See ya later Ten, it’s been nice knowing you. Too harsh a judgement after just one night of Masterchef Australia‘s 2014 season? Perhaps, but the weak start was matched by what was on screen. A feeling of deja vu. Same judges, same jargon, same fake drama. The 1.153 million national viewers (and 874,000 metro, and only 279,000 regional viewers) was just good enough. But the big worry for Ten is that the audience dips as those loyal fans who watched last night fail to return.

The Voice  was the most watched program nationally and in metro and regional markets. It had 2.663 million viewers across the country last night, down 258,000 from its debut figure of 2.921 million on Sunday night. But that was enough to squeeze out Masterchef Australia, particularly when combined with The Big Bang Theory, which had more than 1.9 million viewers. House Rules on Seven  had a solid 1.750 million for the first reveal episode. As a result, the ABC again beat Ten overall and in the main channels, finishing third. In regional markets it was a much closer night. Seven had a higher share for All people, but Nine was the main channels by a small margin. Ten bombed badly.

The Project on Ten was boosted by the return this week of Rove McManus to the co-hosts chair with Carrie Bickmore and Peter Helliar —  the old Rove show gang back together. The program added 100,000 to 150,000 viewers, for a national average for the hour of 809,000, which was not a bad result. And Seven News had a rare Monday night win last night over Nine in metro markets. Why? Well they had a big winner on Million Dollar Minute at 5.30pm (and the mystery was whether he would go on to $1 million. He didn’t and took home $503,000). As a result the program’s metro average of 665,000 was only 5,000 behind the slot winner, Hot Seat on Nine with 672,000. That was up to 100,000 — 150,000 more viewers than it gets most nights.

And still on matters news at Seven, the network has quietly axed the7TWO News that was being hosted by Melissa Doyle. The axing was buried in the TV program guides (you have to wait to see if an axing actually happens in some cases in case it is a feint by the network). Doyle hosted 6pm news in Sydney last night because Mark Ferguson and Chris Bath, the two main readers, were on the Gold Coast for Ian Ross’ funeral.

Q&A provided a late night flutter on social media and for those watching with the on-air protest. The ABC suspended the live broadcast until the demos were chucked out (nicely). Judging how the discussion was travelling, the suspension came as a relief to viewers. Too many panel members and too many partisans in the audience. Q&A had 921,000 national viewers (and 672,000 in metro markets).

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (36.2?%)
  2. Seven (27.5%)
  3. ABC (17.6%)
  4. Ten (16.2%)
  5. SBS (4.4%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (28.0%)
  2. Seven (20.5%)
  3. ABC1 (12.6%)
  4. Ten  (11.7%)
  5. SBS ONE (3.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. GO (4.1%)
  2. 7TWO (3.8%)
  3. 7mate (3.3%)
  4. ABC2 (2.6%)
  5. Eleven (2.4%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. The Voice (Nine) – 2.663 million
  2. The Big Bang Theory (Nine) — 1.872 million
  3. Seven News — 1.924 million
  4. Nine News – 1.873 million
  5. House Rules (Seven) — 1.750 million
  6. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.627 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.378 million
  8. ABC News — 1.288 million
  9. The Big Bang Theory repeat (Nine) — 1.280 million
  10. Nine News 6.30 — 1.210 million

Top metro programs:

  1. The Voice (Nine) – 1.987 million
  2. Seven News — 1.356 million
  3. The Big Bang Theory (Nine) — 1.311 million
  4. Nine News — 1.303 million
  5. Nine News 6.30 — 1.209 million
  6. Seven News / Today Tonight — 1.206 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.186 million
  8. House Rules (Seven) — 1.085 million
  9. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.041 million

Losers: Ten and Masterchef — the opposition never makes it easy for you when you are down. Viewers of Q&A last night for the protest, and the Q&A format.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.356 million
  2. Nine News — 1.303 million
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 1.209 million
  4. Seven News / Today Tonight — 1.206 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 1.186 million
  6. ABC News — 870,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC1) — 817,000
  8. Australian Story (ABC1) – 784,000
  9. Media Watch (ABC1) — 732,000
  10. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 717,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 354,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 307,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 163,000
  4. Mornings (Nine) — 122,000
  5. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  58,000 + 55,000 on News 24) — 113,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 43,000
  7. Wake Up (Ten) — 30,000

Top pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8, TVHITS!  (1.9%)
  2. LifeStyle, showcase, Fox Footy (1.7%)
  3. Foxtel movie premiere, Fox Classics  (1.6)%)
  4. UKTV (1.5%)
  5. Sky News, Discovery (1.3%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Game of Thrones repeat (showcase) – 143,000
  2. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 107,000
  3. Game of Thrones  (showcase) — 105,000
  4. AFL: On The Couch  (Fox Footy) – 93,000
  5. AFL: Open Mike (Fox) – 80,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2013. The data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM. (All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight all people.) and network reports.