The Winners: Packed to the Rafters averaged 1.853 million at 8.30pm for Seven. RSPCA Animal Rescue averaged 1.319 million at 7.30pm and Last Chance Surgery at 8pm on Seven was third with 1.292 million. Seven News was 4th with 1.255 million and Ten’s fresh episode of NCIS averaged 1.247 million. Today Tonight averaged 1.204 million for Seven in 6th and Home and Away won 7pm for Seven with 1.114 million. The 7pm repeat of Two and a Half Men on Nine averaged 1.090 million. Nine’s 20 to 1 at 7.30pm averaged 1.075 million in 9th spot. Nine News was 10th with 1.061 million and A Current Affair averaged 1.043 million in 11th. Ten’s repeat of Lie To Me at 9.30pm averaged 955,000 and won the timeslot.

The Losers: Aussie Ladette To Lady, Nine, 9.30pm, 657,000. Private Practice on Seven at 9.30pm With 930,000 it’s not a loser, yet. But last week it averaged more than a million people. It has a history of starting strong and then falling as viewers lose interest. Seven really needs a better program (preferably local) for the 9.30pm Tuesday slot next year.

News & CA: Seven News and Today again won nationally and in every market but Melbourne where Nine News and ACA were stronger (the ratings cycle turning up again after turning down a fortnight ago?). The 7pm ABC News in Sydney with 279,000 had more viewers than the 6pm Nine News with 272,000. Seven News at 6pm averaged 308,000 in Sydney. Hardly numbers to write home about, but all that heat and sunlight make it tough in Sydney.

ACA in Melbourne with 380,000 easily beat TT in that market with 314,000. The 7pm ABC News had a national audience of 902,000, The 7.30 Report, 724,000, Lateline, 191,000, Lateline Business, 106,000. Ten’s News averaged 772,000, the late News/Sports Tonight, 391,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 142,000, Insight at 7.30pm, 146,000. And at 7am in the morning Nine’s Today slipped past Sunrise on Seven and won, 354,000 to 351,000. Narrow, but a win which has been coming for a couple of weeks.

The Stats: Seven won 6pm to Midnight All People with a share (all combined) of 33.6% (down from the 36.1% of last week). Nine was second with 25.6% (24.8%), Ten was next with 23.0% (21.6%), the ABC was on 13.7% (13.1%) and SBS was on 4.2% (4.4%). Seven won all five metro markets and leads the week 31.4% to Nine’s 27.2%.

In the regions, Prime/7Qld won with 35.3%, from WIN/NBN with 23.2%, Southern Cross (Ten) with 22.3%, the ABC on 12.8% and SBS on 6.4%.

Digitally: Nine’s GO won with a share of 2.70% (Nine’s main channel was on 23.00%), from ABC 2 with 1.70% (ABC 1, 11.80%), 7TWO with 1.50% (Seven’s main channel on 32.10%), Ten’s ONE with 0.70%, (Ten’s main channel with 22.30%), SBS TWO with 0.40% and SBS ONE was on 3.80%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Tuesday night, Packed The Rafters, down from the wedding high of a week ago, but still so dominant. Seven wins and has the week won as well, helped by solid efforts from the News, Today Tonight, RSPCA Animal Rescue and Last Chance Surgery. On a main channel basis, Nine finished just ahead of Ten.

Nine News and A Current Affair retreated last night, especially ACA from its win on Monday. One-offs are fine, but it’s a five days a week, 52 week battle. Nine News and ACA much stronger than Seven in Melbourne.

In the 16 to 54 age groups, Fusion Strategy reported that after a small gain Sunday prime time, Pay TV’s share fell Monday and last night. Last night the fall was a rather nasty 16% from 6pm to 10.30pm. If that continues, it will hurt.

I am told that Foxtel’s Free To Air advertising this year has been the heaviest it has been than any time in the recent past in its efforts to fight off the impact of the new free digital offerings (and before them, the impact of the recession as it successfully put a lid on its ‘churn’ rate). Free first month, free installation and free IQ boxes have all been offered, along with an intensive ad campaign for the new HD digital offerings and the IQ2 box. The level of Foxtel ads have been so heavy as to be obvious, especially in prime time.

If the FTA digital channels are allowed to show sport on their third channels next year, (except for Ten, which already has one), then Foxtel could be really in trouble because that will put great pressure on its big driver, sport. It will also put pressure on Fox Sports. So will Kerry Stokes show wall to wall sport on Seven’s third digital channel (which has to be HD) and damage Fox Sports and Foxtel, while owning 22% of Consolidated Media, which owns 25% of Foxtel and 50% of Fox Sports owner, Premier Media? That’s a potential conflict of interest of the type that Rupert Murdoch so easily brushes aside.

TONIGHT: Spicks and Specks on the ABC at 8.30pm. Hungry Beast perhaps at 9pm, John Safran, perhaps at 9.30pm. They may not be very popular, but both programs represent attempts to do something different, which is not what you could say what’s on other networks at the moment. Ten has the MasterChef Australia celebrity semi-finals. Seven has City Homicide. Nine has RPA Where Are They Now. Both at 8.30pm.

TOMORROW, EARLY: Unfortunately, those wanting so see Tiger Woods play his early round in the Masters on Nine or Foxtel — bad luck. You may have to tune into the Today show to get a glimpse. TV coverage in Australia has never started in the morning, it’s always from around midday onwards. Nine and Fox Sports apparently assumed that Tiger, because he was the drawcard, would be slotted to tee off around midday to gain maximum coverage for all concerned.

Nope, golf is very picky and choosy about the early rounds and the giants don’t get any advantage in the first two rounds. If Tiger is leading after the first two rounds, he gets to start last on Saturday, and again Sunday for the final round, if he’s the leader after the third round. Tiger will be finishing by the time the TV coverage starts tomorrow. Seven, Nine and the ABC will be watching Nine’s coverage with bemusement because they all know that golf doesn’t work on Australian TV and networks waste valuable resources covering it.

Remember when Greg Norman was a star and Kerry Packer had all his marbles and how the Nine Network went mad on golf, grabbing the US masters, PGA, British Open, US Open and the Australian Open? That coverage has gone (mostly to Ten and Foxtel) where it broadcasters to a handful of desperates. Programs like Sunrise and Today rate more highly.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports