Glenn Dyer’s TV ratings: Ten bounces back

Seven launched its 2014 line up at a function in Sydney last night, with 85 minutes of speeches. Leaving aside the marketing/ integration hype which dominated last night, the new and returning programs look solid, more than last year. Around seven new programs at this stage. The overseas newbies are Resurrection (new, from Brad Pitt’s company. More interesting than flops like Last Resort and Red Widow earlier this year), Meet the Goldbergs (a Modern Family clone set in the 1980s) and Intelligence, all from the US.

From Australia, the previously announced INXS: Never Tear Us Apart, a redone The Amazing Race with teams from Australia and New Zealand competing within the race. And surprises, Australia: The Story of Us (a sweeping historical series for 2014 and the centenary of the start of World War 1) and a complete surprise in The Killing Field with Rebecca Gibney (a police procedural).  And then there’s Bringing Back Sexy (AKA, The Biggest Loser tarted up and self explanatory). And there’s a new program for Seven from Paul Fenech (Housos) called Bogan Hunters. It is bound for 7mate. Seven’s cast of existing winners are returning, Downton Abbey, House Rules, Home and Away, Mr Selfridge, The X Factor, Sunday Night, Better Homes and Gardens >and A Place To Call Home, plus sport (AFL on four nights a week in prime time), The Australian Tennis Open (a choice of one of eight live feeds from the Open). No mention of news and current affairs, except that Seven shows over 2,500 hours of it a year. Sunday Night is sure to return given its very high ratings at the moment, but will there be changes for Today Tonight and the 6pm news in Sydney and Melbourne?

Last night: After Ten’s appalling Monday night (its metro 16 to 54 audience was down nearly 40%, last night it was up 25%), the network bounced back with a solid performance, but will regress with tonight’s weak offering. Seven won the night, Nine did well in the demos. Seven had an hour news in Sydney and no Today Tonight. Nine had an hour news in Sydney and ran A Current Affair at 7pm, as it has been doing. Ten also beat the ABC in regional markets. Seven won metro markets easily and regional markets in a dominant fashion. Dancing With The Stars (1.757 million national/ 1.137 million metro/ 620,000 regional viewers) was the big difference for Seven last night. Its audience seems to have settled down.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (31.5%)
2. Nine (23.4%)
3. Ten (21.o%)
4. ABC (18.3%)
5. SBS (5.8%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (23.6%)
2. Nine (18.3%)
3. Ten (14.4%)
4. ABC 1 (12.9%)
5. SBS ONE (4.7%)

Top digital channels: 

1. 7TWO (5.1)
2. Eleven (4.5%)
3. ABC 2 (3.1%)
4. 7mate (2.9%)
5. GO, Gem, ONE (2.5%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.765 million
2. Dancing With The Stars (Seven) — 1.757 million
3. Nine News — 1.719 million
4. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.526 million
5. ABC News — 1.449 million
6. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.310 million
7. Big Brother (Nine) — 1.245 million
8. 7.30 (ABC1) — 1.211 million
9. NCIS (Ten) — 1.135 million
10. Foreign Correspondent (ABC1) — 1.117 million

Top metro programs:

1. Nine News — 1.153 million
2. Dancing With The Stars (Seven) — 1.137 million
3. Seven News — 1.117 million
4. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.014 million

Losers:  No one really. Ten picked up with NCIS (1.135 million national/775,000 metro/ 360,000 regional viewers) back in the line up. That’s been a rarity in recent months — it’s one of the few programs Ten has with a national audience of more than a million viewers.Metro news and current affairs:

1. Nine News — 1.153 million
2. Seven News — 1.117 million
3. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.014 million
4. ABC News — 984,000
5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 908,000
6. 7.30 (ABC1) — 788,000
7. Foreign Correspondent (ABC1) — 732,000
8. Ten News – 949,000
9. The Project (Ten) — 554,000
10. Ten Eyewitness News Late — 270,000

Metro morning TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) – 392,000
2. Today (Nine) – 335,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC1, 74,000 + 44,000 on News24)– 118,000

Top pay TV channels:

1. Fox 8 (2.7%)
2. LifeStyle , TV1  (2.6%)
3. UKTV, Fox Classics  (1.7%)
4. Sky News, A&E  (1.6%)
5. Nick Jr  (1.5%)

Top pay TV programs:

1. Pawn Stars (A&E)  – 58,000
2. The Inspector Lynley Mysteries  (13th Street) – 56,000
3. Back Page (Fox Sports 1) – 56,000
4. Hart of Dixie (Fox 8 ), Million Dollar Auctions (A&E) – 49,000
5. Selling Houses Australia  (LifeStyle), Futurama (Fox 8 ), Law & Order SVU (TV1)  – 48,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2013. The data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM. (All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight all people.) and network reports.