Well, one thing is certain from last night’s viewing. People do not like uncomfortable stories about war and killings (Part 1 of Australian Story on the ABC last night) and they are bored beyond belief by election stories (Four Corners last night) even though it is important to the proper functioning of democracy and the Four Corners report was spot on. The 7pm ABC News and 7.30 failed to make the top 10 most watched programs nationally, a rare event.

The news had 1.157 million national viewers and 7.30 had 931,000. Ten’s The Project had more metro viewers, with 656,000 to 631,000. Australian Story had 857,000, Four Corners had 736,000. Q&A had 751,000 national viewers (Albo and the Pynster) an hour later and out-rated Four Corners. There was a feeling that all these programs were down on previous Monday nights. Did Four Corners give away the story in its pre-broadcast publicity campaign which started late last week?

And it is also clear viewers are tiring of The Voice on Nine, even though it was again the most watched of the three ‘reality’ programs on TV last night. The Voice had 1.669 million national viewers and 1.186 million in the metros, which was its low for the year so far. Masterchef managed 1.234 million national and 919,000 metro viewers, while House Rules averaged 1.266 million national and 801,000 metro viewers. Solid figures for both at the start of another weekly cycle.

In the regions, Seven News was tops with 708,000 viewers, Seven News/Today Tonight was next with 550,000, The Chase Australia 5.30pm had 520,000, Home and Away 500,000 and The Voice 483,000.

And in breakfast, Today gave Sunrise a thorough towelling yesterday: 372,000 metro viewers to 89,000 for Sunrise, one of the Nine program’s largest winning margins. And Today won nationally as well.

It was Nine’s night in the metros and Seven’s in the regions.

Watch Catalyst and Foreign Correspondent on ABC TV tonight.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (27.9%)
  2. Seven (27.3%)
  3. Ten (19.7%)
  4. ABC (18.2%)
  5. SBS (6.9%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (21.1%)
  2. Seven (19.2%)
  3. Ten (15.1%)
  4. ABC (13.1%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (3.9%)
  2. ABC 2 (3.3%)
  3. 7mate (3.1%)
  4. GO (2.9%)
  5. ONE 2.7%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.852 million
  2. The Voice (Nine) — 1.669 million
  3. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.596 million
  4. Nine News — 1.594 million
  5. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.285 million
  6. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.281 million
  7. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.272 million
  8. House Rules (Seven) — 1.266 million
  9. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.234 million
  10. Seven Year Switch (Seven) — 1.206 million

Top metro programs:

  1. The Voice (Nine) — 1.186 million
  2. Nine News 6.30 — 1.150 million
  3. Seven News — 1.144 million
  4. Nine News — 1.129 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.097 million
  6. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.045 million

Losers: The ABC and federal politicians.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News 6.30 — 1.150 million
  2. Seven News — 1.144 million
  3. Nine News — 1.129 million
  4. A Current Affair (Nine) – 1.097 million
  5.  Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.045 million
  6. ABC News – 976,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 656,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 631,000
  9. Media Watch (ABC) — 593,000
  10. Australian Story (ABC) — 558,000

Morning TV:

  1. Today (Nine) – 372,000
  2. Sunrise (Seven) – 289,000
  3. The Morning Show (Seven) — 154,000
  4. News Breakfast (ABC, 94,000 + 55,000 on News 24) — 149,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 134,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 77,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. Fox Sports 1 (3.5%)
  2. showcase (3.3%)
  3. LifeStyle,Sky News  (1.8%)
  4. TVHITS  (1.9%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Game of Thrones (showcase) – 294,000
  2. NRL: Parramatta v Melbourne (Fox Sports 1) — 292,000
  3. Game of Thrones (showcase) – 274,000
  4. Monday Night With Matty Johns (Fox Sports 1) — 157,000
  5. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 101,000

*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.