The latest OzTAM figures: Monday morning’s Australia/Brazil
figures have again come under scrutiny with pollster Gary Morgan claiming OzTam
has
underestimated the actual audience for the game by more than 50%. OzTam
puts the national audience for the 2-0 loss at a smidge over 2 million
but according to a telephone
survey conducted by Gary Morgan the actual audience for the game was
much closer to 4.5 million. Morgan says OzTAM figures are misleading
for major sporting
events such as The World Cup because OzTAM’s people meters miss viewers
at public venues like pubs and
clubs, younger people and hard to interview people who live in
apartments and short term rented premises. Last week OzTAM claimed 2.89
million people tuned into the
Australia/Japan clash but a Morgan survey put the audience much
closer to 7 million people. – Misha Ketchell

Last night’s TV ratings
The winners: Seven won thanks to the dynamic duo of Border Patrol
(first with 2.159 million people on average from 7.30pm to 8pm) followed by
Medical Emergency (with 1.853 million from 8pm to 8.30pm, Then Seven News with
1.613 million, Today Tonight with 1.531 million, Home and Away, 1.453
million and All Saints (Seven, 8.30pm to 9.30pm) with 1.44 million. So from
5.30pm to 9.30pm, Seven dominated Tuesday night. Nine popped up next with the
News (1.392 million), Temptation, 1.356 million, A Current Affair, 1.346
million, Ten’s The Wedge (up 150,000 from the week before with 1.176 million),
The Bill, Tuesday with 1.120 million was 12th. Survivor Panama was 13th for Nine
with 1.080 million (but the first two hours did better than the second part of
the program that followed an hour later). Big Brother at 7pm was 14th with
1.076 million, Neighbours was above a million again with 1.070 million, Rove
Live had its second best audience of the year with 1.057 million (and won across
the network) and Deal or No Deal with 1.045 million, was the 17th program with a
million or more viewers. That means a very competitive night that was dominated
between 7.30 and 8.30pm by Seven’s duo.

The losers: Losers? Bert’s Family Feud on 723,000, comforting early
evening audiences in winter who like his boyish looks and smooth charm. Deal or
No deal averaged 1.045 million viewers, many of whom have blood pressure
problems after watching the hyperactive program (makes Bert sound like Library
Hour at times). The ABC’s Agony Aunts came to an end for Clive Robertson,
652,000 viewers: the Aunts were a bit agonising themselves but an interesting
idea and some brave people to expose themselves.

News and CA: Yes, another national win for Seven News which won
everywhere bar Sydney, but the 153,000 margin in Perth was a big part of the
221,000 national margin.Today Tonight beat A Current Affair, which lost
everywhere bar Melbourne where it followed up Nine News’s victory. TT won by
126,000 in Perth and 185,000 nationally. Ten News at Five averaged 958,000
people, the 7pm ABC News, 965,000 viewers but the 7.30 report fell to 744,000.
No golf on Nine and Today‘s audience jumps to 229,000 between 7am and 9am
(only 92,000 between 6am and 7am) and Sunrise‘s audience between 7am and 9am
slips to 459,000, down around 70,000: Early Sunrise averaged 224,000 against
early Today. That can be Eddie McGuire’s first real decision: shut the Early
Today Show.

The stats: A win to Seven with a 30.7% share (31.4% a week
earlier), to Nine on 26.0% (25.4%), Ten on 22.5% (19.8%), the ABC on 14.3%
(13.6%) and SBS on 6.5% (9.8%). Seven won all five metro markets and now leads
Nine in the week, 28.0% to 27.2%.


Glenn Dyer’s comments: Nothing like a bit of Border insecurity to help
viewers adjust their TV sets and so it was last night. Nine will be happy that
Survivor Panama has come and gone: the final last night was underwhelming, just
1.08 million. The format is tired, the contestants are boring: it deserves to go
to Pay TV. Nine stuffed it up. It was coded as one show in the ratings: the first
over two hours from 7.30pm, averaged around 1.25 million the second an hour
later at 10.30pm, the so-called reunion episode when the contestants get
together, rated poorly and crashed the average to just over a million. And we
can expect a Celebrity version from Seven later this year – at least they will be
simpering in Australian. Will viewers go for it after turning up their noses at
the latest US series? Tonight it’s another assault by Ten using “Intruders” in
Big Brother to try and frighten viewers, sorry, attract and hold younger
viewers. But House and NCIS should prove too strong for McLeod’s Daughters and
Without a Trace on Nine and Seven’s Beyond Tomorrow (final episode), Prison
Break and the return of 24 (Hasn’t Jack been killed, yet, in the off season,
please). The ABC has Spicks and Specks and the fabulously corrupt Absolute
Power – all spinners, corporate, the good, the bad, the indifferent, the between
jobs and otherwise, should be made to watch it in admiration!