(Image: AAP/Lukas Coch, Mick Tsikas)

Well, wasn’t it nice to see two leaders who followed their handlers’ instructions for a change, dialled down the fake outrage and aggressive interjections and had a reasonable, well-tempered debate. It was a third go, mind you, after the trial run (almost unseen) on Sky News and then the slanging match on Nine on Sunday night.

Seven didn’t do anyone any favours with the late start — the debate aired at 9.10pm. The appalling Big Brother averaged 564,000, the debate 811,000, which meant there was a solid turn-on of 44% (even though the debate’s audience was down 93,000 from Sunday’s 904,000). But the turn-on tells us there was genuine interest, and for it to average 771,000 across 10pm (bedtime for many these days) tells us the level of interest was high.

On Sunday there was actually a small turn-off from Lego Masters — 953,000 to the debate’s 904,000. The huge turn-on last night — 247,000 viewers nationally — was probably the most important bit of data from the TV ratings. If anything, the size of the turn-on tells us the debate idea remains alive in Australian election campaigns.

It was Seven’s night because of the debate and not because of the rotten Big Brother. Gruen‘s election special on the ABC at 8pm averaged 838,000, showing there is also interest in explaining how the soap is sold (ie the Coalition/ScoMo and Labor/Albo).

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (28.9%)
  2. Nine (27.6%)
  3. ABC (18.0%)
  4. Ten (17.8%)
  5. SBS (7.7%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (21.5%)
  2. Nine (19.7%)
  3. ABC (13.0%)
  4. Ten (11.7%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.5%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (3.7%)
  2. Gem (3.3%)
  3. 10 Bold (2.8%)
  4. 10 Peach (2.7%)
  5. ABC News (2.4%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.533 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.473 million
  3. Nine News — 1.188 million
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 1.152 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 987,000
  6. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 920,000
  7. Travel Guides (Nine), 7pm ABC News — 872,000
  8. Gruen Nation (ABC) — 838,000
  9. Home and Away (Seven) — 815,000

Top metro programs: none with a million or more viewers.

Regional top 5: Seven News, 583,000; Seven News 6.30, 564,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 354,000; Home and Away, 341,000; Nine News, 300,000.

Losers: MasterChef and, yes, Big Brother — 20 years out of date.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 950,000
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 909,000
  3. Nine News — 888,000
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 873,000
  5. ACA (Nine) — 704,000
  6. 7pm ABC News — 585,000
  7. The debate (Seven) — 575,000
  8. The latest: Seven News — 494,000
  9. 7.30 (ABC) — 491,000
  10. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 402,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 420,000/252,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 304,000/204,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC) — 294,000/191,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 257,000
  5. ABC News Mornings — 239,000
  6. Today Extra (Nine) — 145,000
  7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 43,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

  1. Selling Houses Australia (LifeStyle) — 90,000
  2. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 71,000
  3. Credlin (Sky News) — 59,000
  4. NBL: Sydney v Tasmania Final (ESPN) — 58,000
  5. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 55,000