The Glenn Dyer breakdown: Seven’s win thanks to another big night for My Kitchen Rules — not as massive a night as Wednesday, but more than enough to give the network another easy win over Nine, the ABC and a weak Ten (which is being stalked by Seven’s owner, Kerry Stokes). Seven also had another big win in regional markets, led by MKR. Nine’s The Block All Stars continues to hold up with more than a million metro and over 1.5 million national viewers.

Ten’s Murdoch-driven programming woes continued last night as American Idol again flopped, badly. It averaged just 270,000 metro viewers and 365,000 nationally for the two hours from 7.30pm. Ten’s core Australian audience continues to desert what they recognise is confected American TV pap. They may or may not return for the final.

SBS’s Food Safari had the same sized audience for the half hour from 7.30pm. That was a very good audience for SBS, but it was an embarrassment for Ten, a major commercial network. And it is an embarrassment for the Murdoch family’s company, News Corp and its Fox TV arm, which makes this appalling bit of American TV.

Unless Hamish McLennan can take control of Ten’s programming wholly with the power to axe duds like Idol, you will have to ask: what will be the point of being CEO? And former Seven star Adam Boland is joining Ten to have “fun”. At this rate Ten’s Thursday night ratings will soon dip to record lows.

Tonight: Well, not much. Better Homes and Gardens on Seven. The Living Room on Ten at 9.30pm after the American Idol. Dr Blake Murder Mysteries on ABC1 are the stand-out tonight. Nine has a needless Friday episode of The Block All Stars.

Weekend alert: Meet The Press on Ten at 10.30am and The Paradise on ABC1 at 7.30pm Saturday. Fairy floss TV in both cases, but the first is more difficult to consume. It’s certainly not brain food.

Saturday: A weak day and night. The second Test on pay TV. Movies on Seven and Nine. Fresh Bondi Vet on Ten from 7.30pm, and the desperate network repeats Can of Worms at 10.50pm. The second Test against India starts today and is on pay TV.

Sunday: The morning chats (avoid Meet the Press unless you like talking to the TV). Landline on ABC1 at noon. More Test cricket (hopefully) on pay TV. The Block All Stars on Nine, Sunday Night and Downton Abbey on Seven. MasterChef: The Professionals on Ten and then Elementary. Midsomer Murders on ABC1.

The top 10 national programs (metro and regional combined):

  1. My Kitchen Rules (Seven) — 2.781 million.
  2. Seven News –1.694 million.
  3. Nine News — 1.583 million.
  4.  The Block All Stars (Nine) — 1,583 million.
  5. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.446 million.
  6. Bones (Seven) — 1.439 million.
  7. ABC1 News — 1.414 million.
  8. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.254 million.
  9. A Current Affair — 1.135 million.
  10. 7.30 (ABC1) — 1.124 million.

The metro winners:

  1. My Kitchen Rules (Seven, 7.30pm) — 1.952 million.
  2. Seven News (6pm) — 1.164 million
  3. Nine News (6pm) — 1.120 million.
  4.  The Block All Stars (Nine, 7pm) — 1.040 million.
  5. Today Tonight (Seven, 6.30pm) — 1.028 million.
  6. Home and Away (Seven, 7pm) — 1.013 million.

The Losers: Ten, sigh!Metro news and current affairs: Nine News won Sydney and Melbourne, Seven news won Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne by enough to win nationally. A Current Affair won Melbourne, comfortably, Today Tonight won the rest (Perth by a big margin as A Current Affair only had 50,000 viewers).

  1. Seven News (6pm)– 1.164 million.
  2. Nine News (6pm) — 1.120 million.
  3. Today Tonight (Seven, 6.30pm) — 1.028 million.
  4. ABC1 News (7pm) — 982,000.
  5. A Current Affair (Nine, 6.30pm) — 952,000.
  6. 7.30 (ABC1) — 725,000.
  7. Ten News(5pm) — 621,000.
  8. The Project (Ten, 6.30pm) — 427,000.
  9. Lateline (ABC1, 10.30pm) — 216,000.
  10. SBS ONE News (6.30pm) — 167,000.
  11. Ten Late News (10.30pm) — 145,000.
  12. The Business (ABC1, 11pm) — 115,000 + 26,000 on News 24.
  13. SBS ONE Late News (10.30pm) — 69,000.
  14. The Drum (News 24, 6pm) — 44,000.

In the morning:

  1. Sunrise (Seven, 7am) — 387,000.
  2. Today (Nine, 7am) — 357,000.
  3. The Morning Show (Seven, 9am) — 178,000.
  4. Mornings (Nine, 9am) — 119,000.
  5. News Breakfast (ABC1, 7am) — 65,000 + 26,000 on News 24.

Metro free to air: Seven (three channels) won with a share of 35.8%, from Nine (three) on 25.5%, the ABC (four) was again third with 18.4%, Ten (three) was fourth on 14.1% and SBS (three) ended with 6.1%. Seven leads the week with 39.0% from Nine on 22.5%, the ABC is on 17.5%, Ten is on 16.3% and SBS is on 4.8%.

Main channels: Seven won with a share of 28.5% from Nine on 19.7%, ABC1 was on 12.9% and Ten was on 8.2%, with SBS ONE on 5%. Seven leads the week with 31.6% from Nine with 15.2%, ABC 1 on 14.0%, Ten on 10.4% and SBS ONE on 3.7%.

Metro digital: Last night 7mate won with a share of 3.95, with GO on 3.7%, ABC2 on 3.6%, 7mate on 3.4%, Eleven on 3.2%, ONE on 2.7%, Gem on 2.1%, SBS TWO and News 24 on 1.0% each, ABC 3 on 0.9% and NITV on 0.1%. The 11 channels had a free-to-air share of 25.6%. GO still leads the week with 4.1% from 7mate on 3.8% and 7TWO on 3.6%.

Metro including pay TV: Seven (three channels) won with a share of 27.5%, from Nine (three) on 21.0%, the ABC (four) was next with 15.3%, Ten (three) was fourth on 10.4% and SBS (3) ended with 5.4%. The 15 free-to-air channels had a total viewing share of 82.6%, the lowest of the week so far. The five main channels share was 63.8% after the 11 digital channels share totalled a low 18.8%. Pay TV’s share was the highest of the week so far at 17.4%, based on the 200-plus channels on Foxtel.

The top five pay TV channels were:

  1. TV1 — 2.7%.
  2. LifeStyle — 2.6%.
  3. Fox 8 — 2.3%.
  4. A&E — 2.1%.
  5. UKTV — 1.8%.

The five most-watched programs on pay TV were:

  1. Grand Designs (LifeStyle) — 94,000.
  2. The Simpsons (Fox 8) — 73,000.
  3. Eastenders (UKTV) — 60,000.
  4. Gold Rush (Discovery) — 56,000.
  5. Coronation Street (UKTV) — 55,000.

Regional: Prime/7Qld (three channels) won with a share of 37.0%, from WIN/NBN (three) on 28.1%, the ABC (four) was again thirdwith 17.0%, SC Ten (three) was fourth on 12.4% and SBS (three) ended with 5.5%. Prime/7Qld won the main channels with 27.4%, from WIN/NBN on 21.8%, ABC1 was on 11.6% and SC Ten was on 6.2%. The digitals were won by with 7TWO with 5.0%, 7mate was on 4.7% and GO was on 3.7%. The 11 digital channels had an FTA share of 28.5%. Prime/7Qld leads the week with 36.6%, with WIN/NBN on 28.4%, the ABC is on 16.9% and SC Ten is on 4.5%.

The five most-watched programs in regional markets were:

  1. My Kitchen Rules—  829,000.
  2. Nine News — 548,000.
  3. The Block All Stars — 543,000.
  4. Seven News — 530,000.
  5. Bones — 517,000.

Major metro markets: A clean sweep for Seven, Nine and the ABC overall and Seven, Nine and ABC1 in the main channels. Ten just didn’t get a look in. GO won the digitals in Sydney and Perth, ABC2 won Brisbane and 7TWO won Melbourne and Adelaide. Seven leads in all five metro markets from Nine and the ABC.

(All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight all people)

Source: Oztam, TV Networks data