Ratings the front bar
The Front Bar (Image: Channel 7)

The 568,000 national figure for The Front Bar was close to an all time high and the 278,000 for Melbourne was close as well. Nine’s version — The Footy Show — only managed 143,000 national viewers and 53,000 in Melbourne — the AFL heartland. In fact the Souths-Brisbane NRL game on Foxtel had more national viewers — 258,000. Meanwhile Seven’s 5.30pm bit of The Chase Australia with 916,000 viewers easily beat the NRL game on Nine with 710,000, and Masterchef Australia on Ten with 890,000.

Ten’s Bachelor In Paradise had its finale last night from a late 8.40pm — just 587,000 national viewers as it retired for the season. That was down sharply from the lead-in, Masterchef Australia’s, 890,000. From 7.30pm Seven ran Britain’s Got Talent — 582,000 nationally, but only 94,000 in Sydney.

In regional markets Seven’s 6pm News won with 544,000, from Seven News/Today Tonight with 5234,000, The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 367,000, Home and Away, 358,000 and the 7pm ABC News, 305,000

Network channel share:
Seven (31.2%)
Nine (24.5%)
Ten (21.3%)
ABC (15.6%)
SBS (7.4%)

Network main channels:
Seven (20.1%)
Nine (17.8%%)
Ten (15.6%)
ABC (10.9%)
SBS ONE (5.4%)

Top 5 digital channels:
7TWO (4.1%)
10 Bond (3.6%)
7mate (3.4%)
GO (3.0%)
ABC Kids/Comedy, 7flix (2.7%)

Top 10 national programs:
Seven News — 1.53 million
Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.47 million
Nine/NBN News — 1.15 million
Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.12 million
7pm ABC News — 1.00 million
Home and Away (Seven) — 968,000
A Current Affair (Nine) — 964,000
The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 916,000
Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 890,000
7.30 (ABC) — 822,000

Top metro programs: None with a million or more viewers

Losers: Seven’s Britain’s Got Talent, Nine’s AFL Footy Show

Top Metro News and Current Affairs
Seven News — 988,000
Seven News/Today Tonight — 953,000
Nine News — 874,000
Nine News 6.30 — 833,000
7pm ABC News —682,000
A Current Affair (Nine) — 664,000
7.30 (ABC) — 546,000
The Project 7pm (Ten) — 443,000
10 News First — 405,000
The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 245,000

Morning (National) TV:
Sunrise (Seven) — 444,000 (Metros: 260,000)
Today (Nine) — 289,000 (Metros: 193,000)
News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 257,000
The Morning Show (Seven) — 221,000
Today Extra (Nine) — 126,000
Studio 10 (Ten) — 86,000

Top five pay TV programs:
NR: Souths v Brisbane (Fox League) — 258,000
The Late Show With Matty Johns (Fox League) —126,000
Thursday Night League (Fox League) — 87,000
Aussie Gold Hunters (Discovery) — 64,000
The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 59,000