Two explosions dominated TV last night. The more predictable was on Seven, the unpredictable was on ABC1.

The Big Bang might be a theory on the Nine Network, but it’s really a standard way of ending a season of a soap opera with big ratings. And so it was last night for Home and Away — that’s according to the TV Soap Opera producers/ storyline editors manual — and seeing Seven helped invent the manual in this country, it followed it to a tee. The good stuff comes next season according to the end of show promo — some of the survivors will spend months, it seems on drips, crutches, agonising, fighting, being sullen and providing more glorious, meaningless fodder for viewers in 2014. And those who leave us will be in Hollywood or elsewhere, undergoing plastic surgery in case the ratings tank and an old character has to reappear. Home and Away had 1.752 million national/1.145 million metro/ 607,000 regional viewers from 7 to 8.30pm.

The other loud noise was Ja’mie: Private School Girl taking leave of her viewers in typical style. This should end her career as a juvenile — now for a young lady of leisure? Ja’ime’simplosion was watched by 845,000 national/ 623,000 metro/ 222,000 regional viewers. For core viewers for both programs (young people, especially women, under the age of 35 to 39) it was a viewing feast — Home and Away was number 1 andended around 8.30pm. Ja’mie: Private School Girl started at 9pm and was second or third in most younger demos. In the end Seven won easily in metro and regional markets with the ABC in third and Ten again a distant fourth, the story of 2013 for the network.

Breakfast update: Good news for Ten’s Wake Up.The audience yesterday morning jumped by more than 50%, from 24,000 to 37,000 (break out the apple cider and celebrate), but the audience for Studio 10 fell from 35,000 to 32,000. In reality, not much change. The numbers are so small in the great TV scheme of things as to be irrelevant, as the two Ten programs are at the moment. Both programs need a Home and Away moment to sort themselves out, but in reality they are like Ja’mie: Private School Girl — one slow moving trainwreck that you watch between the splayed fingers of both hands over the eyes because to gaze full view is too  distressing.

Today‘s executive producer Neil Breen has left the show at his own instigation. Mark Calvert, Nine’s former news boss who quit a year or two ago unexpectedly, is in the chair. He was brought in two months ago to try and steady the Today ship that has struck a rock and losing viewers in the wake of rival Sunrise changing female hosts from Mel Doyle to Sam Armytage mid-year. Today‘s list has been quite alarming at times — it went from leading Sunrise to badly trailing. That is the big task for Calvert, along with working out (with Nine boss, David Gyngell) if Today should change hosts. That will be the touchy decision because I can’t see Lisa Wilkinson or Karl Stefanovic going lightly for the good of the network — like Mel Doyle went at Sunrise.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (31.8%)
  2. Nine (27.0%)
  3. ABC (19.3%)
  4. Ten (16.5%)
  5. SBS (5.4%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (23.6%)
  2. Nine (17.8%)
  3. ABC1 (12.9%)
  4. Ten (9.8%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.7%)

Top digital channels: 

  1. GO (5.5%)
  2. 7mate (5.0%)
  3. Gem (4.1%
  4. ABC2, Eleven (3.9%)
  5. 7TWO(3.2%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.752 million
  2. Seven News — 1.634 million
  3. Nine News — 1.471 million
  4. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.001 million
  5. ABC News — 1.183 million
  6. Marvel’s Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Seven) — 1.110 million
  7. RBT (Nine) — 1.072 million
  8. 7.30 (ABC1) — 1.030 million
  9. A Current Affair (Nine) — 939,000
  10. QI repeat (ABC1) — 938,000

Top metro programs:

  1. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.145 million
  2. Seven News — 1.081 million
  3. Nine News — 1.057 million
  4. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.001 million

Losers: A few members of the cast of Home and Away, and some of the schoolmates of Ja’mie.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.081 million
  2. Nine News — 1.057 million
  3. Today Tonight (Seven) — 1.001 million
  4. ABC News — 813,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 719,000
  6. 7.30 (ABC1) — 688,000
  7. Ten Eyewitness News — 604,000
  8. The Project (Ten) — 471,000
  9. Lateline (ABC1) — 179,000
  10. SBS World News — 158,000

Metro morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 392,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 313,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 194,000
  4. Mornings (Nine) — 107,000
  5. News Breakfast (ABC1  61,000 + 42,000 on News 24) — 102,000
  6. Wake Up (Ten) — 37,000
  7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 32,000

Top pay TV channels:

  1. TV1 – (3.2%)
  2. Fox 8, LifeStyle  – (3.0%)
  3. LifeStyle You, Disney Jr – (1.9%)
  4. Fox Classics – (1.8%)
  5. UKTV – (1.7%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Paddock To Plate (LifeStyle) – 107,000
  2. Grand Designs Australia (LifeStyle) – 77,000
  3. Seinfeld (TV 1) – 75,000
  4. Seinfeld (TV 1)– 74,000
  5. Selling Houses Australia (LifeStyle) – 70,000

*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.