Farmer wants a new format

Farmer Wants A Wife ended last night for Seven on a high — 1.47 million people watched, 300,000 more than a week ago, which was a good result for the Nine offcut. For the second night in a row it easily beat The Block on 954,000 nationally, which was also squeezed by The Masked Singer on Ten — though that didn’t do all that well in shedding 195,000 viewers from last week (1.25 million a week ago to 1.06 million last night).

While The Block always starts slow, it has to do well from tonight onwards for Nine. It is a mass-audience play, not a demo-skewing offering like The Masked Singer. A few more weak nights for The Block and it will be time for some renovations. It was seven’s night in total people and the main channels from Nine, Ten and the ABC.

In regional markets it was Seven News, 685,000; Seven News 6.30, 665000; Farmer Wants A Wife, 549,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 430,000; Home and Away, 426,000.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (28.1%)
2. Nine (26.2%)
3. Ten (21.2%)
4. ABC (15.9%)
5. SBS (8.6%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (19.5%)
2. Nine (19.2%)
3. Ten (14.8%)
4. ABC (12.0%)
5. SBS ONE (5.2%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 10 Bold (4.2%)
2. 7mate (3.6%)
3. 7TWO (3.5%)
4. Gem (2.4%)
5. ABC Kids/Comedy, 10 Peach (2.2%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News —1.874 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.772 million
3. Farmer Wants A Wife (Seven) — 1.472 million
4. Nine/NBN News — 1.420 million
5. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.395 million
6. 7pm ABC News — 1.177 million
7. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.099 million
8. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.069 million
9. The Masked Singer Reveal (Ten) — 1.067 million
10. A Current Affair (Nine)  — 1.032 million

Top metro programs:

1. Seven News — 1.189 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.116 million
3. Nine/NBN News — 1.110 million
4. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.064 million

Losers: The weakness of The Block will be a worry for Nine.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.189 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.116 million
3. Nine/NBN News — 1.110 million
4. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.064 million
5. 7pm ABC News — 816,000
6. ACA (Nine) — 738,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 603,000
8. The Project 7pm (ABC) — 580,000
9. Australian Story (ABC) — 469,000
10. Media Watch (ABC) — 437,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 450,000/252,000
2. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 331,000/219,000
3. Today (Nine) — 319,000/220,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 281,000 
5. Today Extra (Nine) — 180,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 77,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. AFL: Collingwood v North Melbourne (Fox Footy) — 178,000
2. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 90,000
3. Paul Murray Live (Sky News), Alan Jones (Sky News) — 85,000
4. Credlin (Sky News) — 73,000