The Winners: Seven News was again tops with 1.585 million people, with Ten’s 8.30pm repeat of NCIS second with 1.558 million. Today Tonight was 3rd with 1.503 million and Bondi Rescue was 4th with 1.490 million viewers. The 9.30pm repeat episode of NCIS was 5th with 1.386 million people and The Biggest Loser averaged 1.184 million at 7pm and won the slot. Home and Away averaged 1.179 million to be close behind and Nine News was 8th with 1.153 million people. Nine’s cheap clips show, Commercial Breakdown averaged 1.135 million at 8pm and the Two and a Half Men repeat at 7pm averaged 1.133 million people. The repeat of Animal Rescue at 7.30pm averaged 1.117 million for Seven and the repeat at 8pm of Find My Family, averaged 1.104 million. The 7pm ABC News was 13th with 1.089 million and A Current Affair was 14th with 1.084 million. Nine’s recut of Funniest Home Videos at 7.30pm scraped into the million viewer list in 15th spot with 1.038 million.

The Losers: Hell’s Kitchen on Nine 625,000. How The mighty have fallen. Lead Balloon on the ABC at 8pm, 469,000. Seven’s different movies in Sydney and Melbourne. less than 600,000 viewers from 8.30pm. Terrible TV.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally and in every market as did Today Tonight. A Current Affair was weak in Sydney with 291,000 viewers. Nine News has 327,000. The 7pm ABC News (311,000) and The 7.30 Report (325,000. Seven News in Sydney had 473,000 and TT, 464,000. The 7.30 Report averaged 946,000 nationally. Lateline, 228,000 and Lateline Business, 144,000. Ten News averaged 964,000 and the late News/Sports Tonight averaged 583,000 and finished a high 23rd nationally. SBS News at 6.30pm averaged 166,000, Insight, 305,000 and the late News at 9.30pm, 135,000. 7am Sunrise, 363,000, 7am Today, 301,000.

The Stats: Ten won 6pm to midnight All People with a share of 31.3% (28.2% last week), from Seven on 24.5% (29.8%), Nine with 24.1% (24.5%), the ABC with 15.7% (14.0%0 and SBS with 4.5%. Ten won everything, easily. Ten won all five metro markets. Nine leads the week with 26.2% from Ten with 25.7% and Seven on 25.0%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Ten won because it had to keep faith with viewers with The Biggest Loser and it showed a fresh Bondi Rescue which got its best ever figures. The repeat of NCIS was watched by an almost unchanged audience, underlining that when there’s nothing on elsewhere and people want to watch TV, they will watch repeats of a well known program. Seven’s repeats were designed to keep the network on air for the night last night. It was a cost against revenue exercise for it and Nine.

Nine has just revealed details of the limited return of Eddie McGuire to our screens from Monday April 20 at 5.30pm. Millionaire Hot Seat. The rules are complicated, it might be easier to win a jackpot on one of the pokies at Collingwood’s dud pubs and clubs in Melbourne.

Here’s what someone at Nine wrote for Eddie:

“Millionaire is back by popular demand for a limited season and I’m delighted to be part of the action again,” McGuire said.

“As the world global crisis hits, never has it been more appropriate to give as many people as possible a chance to win some great money.”

The release suggested that the program was five nights a week indefinitely, but in the release, Eddie says its limited. How limited?

The banks funding CVC’s ownership of PBL Media are going to rue the day they gave the company an 18 month interest free period. David Gyngell will end up p%^&^ing it up against Seven, Ten and the ABC to no great effect. Nine needs more money spent on its news, especially in Sydney and on replacing or revamping A Current Affair. The millionaire program is expensive and Nine will lose in the 5pm to 6pm because of the higher costs. the new program will be there and then gone. It may attract new viewers, it may not. But it is not the answer to Nine’s woes, nor is Eddie McGuire. But is it a way for Nine to expense the last payments of Eddie’s huge contract against revenue and bury it in the costs of the new Millionaire?

TONIGHT: The ABC gives us fresh episodes of Spicks and Specks and The Gruen Transfer. Regardless of their current faults, they are oases of wit and intelligent program making on any night, especially tonight. Nine has returns of What’s Good For You at 7.30pm (in a slimmer, half hour version) and RPA at 8pm. Both are coming back out of ratings, which should raise warning signals, but it is Nine and they are short of programs viewers like.

Both, especially RPA, are to be watched if you want something fresh and well made. But then The Mentalist at 8.30pm and Cold Case at 9.30pm are repeats, as is the hoary old Two and a Half Men at 7pm (has anyone noticed how quickly Jake the half a man is growing up in the fresh eps. They will have to end the series soon or change the name. Any suggestions?).

Seven has Home and Away and Australia’s Got Talent. Criminal Minds are also old and repeated at 8.30pm, as are Crimes That Shook The World, again.

Ten has a fresh The Biggest Loser, then a repeat of The Simpsons (two tonight in total), then a fresh Guerilla Gardeners at 8pm. House at 8.30pm is fresh, according to the guides. This is its big chance to do well. If it doesn’t, it will explain why Ten is running new eps out of ratings because it no longer figures it’s a ratings winner and has lost its mojo. Life is fresh at 9.30pm on Ten, but that has been dying since around the third week of being on air this year.

SBS returns Food Safari at 7.30pm in the only highlight of the night for that network.

On the ABC at 6.30pm, a fresh Cook and The Chef. Well worth a look.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports