It’s all about Elvis: The Elvis tributes are flowing thick and fast today, the 30th anniversary of the King’s death. Kerri-Anne turned up to work in a pink Cadillac, dressed as Priscilla Presley. And this morning 3AW aired the 30-year-old breaking US news broadcast that reported that Presley had been discovered on Graceland’s bathroom floor… click here to listen.

The brawl between WIN and PBL Media is reaching the absurd. WIN has flicked three Nine programs, including Mornings With Kerri-Anne, the Nine morning News and the cooking show, Fresh which is done in conjunction with the Australian Women’s Weekly. It’s more a slap at Nine with a large feather rather than a baseball bat. WIN and PBL Media can’t agree on a new affiliation agreement: PBL wants more than 40% of WIN’s revenue; WIN wants the payments cut from 34% to 29% which Seven and Ten affiliates (Prime and Southern Cross) pay. WIN can get rid of them and place cheaper programs in there by networking its regional feed to Adelaide and Perth, but that is not a viable long term option as it will hand viewers to Seven and Ten. This will cost PBL Media and Nine some lost revenue but probably not as much as WIN would hope. Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne account for more than 75% of the TV ad revenue in metro markets in Australia. Nine can quite easily cut rates to accommodate these markets. WIN won’t be taken seriously, or won’t show that it is serious until it pulls the plug on a high profile program, like A Current Affair or Today. But that would cost WIN more than Nine would loose because that would probably see Nine pull the plug on ACA or Today going to the rest of the WIN Network. That would see a big loss of viewers for WIN and revenues and profits. WIN would have to spend money to fill the whole. Ten and Seven would benefit most in the two cities and through their regional affiliates. Nine knows that for all his threats, Bruce Gordon will find it hard to obtain enough programming to run across his regional network and in Perth and Adelaide that would hold viewers and advertisers. — Glenn Dyer

Last night’s TV ratings
The Winners: Seven lifted its game, Ten won and Nine was in the middle. 14 programs with a million or more viewers. Thank God You’re Here did well with 1.785 million people and House also did well with 1.646 million in second place. Seven News was third with 1.505 million, Today Tonight was 4th with 1.318 million (a big drop from the news) and Home and Away was next with 1.303 million at 7pm. The ABC’s Spicks And Specks averaged 1.267 million at 8.30pm, Nine News was next with 1.260 million and A Current Affair was 8th with 1.227 million. Nine’s Temptation was 9th with 1.182 million, just in front of the 7pm ABC News with 1.147 million people. Nine’s Cold Case was 11th with 1.122 million at 8.30pm, McLeod’s Daughters was next (Nine, 7.30pm) with 1.083 million and Without A Trace was 13th with 1.079 million people for Nine at 9.30pm. Seven’s Most Shocking was 14th with 1.018 million people at 7.30pm. The Chaser repeat averaged 902,000, Law And Order on Ten at 9.30pm, 887,000, The New Inventors on the ABC at 8pm, 839,000 and Deal or No Deal, 885,000 for Seven at 5.30pm. The Nation lifted a bit at 10.30 for Nine top average 413,000

The Losers: Losers? No movie and Seven did better but The Force at 8.30pm (752,000), Murder Squad at 9pm (666,000) and Air Crash Investigations at 9.30pm 672,000, just didn’t click so far as viewers are concerned. But it was better than the 419,000 who watched The Village the week before. But the 8.30pm timeslot on Wednesday nights is tough, as tough as the 7.30pm to 9.30pm slots on Sunday night. Seven just has to make sure it doesn’t bleed too many share points on Wednesdays. It did that last week but won’t this week.

News & CA: Seven news won nationally and in every metro market bar Brisbane. It was closer for Today Tonight; it won nationally by 91,000 and by 141,000 in Perth. That hasn’t happened for a while. Nine’s Nightline was buried late in the night and averaged 215,000. Ten News At Five averaged 902,000, the Late News/Sports Tonight, 442,000. The 7.30 Report averaged a solid 885,000 against Thank God. Lateline 244,000, Lateline Business, 137,000. 7am Sunrise, 392,000, 7am Today, 259,000. 9am Morning Show on Seven, 197,000, 9am with David & Kim on Ten, 94,000. Mornings with Kerri-Anne not in the top 106 programs.

The Stats: It’s Wednesdays, Thank God is on, so Ten won with 28.7% (29.9% last week), from Nine with 26.3% (26.7%), Seven on 24.2% (21.5%), the ABC with 16.7% (17.5%) and SBS with 4.0% (4.4%). Ten won Sydney, Melbourne and Adelaide. Nine won Brisbane, Seven won Perth narrowly from Ten. Seven leads the week 27.8% to 25.8% for Nine.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Seven did better but will be disappointed by The Force. Murder Squad is a filler, just as Air Crash Investigations is temporary. Next week Nine’s RPA Where Are They Now (It was an hour long program on Thursday nights earlier this year) returns to have a medical battle with House on Ten. And the week after that The Chaser returns with fresh programs at 9pm, so the battle will be back on between 8.30pm and 9.30pm Wednesdays. Tonight it’s Sea Patrol again, a triumph of spectacle over detail and things like scripts. Why do Australian TV producers always go for the big shot and not the clever piece of writing? McLeod’s Daughters at least tries to get the balance right between idea, script, vision and underlying message. Sea Patrol is just a story about a boat and actors who so far haven’t been able to convey what it is really like patrolling Australia’s northern waters. I reckon there would be less Neighbours moments and more boredom, which is very un-TV. The average footy shows are on Nine tonight, especially the NRL version which is a shocker. The difference with the Sunday morning/midday NRL coverage is very noticeable. Why does the Thursday show resemble a bad night at the local Leagues club after the team has lost? Seven has Las Vegas. Enough said.