The Winners: Nigella Lawson was back with Nigella Kitchen at 8pm on the ABC, 701,000. She dominates the screen! Nothing else worth mentioning, it will only encourage the networks to keep showing them.

  1. Seven News (6pm)– 1.155 million
  2. Nine News (6pm)–1.052 million
  3. The Big Bang Theory (Nine) (7.30pm) — 1.012 million

The Losers: Summer ratings I know, so no real losers. But mention must be made of The Grumpy Guide to…: 544,000 on ABC 1 at 8.30pm.

Happy Endings on Seven at 7.30pm, 511,000, a flop, even in summer.

News & CA: Nine News won Sydney and Melbourne, lost the rest to Seven. A Current Affair won Sydney and Melbourne, Today Tonight won the rest.

Ten’s 6pm News died a little last night.

  1. Seven News (6pm)– 1.155 million
  2. Nine News (6pm)–1.052 million
  3. Today Tonight (Seven) (6.30pm) — 979,000
  4. A Current Affair (Nine) (6.30pm) — 948,000
  5. ABC News (7pm) — 871,000
  6. Ten News (5pm) — 595,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) (7.30pm) — 580,000 (+34,000 on News 24 simulcast)
  8. The Project (Ten) (6.30pm) — 552,000
  9. Ten News (6pm) — 330,000
  10. SBS News (9.30pm) — 203,000
  11. SBS News (6.30pm) — 191,000
  12. Lateline (ABC) (10.30pm) — 164,000
  13. Lateline Business (ABC) (11.05pm) — 105,000 (+28,000 on News 24 at 8.30pm)

In the morning:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) (7am) — 397,000
  2. Today (Nine) (7am) — 324,000

The Stats:

  • FTA: Nine (3 channels) won with a share of 28.4% from Seven (3) on 26.7%, Ten (3) was on 19.7%, the ABC (4) was on 17.9% and SBS (2) ended on 7.3%. Nine leads the week on 29.0% from Seven with 26.3% and Ten on 20.6%.
  • Main Channel: Nine won with 18.8%, from Seven on 17.3%, Ten was third with 13.2%, with ABC 1 on 12.2% and SBS ONE was on 5.5%. Nine leads the week with 19.9% from Seven on 17.8% and Ten with 13.3%.
  • Digital: 7TWO won with 5.7% from GO on 5.1%, Gem was on 4.5%, Eleven was on 4.3%, 7mate was on 3.6%, ABC 2 was on 3.5%, ONE was on 2.2%, SBS TWO was on 1.7%, ABC 3 was on 1.2% and News 24 was on 1.1%. That’s a total FTA share last night of a very high 32.9%. GO and 7TWO jointly lead the week on 5.4%, with Eleven on 4.6%.

Pay TV: Nine (3 channels) won with a share of 22.7% from Seven (3) on 21.3%, Pay TV was third (200 channels plus) with 17.7%, Ten (3) was on 15.7%, the ABC (4) was on 14.3% and SBS (2) ended on 5.8%. The 15 FTA channels had a total share last night of 82.3%. The 10 digital channels had a very high share of 26.5%, with the five main channels on a very low 55.8% (close to an all time low, while the FTA digital share was close to an all time high, if not one).

The top five Pay TV channels were:

  1. Fox 8 (3.04%)
  2. Lifestyle (2.36%)
  3. TV 1 (2.27%)
  4. Crime & Investigation (2.07%)
  5. Sky News (1.85%)

The top five Pay TV programs were:

  1. Family Guy (Fox 8) — 78,000
  2. The Simpsons (Fox 8) — 73,000
  3. Eastenders (UKTV) — 69,000
  4. Law and Order (W) — 69,000
  5. Coronation Street (UKTV) — 62,000

Regional: Prime/7Qld (3 channels) won with a share of 30.1%, from WIN/NBN (3) on 28.9%, SC Ten (3) was on 17.6%, the ABC (4) was on 17.3% and SBS (2) was on 6.1%. The main channels were won by Prime/7Qld with 19.5%, almost a draw actually, with WIN/NBN on 19.4%. 7TWO won the digitals with a share of 6.3%, from GO on 4.9% and Gem on 4.6%. The 10 digital channels had a very high FTA share last night of 33.5%. Prime/7Qld leads the week on 29.5% from WIN/NBN on 28.8%.

The top five programs in regional markets were:

  1. Seven News — 500,000
  2. Nine News — 458,000
  3. A Current Affair — 434,000
  4. The Big Bang Theory — 365,000
  5. SCU: Serious Crash Unit — 365,000

Major Markets: Nine won Sydney and Melbourne overall and the main channels. Seven won the rest from Nine and Ten, with ABC 1 third in the main channels in Adelaide and Perth. 7TWO won the digitals in Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth. GO won Brisbane. Nine leads in Sydney and Melbourne, Seven leads in Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.

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

Glenn Dyer’s comments: The Grumpy Guide to… on ABC 1 last night involved unfunny people moaning about entitlement and work. It was very hard work watching a bunch of people who should know better complaining about working. Sort of summed up the third night of summer ratings.

Even Meet the Parents (432,000 from 8.30pm for 140 minutes) wasn’t funny anymore after so many repeats. Nine won by default as Seven has well and truly gone into hibernation until the tennis appears in early January. Ten is still struggling, so there’s been no real change from official ratings.

The top five programs nationally last night were:

  1. Seven News — 1.656 million
  2. Nine News — 1.510 million
  3. A Current Affair — 1.383 million
  4. Today Tonight — 1.322 million
  5. ABC News — 1.236 million

Tonight: Well, Wednesday’s used to be one of the best nights of the week, certainly in the back half of the year.

The Thick of It is back on ABC 1 at 9pm. Seven returns World’s Strictest Parents at 7.30pm (it was rested during official ratings). Nine repeats Sherlock at 8.30pm (for two hours). Ten has a fresh Hawaii Five O.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports