes, it was the pits, Cops L.A.C on Nine at 8.30pm, 684,000. If it was any good it should have done better. It didn’t because it’s not. Getaway, 800,000. Sad, it’s dying on screen. The Amazing Race on Seven at 7.30pm, 773,000. Keeping Up with the Joneses on Ten at 9pm averaged 837,000 and won the timeslot, but the competition was weak. The last Commonwealth Games session averaged a combined 712,000. That included the netball final won by New Zealand in a thriller. It averaged 875,000 and a peak 1.65 million. Good figures for any sport.

  1. Today Tonight (Seven) (6.30pm) — 1.233 million
  2. Seven News (6pm) — 1.225 million
  3. Nine News (6pm) — 1.022 million

The Losers: Like last Thursday night, a terrible night for TV viewing last night on the main channels, so that’s why viewers flocked to the digitals and no doubt Pay TV.

News & CA: Another night under a million viewers for ACA, but not for TT. These sub-one million audiences have suddenly become more common for ACA than earlier in the year. Just why, can’t say because the content isn’t all that different. Nine News was weak nationally, but still mopped up Seven News in Sydney for the second night in a row. Sunrise was strong as was Today in the morning.

  1. Today Tonight (Seven) (6.30pm) — 1.233 million
  2. Seven News (6pm) — 1.225 million
  3. Nine News (6pm) — 1.022 million
  4. A Current Affair (Nine) (6.30pm) — 951,000
  5. ABC News (7pm)– 917,000
  6. The 7.30 Report (ABC) (7.30pm) — 688,000
  7. Ten News (Ten) (5pm) — 618,000
  8. Lateline (ABC) (10.20pm) — 221,000
  9. SBS News (9.30pm) — 213,000
  10. SBS News (6.30pm) — 159,000
  11. Lateline Business (ABC) (10.55pm) — 115,000

In the morning:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) (7am) — 413,000
  2. Today (Nine) (7am) — 326,000

The Stats:

  • FTA: Nine won with 29.3%, from Seven on 28.6%, Ten with 21.5%, the ABC on 14.3% and SBS with 6.2%. Seven leads the week with 30.7%, from Nine in 27.4% and Ten with 19.7%.
  • Main Channel: Seven finished with 21.3%, Nine was second with 20.0%, Ten was on 17.2%, ABC 1 was on 10.3% and SBS ONE, 5.4%. Seven leads the week with 24.8% from Nine on 20.2% and Ten with 14.8% (and the ABC on 13.9%).
  • Digital: A big win for GO with 7.6% for its collection of main channel repeats. One finished with 4.3% for its last games-dominated night, 7TWO was on 3.9%, 7Mate was on 3.4%, ABC 2, 2.5% SBS TWO and News 24, 0.9%, while ABC 3 finished with 0.5%. GO leads the week with 5.1% from ONE on 4.9% and 7Mate on 3.2%. The nine FTA digital channels had an FTA share of 25.8% last night.
  • Pay TV: Nine won with a share of 23.4% for its trio of channels , from Seven on 22.8% with its three; pay TV and its 100 plus channels finished third with 17.4%, Ten and its two channels finished with 17.1%, the ABC and its quartet totalled 11.4% and SBS and its two, 5.0%. The FTA channels shared 82.6%, made up of 20.5% for the digital channels and 62.1% for the five main channels.
  • Regional: WIN/NBN won with a share of 31.2%, from Prime/7Qld on 25.9%, SC Ten was third with 23.2%, the ABC finished with 13.5% and SBS had 6.1%. WIN/NBN won the main channels from Prime/7Qld. GO won the digitals with 7.1% from ONE on 3.6%, and 7TWO on 2.6%. The Nine FTA channels had a solid 22.5% of the FTA audience last night in prime time. Prime/7Qld still leads the week with 30.0% from WIN/NBN on 29.1%.

Major Markets: The digitals had another big night with over a quarter of the FTA audience watching and more than 20% when Pay TV is included.

  • Sydney: Seven won overall and in the main channels from Nine and Ten. GO won the digitals from 7TWO and ONE. The FTA digitals had a share of 24.6%. (which tells us how dire the night was on the main channels, given Sydney is the toughest market for the digital channels). Foxtel’s 100 plus channels had a total share of 21.0%, which put them second in market. Seven leads the week from Nine and Ten.
  • Melbourne: A big share for the digitals, the highest in the major markets last night, with 27.8% in total. GO beat ONE and 7TWO. Overall, Nine won from Seven and Nine and in the main channels, Nine and Seven finished even and Ten third. Seven still leads the week from Nine and Ten. Foxtel finished with a share of 15.6%.
  • Brisbane: Nine won overall from Seven and Ten, but Seven won the main channels from Nine and Ten. GO won with ONE second and 7TWO third. The FTA digital channels had a total share of 25.2% (Foxtel finished with 18.5%). Seven leads the week from Nine and Ten.
  • Adelaide: It was Seven from Nine and Ten overall, but Seven from ten and Nine in the main channels. GO beat One and 7TWO in the digitals, which totalled 26.9% of the FTA audience. Foxtel had 11.4%. Seven leads the week from Nine and Ten.
  • Perth: And it was Seven from Nine and Ten overall, but Seven from Ten and Nine in the main channels, just like Adelaide. GO beat 7Mate and ONE in the digitals, which had a total share of 25.4%. Foxtel had 17.2%. Seven leads the week from Nine and Ten

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

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Nothing to be said. A bad night.

TONIGHT: Well, got something better to do? Well do it. If you are trapped at home, perhaps Luther on the ABC at 8.30pm might be worth a look. It is at least new. Better Homes and Gardens at 7.30pm for the empty nesters and others with a void in their lives. Nine has movies. Ten has two hours of Glee repeats (which is a small positive). Don’t forget the digital channels.

TOMORROW: Caulfield Cup day in Melbourne, if anyone is bothered. (That’s the race that doesn’t even stop Saturdays, let alone the nation). The last Bill ever on the ABC at 8.30pm. It was good when it started. Hey Hey it’s Saturday returns to Nine at 6.30pm. Seven, Nine and Ten have lots of movies. Really poor TV.

SUNDAY: The morning chats, motorbikes on Ten during the day for the go fast crowd, and at night fresh programs everywhere. Nine pulls fresh episodes of Hot Pursuit and Send in the Dogs, and the start of Sherlock at 8.30pm. Ten replaces the games with fresh episodes of Modern Family, Offspring, Medium and Junior MasterChef. Funny that. Seven has a fresh Bones, right out of the hat, Just like that. The X Factor is still plugging away. Sunday Night and 60 Minutes should at least be supported for their unstinting service during the games.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports