Glenn Dyer’s TV ratings

Seven might have won last night, but it will be concerned that for the second night in a row, My Kitchen Rules has not blitzed its opposition like it was doing before the Easter break — which might have been a mistake because it may have broken the program’s strong momentum. MKR failed to crack the 2 million national mark for a second successive night (it’s around 200,000 to 300,000 under what it was getting on Monday nights before Easter). The program averaged 1.952 million nationally last night and 1.325 million metro viewers (which was around 100,000 or so viewers under  pre-Easter levels). Nine’s The Block averaged a solid 1.35 million last night. While Seven won overall, Nine said it won the two big demos, 25-to-54s and 18-to-49s. But Seven also said it won 18-to-49s, as well as 16-to-39s. Ahh, the joys of TV ratings and their analysis!

Seven wasn’t helped by weak figures for (surprisingly) Home and Away, which dropped around 150,000 viewers in metro markets last night to just 740,000 viewers. It had 1.276 million national viewers — also around 150,000 under the usual audience in recent weeks. Revenge at 9pm averaged 979,000 national and 611,000 metro viewers, which was also weaker than usual.

And it was a metro markets thing. Seven was a narrow winner over Nine in total people and the main channels. In the regionals, it beat Nine easily by 10 points in total people and 4.5 points in the main channels. Compare those margins to the 1.7 point winning margin in metro markets and 0.6 point win in the main channels. Part of the reason for the bigger regional margins was the way Nine’s programs were not well supported in those markets compared to the metros.

The breakfast battle concluded with Seven’s Sunrise under 300,000 metro viewers — 280,000, which was unusually low. Today’s audience slipped to 266,000, which wasn’t so surprising. Perhaps the final round of the US Masters golf made a difference — a total of 202,000 people watched it on 7mate (141,000, including 91,000 in metro markets) and Fox Sports (61,000). Game of Thrones started yesterday with 236,000 watching showcase from 11am to noon, when the series aired in the US — and 279,000 watched the repeat that started at 7.33pm.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (29.5%)
2. Nine (27.8%)
3. ABC (20.2%)
4. Ten (16.0%)
5. SBS (6.5%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (21.6%)
2. Nine (21.0%)
3. ABC 1 (16.0%)
4. Ten (10.4%)
5. SBS ONE (4.8%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7TWO (4.3%)
2. GO (3.7%)
3. 7mate (3.6%)
4. Eleven (3.2%)
5. Gem (3.1%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. My Kitchen Rules (Seven) — 1.952 million
2. Nine News — 1.581 million
3. Seven News — 1.490 million
4. The Block (Nine) – 1.350 million
5. 7pm ABC 1 News — 1.322 million
6. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.276 million
7. Australian Story (ABC 1) — 1.237 million
8. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.190 million
9. The Big Bang Theory repeat (Nine) — 1.152 million
10. 7.30 (ABC 1) — 1.127 million

Top metro programs:

1.  My Kitchen Rules (Seven) — 1.325 million
2.  Seven News — 1.168 million
3.  Nine News — 1.134 million
4.  Nine News 6.30 — 1.081 million
5.  Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.027 million

Losers: Seven. Before Easter, MKR was king of the hill — now it’s watching its back. And it’s not being helped by other Seven programs such as Home and Away and Revenge.Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News –1.168 million
2. Nine News — 1.134 million
3. Nine News 6.30 — 1.081 million
4. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.027 million
5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 997,000
6. 7pm ABC 1 News  – 901,000
7. Australian Story (ABC 1) — 849,000
8. 7.30 (ABC 1) — 776,000
9. Media Watch (ABC 1) — 667,000
10. Four Corners (ABC 1) — 627,000

Morning TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) – 280,000
2. Today (Nine) – 266,000
3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 169,000
4. Mornings (Nine) — 133,000
5. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  84,000 + 44,000 on News 24) — 130,000
6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 79,000

Top five pay TV channels:

1. Fox8 (4.1%)
2. Fox Sports 1 (3.9%)
3. showcase (3.0%)
4. TVHITS (2.0%)
5. UKTV (1.9%)

Top five pay TV programs:

1. NRL: Souths v North Qld (Fox Sports 1) — 325,000 
2. Game of Thrones Showcase) — 279,000
3. Game of Thrones Showcase) — 236,000
4. Monday Night With Matty Johns (Fox Sports 1) —122,000
5. AFL: On The Couch (Fox Footy) — 93,000

*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.