An awful effort by both Australian teams in the men’s and women’s T20 games against India in Adelaide yesterday. A touch of hubris there by the Aussies? Certainly dropsy in the field didn’t help, nor cautious batting by the men, especially opener Finch who should be flicked and replaced by someone who can bat at T20 pace, Usman Khawaja’s. The Australian selectors have been made to look clownish in refusing to accommodate him in the ODI and T20 teams. Last night’s performance showed that the selectors do not understand how T20 cricket has been evolving in the Big Bash competition.

So it was Nine’s night in a canter. More than 1.8 million Australians watched the spanking last night on Nine across the country and 1.3 million of those were in the metros. And that was the night. Seven’s tennis managed to grab more than 900,000 national viewers and a further 121,000 on 7TWO. The women’s loss was watched by a very solid 445,000 people across the country in the afternoon.

And can we blame the idiots at Nine for chatting up Steve Smith as he was batting (he was dismissed soon after a cross to a commentator). Why did Smith agree to it? Why did the Australian team management? Would Ian Healey, Michael Slater and Mark Taylor have agreed to it when they were playing cricket, in an international, while batting? If not, why force or pressure the Australian captain to do it? Another negative for an increasingly strident mob behind the mikes at Nine. Richie Benaud would be spinning. Was this a commentator idea, or did it come from Nine’s producers, led by head of sport Steve Crawley? They wouldn’t try it in an NRL game, would they? So why cricket? No respect.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (41.4%)
  2. Seven (26.2%)
  3. Ten (15.6%)
  4. ABC (11.2%)
  5. SBS (5.5%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (32.3%)
  2. Seven (19.6%)
  3. Ten (9.5%)
  4. ABC (7.1%)
  5. SBS ONE (3.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7mate (3.4%)
  2. 7TWO (3.2%)
  3. Eleven (3.2%)
  4. Gem (3.1%)
  5. 9Life (3.0%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Cricket First T20, Australia v India (Nine) — 1.836 million
  2. Nine News — 1.532 million
  3. Seven News — 1.192 million
  4. ABC News — 983,000
  5. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 901,000
  6. Tennis: Australian Open Night 9 (Seven) — 874,000
  7. Ten Eyewitness News — 736,000
  8. Tennis: Australian Open Day 9 (Seven) — 732,000
  9. Nine News 6.30 — 725,000*
  10. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.132 million*

*Part pre-empted by the T20 broadcast from Adelaide

Top metro programs:

  1. Cricket First T20, Australia v India (Nine) — 1.319 million
  2. Nine News — 1.071 million

Losers: Those who don’t like cricket (or the make up of the current Australian team) or tennis, or Australia day celebrations and bunger fests.Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News — 1.071 million
  2. Seven News — 970,000
  3. Seven News/ Today Tonight — 901,000
  4. Nine News (6.30pm) — 725,000*
  5. ABC News – 633,000
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 566,000*
  7. Ten Eyewitness News — 482,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 433,000
  9. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 374,000
  10. 7.30 -Summer (ABC) — 361,000

Part pre-empted by the T20 broadcast from Adelaide

Morning TV:

  1. Today (Nine) – 291,000
  2. Sunrise (Seven) – 277,000
  3. Mornings (Nine) — 238,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC 1,  88,000 + 47,000 on News 24) — 145,000
  5. Studio 10 (Ten) — 110,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. TVHITS  (2.5%)
  2. Fox 8  (2.3%)
  3. Foxtel Movies Action (2.1%)
  4. LifeStyle  (1.7%)
  5. ESPN  (1.6%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. A League: Melbourne Victory v Sydney FC (Fox Sports 4) – 87,000
  2. Call The Midwife (BBC First) — 76,000
  3. The Simpsons (Fox8) – 73,000
  4. The Great British Bake-Off (LifeStyle) — 68,000
  5. Selling Houses Australia (LIfeStyle) — 67,000

*Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2016. 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.