Ninjas and chefs is not the name of an obscure Australian fusion cafe but refers to ratings success for Nine and Ten last night. They both claimed success — the Ninjas were top nationally in the metros and regions and the 7.30 to 9.10pm timeslot. Ten said MasterChef dominated the 7.30 to 10 pm timeslot — which it did. So win-win for Ten and Nine — a victory worth of the wisdom of the Master, Shintaro. Seven and the ABC were naturally left behind, and SBS, like me, was adrift because Le Tour had ended.

Ninjas grabbed 2.20 million viewers nationally and the MasterChef winner’s announcement, 1.81 million. The second part of the Grand Final averaged 1.55 million — all solid figures for Ten.

The Ninjas return for the last final tonight and then its on to The Block for Nine, Survivor and The Bachelor for Ten and Blue Murder and Hell’s Kitchen for Seven

In the regionals it was Nine and Ten’s night, with the Ninjas tops with 672,000, followed by Seven News with 647,000, the MasterChef winner with 514,000 was third. Seven News/Today Tonight was fourth with 500,000 viewers and Home and Away was fifth with 465,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (31.7%)
  2. Ten (25.9%)
  3. Seven (22.0%)
  4. ABC (16.1%)
  5. SBS (4.3%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (26.3%)
  2. Ten (21.5%)
  3. Seven (16.0%)
  4. ABC (11.8%)
  5. SBS ONE (2.8%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. ABC 2 (2.9%)
  2. 7mate (2.6%)
  3. ONE (2.3%)
  4. 7TWO (2.2%)
  5. GO (2.1%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Australian Ninja Warrior (Nine) — 2.207 million
  2. MasterChef Australia Winner (Ten) — 1.817 million
  3. Seven News  — 1.698 million
  4. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.566 million
  5. MasterChef Australia Final Part 2 (Ten) — 1.558 million
  6. Nine/NBN News (6.30pm) — 1.494 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.485 million
  8. Nine/NBN News — 1.444 million
  9. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.189 million
  10. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.116 million

Top metro programs:

  1. Australian Ninja Warrior (Nine) — 1.535 million
  2. Masterchef Australia Winner (Ten) — 1.303 million
  3. Masterchef Australia Final Part 2 (Ten) — 1.120 million
  4. Nine News (6.30pm)— 1.112 million
  5. Nine News — 1.093 million
  6. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.066 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.061 million
  8. Seven News — 1.051 million

Losers: No one.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News (6.30pm)— 1.112 million
  2. Nine News — 1.093 million
  3. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.066 million
  4. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.061 million
  5. Seven News — 1.051 million
  6. 7pm ABC News – 752,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 623,000
  8. Australian Story (ABC) — 621,000
  9. 7.30 (ABC) — 582,000
  10. Four Corners (ABC) — 571,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 509,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 416,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC,  173,000 + 87,000 on News 24) — 260,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 238,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 187,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 107,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. showcase (4.1%)
  2. TVHITS  (2.5%)
  3. Fox8  (1.7%)
  4. 13th Street/Nick Jr  (1.6%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Game of Thrones (showcase) — 457,000
  2. Game of Thrones (showcase) — 280,000
  3. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 96,000
  4. Taboo (BBC First) — 62.000
  5. AFL: On The Couch (Fox Footy) — 61,000