Falconio buy-in does the job for Seven on a flat night

Murder In The Outback, the reheated look at the 2001 Peter Falconio murder, averaged 1.65 million nationally. It wasn’t a Seven News production, it was a buy-in from Andrew Fraser, a former criminal lawyer who did seven years in jail for drug offences.

It has already been shown on Channel 4 in the UK without much of a splash.

Fraser was the subject of a Foxtel mini series called Killing Time. Back in 2011, Fraser claimed Peter Falconio was alive. He still hasn’t been sighted, if that is the case. It did the job for the struggling Seven. The second part is next Sunday.

Seven dropped the struggling Big Brother from last night for the tale. That tells us how poorly Big Brother is doing. If it had been rating well, Murder in the Outback would have run after it.

Meanwhile, Nine’s The Voice continues to struggle, averaging 1.03 million nationally last night, and that meant a weak figure for 60 Minutes which averaged 748,000 — down from more than 900,000 a week ago. The Voice’s audience was down from 1.22 the previous Sunday. Still flat-looking because of COVID restrictions.

In the morning, Insiders from 9am to 10am, 662,000 nationally and a national top 10 finisher for the day.

In the regions, Murder in the Outback, 612,000, Seven News, 598,000, Nine News 383,000, Vera, 7pm ABC News, 294,000.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (30.8%)
2. Nine (27.3%)
3. Ten (19.1%)
4. ABC (15.9%)
5. SBS (7.1%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (24.8%)
2. Nine (21.0%)
3. Ten (15.2%)
4. ABC (12.5%)
5. SBS ONE (4.1%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 10 Bold (2.6%)
2. 7TWO (2.5%)
3. 7mate (2.2%)
4. GO (1.8%)
5. ABC Kids/Comedy (1.6%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.84 million
2. Murder In The Outback (Seven) — 1.65 million
3. Nine/NBN News — 1.52 million
4. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.22 million
5. The Voice (Nine) — 1.03 million
6. 7pm ABC News — 959,000
7. Vera (ABC) — 942,000
8. Grand Designs (ABC) — 754,000
9. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 748,000
10. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 662,000

Top metro programs:

1. Seven News — 1.23 million
2. Nine News — 1.14 million
3. Murder In The Outback (Seven) — 1.03 million

Losers: The Voice — still weak

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.23 million
2. Nine News — 1.14 million
3. 7pm ABC News – 749,000
4. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 559,000
5. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 462,000
6. Nine News Late — 342,000
7. 10 News First — 333,000
8. The Project 6.30 (Ten) — 312,000
9. SBS World News — 207,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 662,000
2. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) – 455,000
3. Landline (ABC) — 435,000
4. Weekend Today (Nine) – 304,000 
5. Offsiders (ABC) — 265,000
6. Sports Sunday (Nine) — 214,000

Top five pay TV programs: 

1. NRL: Newcastle v Parramatta (Fox League) — 292,000
2. AFL: Richmond  v Sydney (Fox Footy) — 224,000
3. AFL: Carlton v Footscray (Fox Footy) — 217,000
4. NRL: St George v Manly (Fox League) — 215,000
5. NRL: Pre-Game (Fox League) — 163,00