Gaming the system?

It’s been Games, Games, Games and a whole lot of boasting from Seven — it said this morning its audiences figures last week were the best in over 12 years — which they were — keeping in mind that the last Olympics in a favourable time zone was Beijing in 2008.

Seven’s PR machine also said that the figures for the weekday news were the best “in over a decade”, without mentioning the way the figures were boosted by the late afternoon Olympic Games coverage (up to 5.30pm) which also boosted the half hour version of The Chase Australia — which in turn passed on more viewers to the 6pm News. It’s all very well to boast about successes — they have been few and far between for the network — but at least be upfront about the reason for the improved figures.

In breakfast it was: Weekend Sunrise, 738,000; Insiders, 684,000; Weekend Today, 340,000; Landline, 273,000.

In the regions it was: Seven News, 844,000; Tokyo Games, Day 9, Night, 800,000; Tokyo Games, Day 9, Evening, 656,000; Tokyo Games, Day 9, Afternoon, 564,000; Tokyo Games, Day 9, Late Afternoon, 534,000.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (54.0%)
2. Nine (19.81%)
3. Ten (12.7%)
4. ABC (9.07%)
5. SBS (4.5%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (45.4%)
2. Seven (14.7%)
3. Ten (8.8%)
4. ABC (6.6%)
5. SBS ONE (2.8%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7mate (4.8%) 
2. 7TWO (2.7%)
3. 10 Bold (2.0%)
4. GO, Gem (1.8%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Night (Seven) — 2.87 million
2. Seven News — 2.58 million
3. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Evening (Seven) — 2.17 million
4. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Afternoon (Seven) — 2.08 million
5. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Late Afternoon (Seven) — 1.79 million
6. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Late Night (Seven) — 1.58 million
7. Nine News — 1.29 million
8. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Morning (Seven) — 1.22 million
9. 7pm ABC News — 985,000
10. Beauty And The Geek (Nine) — 883,000

Top metro programs: 

1. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Night (Seven) — 2.07 million
2. Seven News — 1.74 million
3. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Afternoon (Seven) — 1.52 million
4. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Evening (Seven) — 1.51 million
5. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Late Afternoon (Seven) — 1.25 million
6. Tokyo Games Day 9 – Late Night (Seven) — 1.18 million

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.74 million
2. Nine News — 991,000
3. 7pm ABC News — 660,000
4. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 540,000
5. The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 421,000
6. Ten News First — 314,000
7. The Sunday Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 279,000
8. Nine Late News — 246,000
9. SBS World News — 174,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 738,000
2. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 684,000
3. Weekend Today (Nine) — 340,000
4. Landline (ABC) — 273,000
5. Offsiders (ABC) — 264,000
6. Sports Sunday (Nine) — 154,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

1. NRL: Cronulla v Manly (Fox League) — 242,000
2. Big League Wrap (Fox League) — 185,000
3. NRL: Sunday Ticket (Fox League) — 165,000
4. NR:: Sunday Night With Matty Johns (Fox League) — 164,000
5. NRL: Canterbury vs Gold Coast (Fox League) — 145,000