Bronte from Married at First Sight (Image: Nine)

No tennis, so the 2023 ratings battle has been joined in full, and unfortunately for Seven and Ten it was a stuttering return for Seven’s Australian Idol (673,000 nationally for the launch ep) and Ten’s Australian Survivor (579,000 nationally for the launch ep). They were not only easily done over by the start of Nine’s tacky Married At First Sight (1.113 million) but also the ABC line-up of 7.30 (815,000), Back Roads (767,000), Four Corners (789,000) and Media Watch (731,000).

Seven flogged the return of Idol to death during the test cricket while Nine flogged MAFS during the tennis. This win for the ABC with its news and current affairs slate again shows that the format has an audience so long as it is high quality.

Seven followed Idol with Below Deck Down Under — 229,000 (it too was promoted heavily over the break). Nine was all a bit too late with Harry and Meghan: The Great Divide — 465,000 in what was a warning to all the desperados on MAFS. Q+A snuck back into the Monday night slot after Media Watch — 348,000, an OK result but any success will depend on the popularity of Four Corners each week. It’s better back on Mondays than in the black hole of Thursday nights where it was being hammered by football for much of the ratings year.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (32.4%)
  2. Seven (23.9%)
  3. ABC (18.9%)
  4. Ten (17.5%)
  5. SBS (7.3%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (25.6%)
  2. Nine (16.9%)
  3. ABC ONE (14.7%)
  4. Ten (11.7%)
  5. SBS (3.1%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (3.4%)
  2. 10 Bold (2.9%)
  3. 10 Peach (2.2%)
  4. GO (2.1%)
  5. ABC Kids/TV Plus (1.9%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.454 million
  2. Seven News 6.30pm — 1.422 million
  3. Married At First Sight (Nine) — 1.113 million
  4. Nine News 6.30pm — 1.070 million
  5. Nine News — 1.028 million
  6. 7pm ABC News — 939,000
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 922,000
  8. Home and Away (Seven) — 832,000
  9. 7.30 (ABC) — 815,000
  10. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 807,000

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

Regional top 5: Seven News, 544,000; Seven News 6.30pm, 530,000; Home and Away, 327,000; 7pm ABC News, 298,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 292,000.

Losers: same old rubbish from Nine, Seven and Ten.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 900,000
  2. Seven News 6.30pm — 892,000
  3. Nine News 6.30pm — 794,000
  4. Nine News — 760,000
  5. 7pm ABC News — 641,000
  6. ACA (Nine) — 639,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 564,000
  8. Four Corners (ABC) — 546,000
  9. Media Watch (ABC) — 508,000
  10. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 322,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 355,000/207,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 271,000/178,000
  3. ABC News Breakfast — 232,000/132,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 227,000
  5. ABC News Mornings — 199,000
  6. Today Extra (Nine) — 152,000
  7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 37,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

  1. Australian Cricket Awards (Fox Cricket) — 62,000
  2. The Last of Us (Fox Showcase) — 58,000
  3. NFL: Chiefs v Bengals (ESPN) — 56,000
  4. Allan Border: My Story (Fox Cricket) — 55,000
  5. Credlin (Sky News) — 48,000