Media briefs and TV ratings, Feb 08, 2008

Here’s something we prepared earlier: It’s 6pm on Thursday and Sky Business Channel has taken time out from the breaking news grind and decided to replay Wednesday’s bulletin. According to our erstwhile hosts, Allan Moss has just resigned as Macquarie CEO and BHP have just offered Rio Tinto shareholders a 3.4:1 scrip deal. Lucky the markets are already closed… – an eagle eyed Sky Business watcher.

Last night’s TV ratings
The Winners: It was a good night with 11 programs watched by a million or more viewers. RPA averaged 1.379 million, Seven News, 1.356 million, Today Tonight, 1.275 million for third and Home And Away was next with 1.222 million. Nine News was 5th with 1.158 million and the 7pm ABC News followed with 1.105 million. A Current Affair got 1.093 million, Kitchen Nightmares USA on Nine at 9.30pm averaged 1,088 million and Seven’s The Amazing Race at 7.30pm averaged 1.027 million. Getaway had 1.021 million (it was average). Ten’s repeat of Law And Order SVU averaged 1.005 million. Seven’s Out of The Question at 8.30pm averaged 997,000. The Biggest Loser for Ten at 7pm, 957,000. Two And A Half Men on Nine at 7pm, 934,000 and 4th.

The Losers: Losers? Nothing really … it was a solid night. Lost returned for Seven with 912,000. Not a loser, but there are developments awaiting. The spin from America is that Lost is back on track. Was it ever off? Inspector Rex, a repeat, had 425,000 viewers and was on SBS for audience boosting purposes only.

News & CA: Seven News won everywhere bar Adelaide. Today Tonight won everywhere bar Melbourne. Nine News was better last night in Sydney but ACA was again weak. The 7pm ABC News was again the number one news program in Melbourne. Rumours are that Nine’s News and Current Affairs boss, John Westacott is pushing his 60 Minutes fav, Peter Overton, more and more towards Mark Ferguson’s chair as the Sydney reader. Why not get Overton to front Sunday in place of Ray? Overton’s gravitas would suit the new light and short Sunday content. Sunday won’t be with us for long anyway. Elsewhere: Ten News At Five averaged 833,000, the Late News/Sports Tonight 460,000. The 7.30 Report averaged 873,000. Lateline, 184,000, Lateline Business 116,000. World News Australia, 196,000 at 6.30pm, 260,000 at 9.30pm. Nine’s Nightline, 384,000. 7am Sunrise 402,000, 7am Today 282,000.

The Stats: Nine won with a share of 30.0% from Seven with 27.7%, Ten with 22.6%, the ABC on 13.5% and SBS on 6.2%. Nine won Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Seven won Brisbane and Perth. Seven now leads the week, 27.4% to Ten on 26.8%, and Nine on 24.7%. In regional areas a win to NBN/WIN for Nine with 30.8%, from Prime/7Qld with 25.7%, Ten with 24.3% for Southern Cross, the ABC on 11.7% and SBS with 7.5%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: A solid rebound for Nine from the disaster that was Wednesday night. It’s significant that it was the old stager RPA that did the trick with viewers. Getaway returned with just over a million viewers. But it was a pretty flat and in fact a fairly objectionable ep. It had a promo (called Celebrity Getaway) that merely plugged a movie opening here in Australia called Fool’s Gold. I wonder if it was somehow part of an ad deal with the network. It was sus. Then there was the segment that plugged Nine’s Underbelly. Seven’s Out Of The Question shed 15% of the audience, but next week will have a stronger lead in. Ten’s new program, Saving Kids with Damien Leith averaged 823,000. OK but not brilliant. RPA is a better act. Tonight it’s Nine and the One Day International cricket versus the rain as Australia and Sri Lanka battle it out with umbrellas and the Duckworth-Lewis scoring system. The way its been raining in Sydney, ducks will be common (sorry). More cricket on Sunday on Nine. Seven returns Grey’s Anatomy and Brothers and Sisters … Ten has TBL and the dancing thing, the ABC has Miss Marple and Robin Hood (he takes from the viewers). Mythbusters on SBS tomorrow night has a segment with Roger Clemens, the American baseball pitcher accused of using performance enhancing drugs. Will the Mythbusters test him for those? Now that would be a real “Mythbuster”, wouldn’t it?