Memories from the past in the Ashes “pink ball” Tests in Adelaide and Hobart, the late-night finishes a reminder of a youth spent listening to transistor radios, catching the latest on Tests in distant lands — England, the West Indies, India and New Zealand. Last night’s explosive end to the fifth and final Test was as astonishing as England’s capitulation in Melbourne.
The second Test session averaged 1.28 million nationally and the final session 1.19 million after being cut short by the Australian win. Seven’s coverage averaged 1.21 million for the three sessions from 3pm. Foxtel averaged a high 394,000. Solid as those figures were, they didn’t match the final hour of the drawn Sydney Test when well over 2 million people watched on both Seven and Foxtel.
The 2022 ratings battle will start on January 30 when the Djokovic-less Australian Open (which kicks off today on Nine) wraps up with the men’s final — Nine is banking on “Rafa” Nadal to be there and be the network’s ratings good guy.
Ten is running with I’m A Celebrity… — 773,000 nationally last night, 726,000 for the elimination. A much more real version of that TV fiction was played out in Melbourne on Saturday and Sunday, culminating with the deportation of the anti-vax Djoker.
Weekend news figures showed a jump as viewers tuned in; ABC News’ usual low Sunday night share jumped to 2.5% last night.
Regional Top 5: Seven News, 515,000; Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3, session 2, 406,000; Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3 session 3, 386,000; Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3 session 1, 376,000; Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3 tea, 333,000.
Network channel share:
- Seven (36.3%)
- Nine (22.4%)
- Ten (18.6%)
- ABC (14.6%)
- SBS (8.1%)
Network main channels:
- Seven (27.4%)
- Nine (14.1%)
- Ten (13.2%)
- ABC (10.5%)
- SBS ONE (5.1%)
Top 5 digital channels:
- 7mate (5.7%)
- GO (3.1%)
- 10 Bold (2.7%)
- ABC News (2.5%)
- 7TWO, Gem (2.2%)
Top 10 national programs:
- Seven News — 1.606 million
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3, S2 (Seven) — 1.287 million
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3, S3 (Seven) — 1.194 million
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3, S1 (Seven) — 1.170 million
- Nine News — 1.151 million
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3, tea (Seven) — 1.026 million
- 7pm ABC News — 940,000
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3, dinner (Seven) — 914,000
- I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here (Ten) — 773,000
- I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here: Elimination (Ten) — 726,000
Top metro programs:
1. Seven News — 1.092 million
Losers: No one — the end of the Ashes series on the third night dominated viewing for Seven.
Metro news and current affairs:
- Seven News —1.092 million
- Nine News — 869,000
- 7pm ABC News — 645,000
- 60 Minutes (Nine) — 406,000
- The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 349,000
- Ten News First — 329,000
- The Sunday Project 6.30 (Ten) — 216,000
- SBS News — 152,000
Morning (national) TV:
- Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 487,000
- Weekend Today (Nine) — 321,000
- Landline Summer (ABC) — 311,000
- Offsiders (ABC) — 221,000
Top five pay TV programs:
- Cricket; fifth Ashes Test, day 3 (Fox Cricket) — 414,000
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3 (Fox Cricket) — 405,000
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3 (Fox Cricket) — 362,000
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3: wrap (Fox Cricket) — 350,000
- Cricket: fifth Ashes Test, day 3: The Big Break (Fox Cricket) — 330,000
Crikey is committed to hosting lively discussions. Help us keep the conversation useful, interesting and welcoming. We aim to publish comments quickly in the interest of promoting robust conversation, but we’re a small team and we deploy filters to protect against legal risk. Occasionally your comment may be held up while we review, but we’re working as fast as we can to keep the conversation rolling.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please subscribe to leave a comment.
The Crikey comment section is members-only content. Please login to leave a comment.