Nine had an easy win in the metros over Seven, Ten and the ABC, but in the regions, it was the now-usual win for Seven, over Nine, the ABC and Ten. Masterchef won the metros in the battle of the ‘reality’ style programs with 1.086 million viewers, with Nine’s The Voice second with 1.064 million and House Rules on 872,00. But with the stronger support from the regions, House Rules triumphed nationally with 1.496 million people, from The Voice with 1.483 million and Masterchef on 1.383 million.

In the regions, Seven News was on top with 667,000 viewers, from House Rules on 624,000, Home and Away was on 562,000, Seven News/Today Tonight was on 543,000 with The Chase Australia 5.30pm in fifth on 477,000.

In breakfast, Seven’s Sunrise with 366,000 viewers had its best win over Today (343,000) for months as both were boosted by viewer interest in the east coast storms and the damage in and around Sydney. The metro audience for Seven’s Morning Show, which follows Sunrise, also jumped by around 60,000 to 70,000 from previous levels, to 222,000.

The big winner last night was Q&A on the ABC with 972,000 national viewers: 691,000 in the metros and 281,000 in the regionals and number 1 after 9.30pm. The national figure was up from 852,000 the week before nationally and 605,000 in the metros and 247,000 in the regions. The previous week saw a lift on Q&A’s normal Monday night audiences this year. It is clear the audience wants to see politics discussed in this fashion during this boring election campaign rather than the traditional way, as we see Monday to Friday on 7.30.

In other words, people want to either ask themselves, or see their peers pitch up questions to pollies, rather than have a journalist such as Leigh Sales do it (and not touch on issues that are important to voters). This is an interesting judgement by the TV audience. The only other program that has benefited so far in the campaign from the politics is Insiders, and that is its lifeblood. On Pay TV, Sky News has seen its audience lift with higher figures for The Bolter and for Paul Murray.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (27.9%)
  2. Nine (23.7%)
  3. Ten (21.60%)
  4. ABC (20.8%)
  5. SBS (6.0%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (22.3%)
  2. Seven (16.9%)
  3. Ten (16.4%)
  4. ABC (15.71%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.0%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (3.7%)
  2. ONE (3.3%)
  3. ABC 2 (3.2%)
  4. GO (2.4%)
  5. 7mate (2.1%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.942 million
  2. Nine News — 1.635 million
  3. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.621 million
  4. House Rules (Seven) — 1.4967 million
  5. The Voice (Nine) — 1.483 million
  6. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.382 million
  7. ABC News — 1.382 million
  8. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.303 million
  9. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Nine) — 1.188 million
  10. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.137 million

Top metro programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.275 million
  2. Nine News — 1.160 million
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 1.132 million
  4. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.086 million
  5. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.078 million
  6. The Voice (Seven) — 1.064 million

Losers: People who missed Q&A: genuinely interesting and it wasn’t about Tony Jones, but about the program and Barnaby and Tony (the others were also runs, unfortunately)

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.275 million
  2. Nine News — 1.160 million
  3. Nine News (6.30pm) — 1.132 million
  4. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 1.078 million
  5. ABC News – 954,000
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 938,000
  7. Australian Story (ABC) –758,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 743,000
  9. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 735,000
  10. Q&A (ABC) — 691,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 366,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 343,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 221,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  104,000 + 43,000 on News 24) — 147,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 133,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 90,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8  (2.80%)
  2. LifeStyle  (1.9%)
  3. TVHITS  (1.9%)
  4. UKTV, Fox Classics (1.7%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. NRL: Canterbury v Cronulla (Fox Sports 1) — 308,000
  2. Game of Thrones (showcase) — 279,000
  3. Game of Thrones (showcase) — 236,000
  4. Monday Night With Matty Johns (Fox Sports 1) — 155,000
  5. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 122,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2016. 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.