Glenn Dyer’s TV ratings: MKR and the cricket mow down competitors

The Beast was let loose on a wedding last night. Will the bride and groom watch My Kitchen Rules again? It was a function to remember. All those willing food testers among the bridal party and guests! My Kitchen Rules again feasted richly with 2.221 million viewers, 980,000 more viewers nationally than The Block on Nine (1.240 million).

Nine had more people because of the ODI on Gem, Seven easily won the main channels with My Kitchen Rules, in the metros and the regions and won the major demos again. The One Day International cricket averaged 250,000 people across its hours and hours of play on Nine. On Fox Sports it averaged around 140,000 across the hours of play, with the post game presentation spiking to 440,000.  The total national audience for the game was around 400,000. In fact the ODI on Fox Sports 3 distorted the night’s viewing on pay TV — the channel’s 10.3% share among subscription channels depressed shares for others such as Fox8 and LifeStyle.

The fabulous ODI between NZ and South Africa on Gem and on Fox Sports deserved a bigger audience. A great game played in good spirit. Gem topped digital channels the night with a metro share of 7.7% (and over 8% in regional markets). But that helped the very high audience for the Poirot episode which followed the end of the ODI. Poirot had an average of 698,000 nationally, including 482,000 from around 9.15pm. The ODI ran over time by almost two hours because of the rain delay in the South African innings. Because of that delay the coverage of the actual game was fragmented. But the 698,000 figures gives us an idea of the number of people who watched the closing overs of the ODI semi as the Kiwis batted their way back into the game and then to the win.

And finally, oh, no, not another million dollar half hour on Seven this evening at 5.30pm as Andrew Skarbek has his third go at grabbing the loot — all 1.016 million bucks on Million Dollar Minute. Last night’s second attempt saw Million Dollar Minute jump to average 1.023 million nationally, 320,000 more than Nine’s Hot Seat at 5.30pm. If you have to make a choice about tonight, stick to Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell on ABC at 8.30pm, and the history of Australian comedy at 9pm. They will be the week’s highlights.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (30.3%)
2. Seven (30.0%)
3. Ten (19.0%)
4. ABC (15.4%)
5. SBS (5.2%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (23.8%)
2. Nine (18.9%)
3. Ten (13.1%)
4. ABC (11.2%)
5. SBS ONE (4.1%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. Gem (7.7%)
2. ONE (3.7%)
3. 7TWO (3.6%)
4. Eleven (3.5%)
5. ABC2 (2.7%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. My Kitchen Rules (Seven) – 2.221 million
2. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.422 million
3. The Big Bang Theory (Nine) — 1.406 million
4. Seven News — 1.355 million
5. Nine News – 1.257 million
6. The Block (Nine) — 1.240 million
7. ABC News — 1.212 million
8. Million Dollar Minute (Seven) — 1.023 million
9. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 976,000
10. 7.30 (ABC) — 973,000

Top metro programs:

1. My Kitchen Rules (Seven) – 1.535 million
2. Seven News — 1.056 million

Losers: Anyone who doesn’t like quiz games, cricket, cooking or The Big Bang Theory.Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.056 million
2. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 976,000
3. Nine News – 891,000
4. Nine News 6.30 — 867,000
5. ABC News  – 853,000
6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 819,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 674,000
8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 540,000
9. Ten Eyewitness News — 495,000
10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 432,000

Morning TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) – 332,000
2. Today (Nine) – 275,000
3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 150,000
4. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  101,000 + 40,000 on News 24) — 141,000
5. Mornings (Nine) — 139,000
6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 60,000

Top five pay TV channels:

1. Fox Sports 3 (10.3%)
2. Fox 8  (2.2%))
3. LifeStyle  (1.7)
4. Arena, Disney Jr. (1.6%)

Top five pay TV programs:

1. Cricket World Cup; Semi Final 1: South Africa v New Zealand Post Game (Fox Sports 3) — 440,000 
2. Cricket World Cup; Semi Final 1: South Africa v New Zealand (Fox Sports 3) — 253,00
3. Cricket World Cup; Semi Final 1: South Africa v New Zealand Post Game (Fox Sports 3) — 135,00
4. Cricket World Cup; Semi Final 1: South Africa v New Zealand Post Game (Fox Sports 3) — 413200
5. Cricket World Cup; Semi Final 1: South Africa v New Zealand Post Game (Fox Sports 3) –119,00

*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.