The Winners: Nine might have bailed out of the last few balls of the afternoon session of the One Day match from the MCG in Sydney and Melbourne (and NSW and Victoria), but no one seemed to mind as Australia batted second and won. Nine was the winner on the night because it finally had a cricket contest which delivered a massive audience. But after the Test losses, its cold comfort to fans.

  1. One Day Cricket evening session (Nine) (6.30pm) — 1.716 million
  2. Nine News (6pm) — 1.682 million
  3. Seven News (6pm) — 1.301 million
  4. One Day Cricket afternoon session (Nine) (2.30pm) — 1.037 million

The Losers: England? Ten certainly because viewers all but ignored it offerings last night.

News & CA: No contest, the One Day International cricket boosted Nine.

  1. Nine News (6pm) — 1.682 million
  2. Seven News (6pm) — 1.301 million
  3. ABC News (7pm) — 805,000
  4. Ten News (5pm) — 360,000
  5. SBS News (6.30pm) — 140,000

On the weekend:

  1. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) (8am) — 381,000
  2. Weekend Today (Nine) (8am) — 302,000

The Stats:

  • FTA: Nine (3 channels) won with a share of 41.9%, from Seven (3) with 26.5%, (Ten (3), 13.0%, the ABC (4), 12.2% and SBS, (2), 6.5%.
  • Main Channel: Nine also won with a share of 34.4%, from Seven on 19.8%, the ABC on 9.9% and Ten with 9.1%. SBS was on 5.9%.
  • Digital: GO won with a share of 4.3%, from 7TWO on 3.7%, 7Mate on 3.0%, Eleven on 2.8%, Gem was on 2.3%, ABC 2 and ONE were on 1% each, ABC News 24 was on 0.9%, SBS TWO was on 0.6% and ABC 3 finished with 0.5%. That’s a total FTA share of 20.1% in prime time for the 10 digital channels.
  • Pay TV: Nine (3 channels) won with 28.8% from Seven (3 channels) on 21.6%, Pay TV (100-plus channels) was on 15.5%, Ten (3) was on 10.6%, the ABC (4), was on 9.9% and SBS (2), was on 5.3%. That left a total of 84.5% for the 15 FTA channels, which was made up of 16.4% for the 10 digital channels and 68.1% for the five main channels.

Major Markets: Nine of course won everything on the main channels and overall thanks to the cricket. Seven was second and the ABC third on the main channels. Ten was third overall nationally and in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane thanks to the good figures for Eleven. GO won the digitals because of a strong showing in Brisbane. 7TWO and 7Mate were second and third.

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

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Did anyone notice that The Easybeats had reformed over summer and gave a number of concerts? I only ask, having been absent for the past month and resumed watching TV over the weekend, after spotting a performance in Melbourne last night. The TV audience appreciated the nostalgic look back to when the Australian cricket team could win an ODI. The concert won the night easily for Nine, as it should have.

TONIGHT: Well, tennis in Melbourne on Seven. And not much else. The 7pm Project on Ten. Jamie’s Thirty Minute Meals at 6.30pm, also on Ten. Repeats on Nine. The ABC starts a three part doco on Gandhi, Gandhi: The Making Of The Mahatma, and then tells us the real story of Atlantis, Atlantis: The Evidence.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports