Glenn Dyer's TV shorts and ratings

A sign of the times for Nine? I hear the Nine Network has given up perhaps the most visible billboard advertising sites in Sydney: the one at White Bay, just off the Anzac Bridge. In doing so Nine will save the best part of half a million dollars a year. It’s one of the busiest […]

A sign of the times for Nine?

I hear
the Nine Network has given up perhaps the most visible billboard advertising
sites in Sydney: the one at White Bay, just off the Anzac Bridge. In
doing so Nine will save the best part of half a million dollars a
year.

It’s one
of the busiest sites in the Sydney metropolitan area with some estimates putting
the number of vehicles passing by each day at more than
40,000 and the
billboard is most easily seen from vehicles leaving the city on their way home each
afternoon and evening. That’s
why it has advertised Nine News and A Current Affair for years. It has also been
used to spruik the Today show and
Getaway.

So why
give up this valuable advertising spot? Well,
cost, a key consideration in these cash conscious days at Nine. The
site costs $40,000 a month and Nine
has had the site for at least 10 years, so it has spent millions
there. It
could always spend the money it saves on
$40,000 worth of advertising on Sydney radio to try and match
the heavy spend from Seven, which says it’s not
interested in the White Bay site.

Or it
could pay Sandra Levy’s salary as head of Development when she joins Nine in
October.

Last night’s TV
ratings

The Winners	Seven, by a country mile, thanks to the return of Dancing With The Stars. It simply blitzed them with an average audience of 1.98 million people for two hours from 7:30pm. That blew away the competition. Seven’s Home and Away again beat Nine’s Temptation in the battle for the 7 pm timeslot, 1.485 million to 1.345 million. A Current Affair over Today Tonight. Seven News beat Nine even after a drop of 100,000 viewers for the lead-in Deal or No Deal.
The Losers	Ten, again, with the share better than Monday night (it regained third spot from the ABC, service normal again) but with the network relying on the All New Simpsons and a repeat of the cartoon series, it was a tough night. But it wasn’t hurt by the return of Dancing like the ABC was. Everybody Loves Raymond edged over the 800,000 mark to 842,000, Rove did a moderate 845,000. Dancing With The Stars simply sucked viewers from everywhere, just as DesperateHousewives and Lost had done.
News & CA	Well, Seven News won nationally and in Sydney, Adelaide and Perth. But lost in Melbourne and Brisbane. But Seven’s recent successes over Nine’s A Current Affair seem to have ended, with the Nine program winning handsomely last night, especially in Melbourne where TT has weakened noticeably in the past 10 days. ACA was the second most watched program in Melbourne last night, 131,000 viewers ahead of TT. The ABC 7pm news was watched by 1.1 million, down a bit from the big Monday night, while 7.30 Report was also a bit weaker.
The Stats	Seven with 35.0%, from Nine, way back on 25.5%, Ten with 20.8%, the ABC down on 14.1% and SBS with 4.7%. In Sydney, Seven won by a massive 14.3 percentage points, in Melbourne it was much closer, only 6%, Brisbane, around 3%, Adelaide 7% and in Perth by 15 points. Nine finished third in Perth.
Glenn Dyer’s comments	Fourteen programs last night with a million or viewers compared to 18 on Monday night. The closeness of Monday night (when Nine won by 0.1%) was blown away by Seven’s third mega hit. The heady feeling Tuesday morning at the ABC when the numbers showed the national broadcaster beating Ten into third, was replaced by a return to normality. The ABC lost five points as Dancing With The Stars sucked viewers away from its programs. Likewise Nine, which lost around 4 and a bit points. But Ten lifted slightly back over 20%. SBS fell, more for not having a program like Mythbusters which helps its Monday night performance.