Not the strongest of nights, despite the solid line up on the ABC and SBS. ABC’s Catalyst again finished in the top 10 with 946,000 national viewers. Upper Middle Bogan had 839,000 national viewers,  It’s A Date had 712,000. In terms of winning, Nine made it in metro markets, Seven in the regionals in Total People and Nine won the main channels. The combined audience for the digital channels was 35.1%, more than the total shares for any network and especially their main channels. SBS’s First Contact had 568,000 national viewers, holding up quite well.

The oddity from last night was that the second episode of Beauty and The Geek outrated the first episode — 834,000 nationally to 816,000. And they outrated Nine’s Big Brother which struggled to 695,000 national viewers. The oddity can be explained by the fact that Seven actually split last night’s episode of Beauty (it was in the programs as one episode from 8 to 9.10pm) into two (the final is next week), so I wonder if viewers actually realised they were watching two episodes. Beauty And The Geek had solid support from regional markets – more so than Big Brother.

The sport of Palmer baiting (venue, Lateline) came too late for most to see — should be prime time. The other bloodsport  of ABC baiting, was at senate estimates last night and ignored. Both deserve bigger audiences. They would have been better than the antics on Beauty And The Geek Australia and Big Brother. Thankfully there’s cricket on tonight and Sunday — and don’t forget the second part of the Countdown special and Cilla on ABC on Sunday night. They will be standouts over the weekend.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (27.6%)
  2. Seven (26.9%)
  3. Ten (19.5%)
  4. ABC (18.2%)
  5. SBS (7.8%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (17.9%)
  2. Seven (14.8%)
  3. ABC (12.9%)
  4. Ten (12.7%)
  5. SBS ONE (6.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO  (6.5%)
  2. 7mate (5.6%)
  3. GO (5.0%)
  4. Gem (4.7%)
  5. Eleven (4.0%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Nine News — 1.311 million
  2. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.221 million
  3. Seven News — 1.142 million
  4. Kings Cross ER (Nine) – 1.090 million
  5. ABC News — 1.038 million
  6. 7.30 (ABC) — 996,000
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 950,000
  8. Catalyst (ABC) — 946,000
  9. Nine News 6.30 — 875,000
  10. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 872,000

Top metro programs: Not one program with more than a million viewers last night

Losers: TV network managements — commercial. They don’t seem to care. Last night’s main channel offerings were weak on Nine, Seven and Ten,  yet viewers flocked to the digital channels where there were a varied mix of repeats, second and third-tier new offerings.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News — 892,000
  2. Nine News 6.30 — 875,000
  3. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 872,000
  4. Seven News — 845,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 798,000
  6. ABC News – 726,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 684,000
  8. Ten Eyewitness News — 534,000
  9. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 496,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 360,000

Morning TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 369,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 304,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 146,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC 82,000 + 35,000 on News 24) — 117,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 116,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 43,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Grand Designs Australia (LifeStyle) – 82,000
  2. Family Guy (Fox8) – 62,000
  3. Timmy Time (Disney Jr) – 48,000
  4. Clarence (Cartoon Network) — 48,000
  5. Sheriff Callie’s Wild West (Disney Jr) — 47,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2013. The data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM. (All shares on the basis of combined overnight 6pm to midnight all people.) and network reports.