(Image: nine.com.au)

With what was on offer last night, streaming or sleeping seemed better options. The AFL was on Seven (551,000) but it was Richmond vs Port Adelaide — tough loss for Sunrise’s David Koch, Power’s president.

The AFL was a winner for Seven, but overall it was a weak night of free-to-air TV — the 5.30pm part of The Chase Australia with 852,000 viewers nationally was the most watched non-news program, followed by the 5.30pm part of Millionaire Hot Seat on Nine with 604,000 nationally. That rarely happens, and underlines just how weak the night’s post-7pm offerings were. And Foxtel doesn’t look much better, with the AFL game topping the night with 208,000 viewers.

Nine broadcast a 60 Minutes episode on cosmetic surgery that had been blocked for a couple of weeks by legal action in Sydney, but the action — and an appeal — failed, so the episode aired last night at 7.30pm. Replacing RBT, the 60 Minutes episode averaged 573,000 nationally — a solid 12th on the night with little promotion.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (32.2%)
  2. Nine (25.5%)
  3. Ten (16.9%)
  4. ABC (15.6%)
  5. SBS (9.7%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (20.7%)
  2. Nine (17.7%)
  3. Ten (10.7%)
  4. ABC (9.7%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.8%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (4.3%)
  2. 7mate (3.9%)
  3. ABC Kids/Plus (3.5%) 
  4. 10 Bold (3.0%)
  5. GO (2.9%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.433 million
  2. Seven News 6.30pm — 1.377 million
  3. Nine News — 1.139 million
  4. Nine News 6.30pm — 1.117 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 883,000
  6. 7pm ABC News — 864,000
  7. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 852,000
  8. Millionaire Hot Seat (Nine) — 625,000
  9. Home and Away (Seven) — 604,000
  10. MasterChef Australia (Ten) — 578,000

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

Regional Top 5: Seven News, 538000; Seven News 6.30pm, 517,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 339,000; Nine News, 317,000; Nine News 6.30pm, 311,000.

Losers: us, the viewers.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 895,000
  2. Seven News 6.30pm — 860,000
  3. Nine News — 821,000
  4. Nine News 6.30pm — 807,000
  5. ACA (Nine) — 587,000
  6. 7pm ABC News — 578,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 375,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 334,000
  9. 10 News First — 311,000
  10. Foreign Correspondent (ABC) — 277,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 387,000/226,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 306,000/293,000
  3. ABC News Breakfast — 262,000/166,000
  4. ABC News Mornings — 257,000
  5. The Morning Show (Seven) — 224,000
  6. Today Extra (Nine) — 167,000
  7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 29,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: Richmond vs Port Adelaide (Fox Footy) — 208,000
  2. AFL: Thursday Night Footy on Fox (Fox Footy) — 67,000
  3. Aussie Gold Hunters (Discovery) — 62,000
  4. Credlin (Sky News) — 58,000
  5. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 49,000