The Winners: Wednesday is still the best night of the week: Seven’s RSPCA Animal Rescue was tops at 7.30pm with 1.603 million viewers, followed by Medical Emergency at 8pm with 1.492 million. 3rd was Seven News with 1.449 million, with Criminal Minds 4th with 1.406 million. Spicks And Specks averaged 1.342 million at 8.30pm for the ABC and The Gruen Transfer was 6th at 9pm with a strong 1.314 million (it’s highest so far). Nine’s repeat of Two and a Half Men was its highest rating program at 7pm with 1.291 million with Today Tonight 8th with 1.262 million. Jamie Oliver’s Eat To Save Your Life on Ten at 9.30pm averaged 1.180 million and was its best performer. It and The Gruen Transfer dominated most demographics except the over 55s. Nine News was 10th with 1.180 million and the 7pm ABC News was next with 1.179 million. A Current Affair was 12th with 1.158 million, with Home and Away 13th with 1.151 million. the ABC News update averaged 1.047 million viewers, So You Think You Can Dance from the US, 1.045 million for two hours on Ten from 7.30pm and The Hollowmen‘s second episode on the ABC at 9.30pm averaged 1.040 million with The New Inventors 17th at 8pm for the ABC with 1.034 million.
The Losers: There were a few. For the second week in a row viewers went right off Cold Case on Nine at 8.30pm (805,000), Search and Rescue on Nine at 8pm (799,000) and Fire 000 on Nine at 7.30pm (757,000). The turn off has been so sudden. Even the final episodes of Search and Rescue and Fire 000 didn’t boost the audiences. All three were fresh episodes. Cold Case is supposed to hold up the 8.30pm spot on Wednesdays for a while longer. Odd. Missing Persons Unit on Nine at 9.30pm averaged 894,000, easily out-rating Cold Case. Why doesn’t Nine take the hint and swap them around, it’s been apparent for a while now that MPU is a better program earlier in the night. Not so odd was the way viewers are ignoring Prison Break on Seven at 9.30pm 635,000. It dropped over 700,000 viewers from Criminal Minds. These figures made Big Brother last night at 7pm (838,000) seem like a winner, although Neighbours at 6.30pm had more viewers with 845.000. Search And Rescue is up against a similar program now on Seven in Medical Emergency at 8pm which has a much stronger lead in. Viewers only want one program of that type in that slot.
News & CA: Seven News again won nationally and in every market but Melbourne where it tied with Nine on 385,000 viewers, and together they ran second behind the ABC News at 7pm with 407,000 viewers. Today Tonight had to depend on Perth again to win nationally after losing Melbourne and Brisbane, but winning Sydney and Adelaide. Regular host of TT, Anna Coren, is away. Ten News averaged 833,000 and the late News/Sports Tonight, 340,000. The 7.30 Report averaged 887,000, Lateline, 262,000, Lateline Business, 149,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 189,000, Dateline, 210,000, the late News at 9.30pm, 200,000. 7am Sunrise, 343,000, 7am Today, 277,000.
The Stats: Seven won 6pm to midnight All People with 26.9% (25.2%) from Ten with 24.4% (24.0%), Nine was third with 22.0% (23.8%), the ABC was a strong fourth with 20.0% (20.6%) and SBS was on 6.7% (6.4%). Seven won Sydney, Brisbane and Perth. Ten won Melbourne and Adelaide. Seven now leads the week 27.4% to 26.8% for Ten. In regional areas a win also for Prime/7Qld with 30.1%, from Nine through WIN/NBN with 25.6%, Southern Cross (Ten) with 21.3%, the ABC with 16.2% and SBS on 6.8%.
Glenn Dyer’s comments: It was in fact another very even night and Nine seems to have been squeezed by a strong ABC, Seven and Ten. That’s a reversal from earlier in the year when a strong Nine and Ten squeezed Seven and knocked its ratings expectations for six. Seven’s Prison Break is being ignored by viewers, like it should. I thought The second episode of The Hollowmen was better than its debut effort a week ago: a bit repetitive in places, with a suitably cynical summation of the media and foreign correspondents at the end. It’s still a bit hollow and the Rob Sitch character isn’t strong enough or cynical enough to carry the show. It is crying out for one of the female characters to emerge as the hard-nosed operative type. But when it’s at 9pm after the Olympics, it will pick up more viewers from Spicks and Specks. Tonight: The Footy Shows on Nine at 9.30pm: will the audience steady or continue to fade? Getaway at 7.30pm on Nine. Try The Celebrity Singing Bee at 8.30pm. It will hold or drop tonight. Seven has Bones at 8.30pm and My Name Is Earl at 8pm and How I Met Your Mother at 7.30pm. Both do better than the All People figures suggest (Like Jamie Oliver last night). Ten has Law And Order CI and SVU to hold up tonight for two hours from 8.30pm. The ABC has The Gil Mayo Mysteries at 8.30pm and Q&A at 9.30pm. SBS has poor dead Inspector Rex again, but the Tour from 10pm.
Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports
The sight of people in marketing sitting around and discussing how brilliant they are and how vital and important their industry is(Gruen Transfer), is not really my idea of interesting TV. However many people obviously do find it entertaining hence their ratings.
I can now foresee a raft of clones on the commercial networks that will be put together in the wake of that shows popularity. I am guessing as usual they will be a second rate ripoff, with a slightly changed format and hosted by the commercial networks finest, and probably outrate the ABC version despite being of less quality.