Ten wins again, but audiences can see through the mask

Last night’s episode of The Masked Singer again did very well for Ten — 1.38 million nationally for the singer’s unveiling, up 24% from the 1.10 million who watched the lead-up to the unveiling. That big gap should be a tiny worry for Ten. It shows that many viewers have cottoned-on to the structure of the show and are off doing something else until the last 15 minutes or so.

Still, it did the business for Ten, even though the average for the two parts of the program (1.24 million) was down around 315,000 from the week before when the debut episode averaged 1.56 million. The steady Have You Been Paying Attention averaged 1.06 million and gave Ten a lock on the key demos last night. It was a close night — Nine had marginally more viewers in total people than Seven and it was the same in the main channels, with Ten a close third.

Dirty Dancing started on Seven to 919,000. OK for a debut, but will they return tonight? Viewers didn’t return for Secret Bridesmaid Business (665,000 for the debut on Sunday night and just 490,000 last night). DOB — dead on broadcast. Meanwhile The Block’s 1.11 million was OK for the usually soft Monday, but its dominance is being challenged. In regional areas it was Seven’s 6pm news with 560,000, Seven News/TT with 559,000, Home and Away with 389,000, The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 351,000 and The Real Dirty Dancing with 340,000.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (26.2%)
2. Seven (26.0%)
3. Ten (23.1%)
4. ABC (17.1%)
5. SBS (7.5%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (19.2%)
2. Seven (18.2%)
3. Ten (17.6%)
4. ABC (12.9%)
5. SBS ONE (4.5%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 10 Bold (3.5%)
2. 7TWO (3.2%)
3. Gem (2.8%)
4. 7mate, GO (2.7%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.576 million
2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.575 million
3. The Masked Singer Unmasked (Ten) — 1.380 million
4. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.160 million
5. Nine/NBN News, The Block (Nine) — 1.111 million
6. The Masked Singer (Ten) — 1.109 million
7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.100 million
8. Have You Been Paying Attention (Ten) — 1.063 million
9. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.045 million

Top metro programs:

1. The Masked Singer (Ten) — 1.063 million
2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.016 million
3. Seven News — 1.015 million

Losers: Nine — not in the hunt as squeezed on all sides.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.016 million
2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.015 million
3. Nine News 6.30 —870,000
4. Nine News — 836,000
5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 794,000
6. 7pm ABC News – 652,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 596,000
8. Australian Story (ABC) — 537,000
9. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 492,000
10. Four Corners (ABC) — 489,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — National: 466,000, Metro: 270,000
2. Today (Nine) — National: 282,000, Metro 188,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 255,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 240,000
5. Mornings (Nine) — 155,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 69,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. RWC: Scotland v Samoa (Fox Sports 503) — 65,000
2. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 63,000
3. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 57,000
4. AFL On The Couch (Fox Footy) — 51,000
5. Border Security (Fox8) — 48,000