Nine claimed the night in the metros. Seven did well, but Nine was easily beaten in the regions as The X Factor blitzed The Block and pushed Seven to the top.

On the face of it The Block did very well, as it did in Melbourne and Brisbane, which saw Nine win both markets. But it was not as strongly supported in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth or in regional markets (where The X Factor was dominant). Nine’s ratings spin described The Block as “Australia’s Number 1 program”. It was the top metro program, it wasn’t tops nationally or in the regions. It had 1.530 million viewers last night across the country. The X Factor was tops with 1.585 million viewers.

The Block has been doing extra well in Melbourne, where it is based, but as you move further away from that city and into the rest of Australia, interest wanes, especially in the regions. But a total of 3.1 million people watched both programs last night which if you think about it is an amazing figure in these Netflix, SVOD days. It’s what advertisers want and what streaming services and Pay TV just can’t assemble in this country, and why free to air TV remains the dominant media so far as advertisers are concerned.

For whatever reason, The X Factor is doing very well in the regions (564,000 viewers against 423,000 for The Block). In the metros The Block with 1.107 million viewers won (thanks to the 402,000 viewers in Melbourne, the largest single audience in any market last night). Also helping was the length of the two programs — The X Factor went for more than two and a quarter hours, from 7.30 to 9.45pm — The Block ran from 7.30 to 9 pm. Holding that 1.585 million (and the 1.020 million in the metros and 564,000 in the regions) extra viewers (it’s an average, remember) for the extra 45 minutes made a big difference to the way the final channel and network shares ended up.

Both programs go up against each other tonight and The Block finishes tomorrow night. It has built as its lengthened series has gone on and has often beaten The X Factor which looks tired to many metro viewers. Australia’s Got Talent is in production right now for a 2016 start on Nine. You have been warned.

Today was back in the winner’s circle in breakfast TV in the metros with 354,000 to 330,000 for Sunrise. Nationally, Sunrise was wearing the garland, again. But at 6pm there was a tie nationally as Hot Seat on Nine with 504,000 was easily beaten by the 5.30pm part of The Chaser Australia with 627,000 metro viewers. In Sydney, that helped Seven News to yet another (and more frequent) win over Nine News, 274,000 to 263,000. Nine won Melbourne and Brisbane, Seven won Adelaide and Perth. The extra 123,000 viewers from the Chaser nationally certainly helped Seven, but the fact that Nine managed a tie with a total of 1.048 million nationally tells us how much ground Seven still has to make up in Melbourne and Brisbane (which remains a black hole for Seven).

 

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (30.3%)
  2. Nine (28.0%)
  3. ABC (20.3%)
  4. Ten (17.1%)
  5. SBS (4.4%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (22.2%)
  2. Nine (12.0%)
  3. ABC (16.5%)
  4. Ten (12.5%)
  5. SBS ONE (3.3%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (4.6%)
  2. 7mate (3.5%)
  3. GO (3.3%)
  4. Gem (2.7%)
  5. ONE (2.5%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. The X Factor (Seven) — 1.585 million
  2. The Block (Nine) — 1.530 million
  3. Nine News — 1.443 million
  4. Seven News — 1.335 million
  5. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.312 million
  6. ABC News — 1.247 million
  7. Australian Story — 1.206 million
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 1.160 million
  9. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.142 million
  10. Four Corners (ABC) — 1.138 million

Top metro programs:

  1. The Block (Nine) — 1.107 million
  2. Nine News 6.30 — 1.086 million
  3. Seven News — 1.048 million
  4. Nine News — 1.048 million
  5. The X Factor (Seven) — 1.020 million

Losers: A lot last night for viewers . If you didn’t like news or current affairs, or singing or building shows, or weight reduction, or dogs, you were probably on Foxtel, reading a book, at work, asleep, or lurking with intent/hope/desperation at a bar, pub or elsewhere.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News 6.30pm — 1.086 million
  2. Seven News — 1.048 million
  3. Nine News — 1.048 million
  4. Seven News/Today Tonight — 974,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 971,000
  6. ABC News – 884,000
  7. Australian Story (ABC) — 856,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 836,000
  9. Four Corners (ABC) — 788,000
  10. Media Watch (ABC) — 712,000

Morning TV:

  1. Today (Nine) – 354,000
  2. Sunrise (Seven) – 330,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 164,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  93,000 + 57,000 on News 24) — 150,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 131,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 58,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox8  (2.5%)
  2. TVHITS  (2.1%)
  3. LifeStyle (1.9%)
  4. UKTV (1.8%)
  5. A&E, Nick Jr  (1.5%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. The Walking Dead (Fx) – 78,000
  2. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 63,000
  3. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 58,000
  4. Eastenders (UKTV) — 55,000
  5. Sofia The First (Disney), Coronation Street (UKTV) — 52,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2015. 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.