A mixed night. Nine and Ten did the best, sharing the metro Total People (Nine) and main channels (Ten), with Seven having a weak night with the exception of House Rules which again easily beat Reno Rumble on Nine. Seven won the regionals fairly easily from Nine, with Ten third and the ABC fourth.

Did you watch A Dark and Stormy Night in Canberra? Sorry, please excuse me ,Julia Does Kevvie, who does Julia back? No? Well what about The Killing Season — which did more than OK for the ABC. It had 1.308 million national viewers including 986,000 in the metros, but only 321,000 in the regionals. It was the seventh most watched program nationally and  the fifth most watched program in the metros (it was a real metro audience story, as you see by the low figures for regional markets. It was a program which confirmed why Rudd and Gillard were in the end unable to sublimate themselves for the good of the party, the good of parliament and especially the country. They and their ambitions came first, second and third and last night there they were rewriting history and trying to change viewer perceptions of themselves. So how many viewers will return next week? We had our suspicions and feelings well and truly confirmed last night.

The Killing Fields was the second most watched non-news program in metro markets last night after Masterchef Australia and the third most watched non-news program nationally after Masterchef Australia and Home and Away on Seven. It in fact was the most watched program in metro markets from 8.30 to 9.40pm. But Nine’s Love Child was the most watched in the regionals in the slot with 436,000 viewers.

Seven’s House Rules managed to be the third most watched program nationally thanks to a massive 601,000 viewers in regional Australia, which proportionately (based on the shares regional and metro markets have of the national TV market) more than the 881,000 in the metros. It easily accounted for Reno Rumble which could only manage 975,000 national viewers, including a weak 309,000 in the regions. Masterchef Australia averaged 360,000 regional viewers — OK, but if it had anything like its shares from a few years back (or the shares House Rules is now getting in the regions), it would be much closer to 2 million viewers nationally a night, and deservedly so.

In the morning Today jumped to 310,000 metro viewers and Sunrise sagged to 301,000 after the holiday slump on Monday for both breakfast programs (which saw Sunrise with a 50,000 winning metro margin).

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (26.9%)
  2. Seven (24.3%)
  3. Ten (23.6%)
  4. ABC (19.6%)
  5. SBS (5.5%)

Network main channels:

  1. Ten (18.3%)
  2. Nine (18.1%)
  3. Seven (17.2%)
  4. ABC (15.1%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. GO (5.2%)
  2. 7mate (3.9%)
  3. Gem (3.7%)
  4. 7TWO (3.2%)
  5. ABC (2.9%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1. 497 million
  2. Nine News — 1.485 million
  3. House Rules (Seven) — 1.482 million
  4. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.361 million
  5. ABC News  –1.330 million
  6. Seven News — 1.324 million
  7. The Killing Season (ABC) – 1.308 million
  8. Love Child (Nine) — 1.206 million
  9. 7.30 (ABC) — 1.061 million
  10. Nine News 6.30 — 1.058 million

Top metro programs:

  1. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.136 million
  2. Nine News — 1.079 million
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 1.058 million

Losers: If you are a political junkie and you missed The Killing Fields (and I doubt that you would have, that’s why you are a needy person) then you were the loser. For the rest of us, there was the PVR, bed, a book, or even another channel, Stan, Presto or Netflix. It was good TV though, but should have carried an audience warning:  “Rampant narcissism on display, watch at your peril”Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News — 1.079 million
  2. Nine News 6.30 — 1.058 million
  3. Seven News — 991,000
  4. The Killing Season (ABC) — 986,000
  5. ABC News – 928,000
  6. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 916,000
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) – 868,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 770,000
  9. 7.30 (ABC) — 733,000
  10. Foreign Correspondent (ABC) — 667,000

Morning TV:

  1. Today (Nine) – 310,000
  2. Sunrise (Seven) – 301,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC 100,000 + 45,000 on News 24) — 145,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 121,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 98,000
  6. Studio 1o (Ten) — 61,000

Top pay TV channels:

  1. Fox 8  (2.8%)
  2. Disney Jr, TVHITS (2.0%)
  3. LifeStyle  (1.8%)
  4. Arena  (1.6%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Wentworth (SOHO) – 124,000
  2. AFL: 360 (Fox Sports) – 113,000
  3. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 85,000
  4. Game of Thrones (showcase) – 73,000
  5. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 68,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2015. 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.