Almost a draw in the metros with Seven just ahead in Total People and the main channels, and doing well in the demos. In the regions, Seven was a bigger winner. The ABC also was third in the regions, with Ten a distant fourth, unlike the metros where Ten had its nose in front in third place.

The ABC again had the most entertaining programming starting with Catalyst (940,000 national viewers) and through Upper Middle Bogan (848,000 national viewers) and on to It’s A Date (648,000 national viewers) which ended at 9.30pm. Seven’s Beauty And The Geek returned last night from its night off last week and averaged 1.153 million viewers nationally, well short of the 1.33 million for the second episode last week of Dancing With The Stars. But it helped Seven to win the demos, more than offsetting Nine’s Big Brother (which is just as appalling). It could only manage 725,000 national viewers.

Good news for the Seven network: ITV announced overnight that it has commissioned a sixth series of Downton Abbey. Production starts early in 2015, which is when we will see series five here in Australia on Seven. In much worse news, the increasingly desperate Fox Tv Network has resurrected Are You Smarter than A Fifth Grader which ran for three seasons from 2007 to 2009 and was hosted by comedian Jeff Foxworthy. He’s coming back to host this turkey in 2015. Ten ran it here, hosted by Rove McManus. He’s between engagements and Ten needs new programs, even if they are old ones which have already screened.  This decision by Fox tells us how bare the TV format cupboard has become in the US, especially among reality or related style programs.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (30.5%)
  2. Nine (29.1%)
  3. Ten (17.8%)
  4. ABC (16.8%)
  5. SBS (5.8%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (19.4%)
  2. Nine (19.0%)
  3. Ten (12.0%)
  4. ABC (11.9%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.7%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (5.7%)
  2. 7Mate (5.4)
  3. Gem (5.2%)
  4. GO (4.9%)
  5. Eleven (3.6%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Nine News — 1.359 million
  2. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.328 million
  3. Seven News — 1.236 million
  4. Kings Cross ER (Nine) — 1.230 million
  5. Beauty And The Geek Australia (Seven) — 1.153 million
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.100 million
  7. ABC News — 1.062 million
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 1.055 million
  9. Nine News 6.30 — 948,000
  10. Catalyst (ABC) — 940,000

Losers: Seven viewers who didn’t want to watch Beauty And The Geek Australia. The Happenings on Seven at 9.45pm was very odd — mass hypnosis? 418,000 national viewers were ‘glued’ to their seats by what was happening on the screen, or they were asleep with the TV set on.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News — 959,000
  2. Seven News — 951,000
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 948,000
  4. A Current Affair —  943,000
  5. Seven News/Today Tonight — 873,000
  6. ABC News — 706,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 700,000
  8. Ten Eyewitness News
  9. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 475,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 397,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 360,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 290,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 129,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  71,000 + 44,000 on News 24) — 115,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 108,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 53,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8  (2.7%)
  2. LifeStyle  (2.7%)
  3. TVHITS  (2.2%)
  4. UKTV (1.9%)
  5. Foxtel Movies Premiere (1.6%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Grand Designs Australia (LifeStyle) – 98,000
  2. The Big Bang Theory (Comedy) – 69,000
  3. Location Location Location (LifeStyle) — 67,000
  4. Modern Family (Fox8) – 51,000
  5. The 100 (Fox8) – 50,000

*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.