The Winners: Seven’s Packed To The Rafters averaged 1.857 million people. Ten’s Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation averaged 1.580 million at 7.30pm to 8.30pm. Seven News was 3rd with 1.564 million and Air Ways at 7.30pm averaged 1.549 million. Surf Patrol at 8pm on Seven was 5th with 1.485 million, with Today Tonight next with 1.427 million. Home and Away at 7pm won the slot for the first time in two months or more with 1.349 million. A Current Affair was 8th for Nine with 1.340 million and Nine News was 9th with 1.247 million. 10th was All Saints at 9.30pm with 1.247 million and the 7pm repeat of Two and a Half Men averaged 1.203 million. Next came Ten’s NCIS repeat at 8.30pm with 1.166 million, The 7pm Project averaged 1.073 million for Ten, down noticeably from Monday night. The 9.30pm episode of NCIS averaged 1.033 million and Grand Designs on the ABC at 8.30pm averaged 1.017 million. Foreign Correspondent averaged 758,000 at 8pm for the ABC. Dance Your Ass Off, 797,000 for Nine from 7.30pm to 9pm (see below).

The Losers: Nine, all night. Dance Your Ass Off was an insult to TV viewers. It was all downhill from A Current Affair. If it wasn’t for Nine News, ACA and then the Two and a Half Men repeat at 7pm averaging more than 1.2 million viewers, Nine would have gone close to 4th place nationally. As it was the network did achieve that in two markets (see below). Two and a Half Men at 9pm, 516,000, 20 to 1 at 9.30pm, 736,000. Terrible figures for a leading network. All self-inflicted.

News & CA: Seven News and Today Tonight again won nationally and again lost Melbourne to Nine News and ACA. the 7pm ABC news averaged 993,000, The 7.30 Report, 739,000. Lateline, 179,000, Lateline Business, 119,000. Ten’s News, 976,000, the late News/Sports Tonight, 461,000. Nine’s late News, 173,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 181,000, Insight at 7.30pm, 204,000, the 9.30pm News, 243,000. 7am Sunrise. 386,000, 7am Today, 293,000.

The Stats: Seven won 6pm to midnight All People with a share of 33.9% (30.0%), from Ten with 26.0% (30.2%), Nine back on 21.8% (21.6%), the ABC on 13.8% (12.9%) and SBS with 4.4% (5.4%). Seven won all five metro markets. Ten won 16 to 39 and 18 to 49, Seven won 25 to 54. Ten still leads the week, 29.5% to 27.6% for Seven and 23.3% for Nine. A similar outcome in regional areas with Nine third as well. Prime/7Qld averaged 33.0% from Southern Cross (Ten) with 25.1%, WIN/NBN with 20.4%, the ABC on 15.0% and SBS with 6.5%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: So, what was the big news from last night? Third place for Nine Nationally as it dredged the bottom of TV ineptitude. Dance Your Ass Off at 7.30pm last night on Nine was horrible and to think Nine chose this program and showed it to the Australian viewing public.

Viewers rejected Dance Your Ass Off as it averaged 797,000 for the 90 minutes last night … a distant third. It helped Nine run third nationally and fourth in Adelaide and Perth behind the ABC. That won’t please WIN which owns those stations. Seeing WIN’s affiliation fees now account for well over half Nine’s operating profits, expect some robust discussions between WIN management and Nine’s David Gyngell and Michael Healy.

Will Dance Your Ass Off last in the slot for next week? Who at Nine bought this tripe?

Packed To The Rafters again showed Nine what is needed on TV to get viewers to stay with a program (as did Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation on Ten at 7.30pm, and Grand Designs on the ABC at 8.30pm).

The 7pm Project is still alive, but Ten viewers turned off. It will hit a low in coming days, then we have to see if it has any reliance, or whether Ten has the guts to keep it going and force changes on Rove’s production crew. It is not Rove Monday to Friday. But unlike the Nine Network, Ten continues to have a real go at filling its troubled time slots.

TONIGHT: Only six more episodes of The Cook and The Chef on the ABC at 6.30pm, so watch while you can for another well-made, gentle cooking show that informs. The ABC also has Spicks and Specks and The Chaser. A solid night.

Nine has RPA tonight. Australia’s Perfect Couple starts at 7.30pm. Eight couples and Jules Lund, who doesn’t have the best strike rate for new programs on Nine. Seven starts World’s Strictest Parents at 7.30pm against Australia’s Perfect Couple. Both contrived reality programs. SBS has the Tour de France later on. Ten has The 7 pm Project and three episodes of The Simpsons.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports