Seven won the metros and the regional markets on a night when viewers again didn’t care very much at all. news and current affairs dominated the viewing, as it did the night before. Seven News had another solid night winning Sydney, Brisbane (both narrowly), Adelaide and Perth. Nine won Melbourne narrowly.

First Contact’s second episode on SBS maintained its audience with a total of 656,000 viewers nationally (645,000 on Tuesday for the returning episode) on SBS’s main channel and NITV (where the audience jumped to 71,000 nationally from 44,000. That increase more than offset small falls in the metro and regional audiences). First Contact ends tonight.

The most watched shows in the metros were Seven News, 991,000; Seven News/Today Tonight with 963,000; Nine News, 875,000; Nine News 6.30, 854,000; Highway Patrol, 723,000. In the regions the five top programs were: Seven News, 544,000, Home and Away, 487,000; Highway Patrol, 468,000; Air Rescue, 467,000 and Seven News/Today Tonight with 459,000. Viewers in regional markets were more interested in non-news programs, but only on Seven.

Seven has gone for another angry UK chef in Marco Pierre White to play the monster that Gordon Ramsay plays in its version of Hell’s Kitchen. You know, lots of screaming, swearing, angry looks, tears, intemperate behaviour, ritual humiliations. It was OK a decade ago when Ramsay was the king of hot kitchens, these days it is all passe and nothing new.

“The apprentice chefs will face skill based challenges under the immense pressure of delivering a complete dinner service at the exclusive HELL’S KITCHEN restaurant. It promises to be a thrilling and fiery ride as these celebrities face the toughest challenge within the hottest and toughest kitchen in the world. Marco Pierre White said: “All chefs over time will stray slowly from the stove, very few stay close to the flame. HELL’S KITCHEN, without question, is the most natural environment for me to be myself.”

Seven goes to the cooking well for “inspiration” and insurance with My Kitchen Rules still riding high in the ratings, but it’s showing distinct signs of ageing and losing its appeal for some viewers. It’s not the first time Seven has gone outside of MKR – anyone remember Restaurant Revolution from 2015? Dud. And My Restaurant Rules from 2004 and 2005? Dud. Ramsay is currently laying the Angry Cook on a Fox version in summer in the US (Summer is a low rating period, so Fox reckoned it would not be a goer in the ratings battle proper). Put this one in the “running out of program ideas” class. But here’s a suggestion: film First Dates in Hells Kitchen. Could be great TV.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (29.4%)
  2. Nine (23.8%)
  3. Ten (19.5%)
  4. ABC (13.4%)
  5. SBS (9.9%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (18.7%)
  2. Nine (15.4%)
  3. Ten (13.3%)
  4. ABC (11.8%)
  5. SBS ONE (6.6%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (5.4%)
  2. Eleven (3.7%)
  3. GO (3.6%)
  4. ABC 2 (3.3%)
  5. Gem (2.8%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News  — 1.535 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.422 million
  3. Highway Patrol (Seven) — 1.191 million
  4. Nine News — 1.181 million
  5. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.175 million
  6. Air Rescue (Seven)— 1.117 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.034 million
  8. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.006million
  9. Gold Coast Medical (Seven) — 998,000
  10. ABC News — 970,000

Top metro programs: No programs with a million or more metro viewers.

Losers: Anyone who doesn’t like news and current affairs on Seven, Nine, ten, SBS and the ABC. First Contact.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 991,000
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 963,000
  3. Nine News — 875,000
  4. Nine News (6.30pm) — 854,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 616,000
  6. 7pm ABC News – 654,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 549,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 454,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 477,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 360,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 308,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 2915,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC,  103,000 + 61,000 on News 24) — 164,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 148,00
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 110,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 75,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8  (2.7%)
  2. LifeStyle, TV HITS  (2.4%)
  3. Fox Sports 4 (2.2%)
  4. UKTV (1.9%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Soccer: FFA Cup (Fox Sports 4) — 153,000
  2. Soccer: FFA Cup (Fox Sports 4) — 99,000
  3. The Flash (Fox8) — 83,000
  4. I Own Australia’s Best Home (LifeStyle) — 71,000
  5. Deadline Design With Shaynna Blaze (LifeStyle) — 65,000

*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.