Fortunately for all sane TV-watching Australians with taste, The Bachelor Australia ended last night in a burst of faux passion. Talk about a soulless, nasty program whose tackiness won’t be exceeded until, well, tonight when Seven gives us another round in the just as rotten Beauty and The Geek Australia. And just when you thought it was safe to return to Channel Ten, there’s another episode tonight of The Bachelor Australia entitled “After The Final Rose“. Talk about wringing everything out of such a weak idea. Next will we have The Biggest Loser tie in? (That’s us viewers).

The Bachelor had 1.593 million national/ 1.186 million metro/ 407,000 regional viewers for the Final Decision, while the stuff leading up to the unlucky winner (called Finale) averaged 1.345 million national/ 1.016 million metro/ 329,000 regional viewers.Seven News beat it nationally with 1.693 million national/ 1.129 million metro/ 564,000 regional viewers. That was a small mercy.

No wonder a desperate Ten is bringing this pap back to our screens in 2014. Will Rupert Murdoch, about to be single for a fourth time, be a contestant in the new old geezer category? Ten finished a convincing third in All People in metro markets, but won the 16 to 54 demos. So there will be cheering and bubbles for lunch at Pyrmont. And the few remaining staff at HQ will be let out into the street to soak up the sunlight as a bonus.

This confected bit of rubbish dominated all the demographics, bar over 55’s (naturally), but don’t laugh because they are big spenders, as Seven and Nine are now realising. Ja’mie: Private School Girl kept the faith on ABC1 with 883,000 national/644,000 metro/ 239,000 regional viewers.

Seven won All People in metro markets because of big wins in Adelaide and Perth. Nine was stronger on the East Coast. Ten did well in the demographics in metro markets . In regional markets Seven had a bigger win over Nine, with the ABC ahead in All People and tying Ten in the main channel. But no one will mention the early morning disasters. Ten’s Wake Up saw the audience drift down (56,000 national/ 39,000 metro/ 16,000 regional viewers) while Studio 10 saw viewers flee in their thousands and it averaged just 36,000 national/ 27,000 metro/ 9,000 regional viewers. If that’s repeated, that’s call the Bondi Vet and erect the privacy screens before putting it out of its misery kind of stuff. It is still being done and dusted by News Breakfast which yesterday had 53,000 viewers in metro markets on both ABC1 and  News24. All up, News Breakfast had 173,000 national viewers on ABC1 and News24.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (27.8%)
  2. Nine (25.6%)
  3. Ten (22.0%)
  4. ABC (18.6%)
  5. SBS (5.9%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (19.8%)
  2. Nine (18.1%)
  3. Ten (15.1%)
  4. ABC1 (12.5%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.2%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7mate (4.7%)
  2. Eleven (4.2%)
  3. GO (4.1%)
  4. ABC2 (4.0%)
  5. Gem (3.5%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.693 million
  2. The Bachelor: Final Decision (Ten) — 1.593 million
  3. Nine News — 1.543 million
  4. Home and Away (Seven) – 1.490 million
  5. The Bachelor: Finale (Ten) — 1.345 million
  6. Cosentino (Seven) — 1.334 million
  7. ABC News — 1.228 million
  8. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.227 million
  9. Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Seven) — 1.158 million
  10. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.102 million

Top metro programs:

  1. The Bachelor: Final Decision (Ten) — 1.186 million
  2. Seven News — 1.129 million
  3. Nine News — 1.029 million
  4. The Bachelor: Finale (Ten) — 1.016 million

Losers: Us viewers for The Bachelor (our own fault) and tonight’s offering of Beauty And The Geek on Seven.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.129 million
  2. Nine News — 1.029 million
  3. Today Tonight (Seven) — 975,000
  4. A Current Affair (Nine) — 919,000
  5. ABC News– 851,000
  6. 7.30 (ABC1) — 624,000
  7. Ten Eyewitness News — 533,000
  8. The Project (Ten) – 528,000
  9. SBS World News — 176,000
  10. Lateline (ABC1) — 137,000

Metro morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 377,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 315,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 163,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC1 had 53,000 + 53,000 on News24) — 106,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 100,000
  6. Wake Up (Ten) — 39,000
  7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 27,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8 – (3.1%)
  2. TV1 – (2.9%)
  3. LifeStyle – (2.8%)
  4. Foxtel Movies – (2.0%)
  5. UKTV – (1.7%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Paddock To Plate  (LifeStyle) – 91,000
  2. Seinfeld (TV1) — 75,000
  3. Sons of Anarchy (Showcase) – 73,000
  4. Family Guy (Fox 8 ) – 65,000
  5. Coronation Street (UKTV) – 62,000

*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.