Footy finals fever is here and it’s… weird

First AFL final last night — Port Adelaide and Seven won. Seven continues with more finals tonight and Saturday. Over 1.18 million watched on Seven and 303,000 watched on Foxtel. That’s 1.49 million all up. The NRL final tonight will struggle to reach that figure.

And that was the night. It does seem strange to be starting the finals the weekend the grand final is normally played — the same comment can be made about the NRL with the Easts-Penrith first final tonight on Nine.

In breakfast, Today’s metro audience dipped under 200,000 for the first time in several months. Sunrise led with 428,000 national and 251,000 metro viewers, Today was on 302,000 and 198,000, while ABC News Breakfast averaged 292,000 and 196,000. It is school holidays in some states, which helps explain the weaker viewing figures this week.

In regional markets Seven News, 515,000; Seven News 6.30, 498,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm 332,000; The 7pm ABC News, 314,000; Nine News 6.30, 298,000.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (31.7%)
2. Nine (19.5%)
3. Ten (13.1%)
4. ABC (11.2%)
5. SBS (6.9.%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (21.2%)
2. Nine (13.5%)
3. ABC (8.0%)
4. Ten (7.8%)
5. SBS ONE (3.7%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7mate (4.9%)
2. 7TWO (3.8%)
3. 10 Bold (2.7%)
4. 10 Peach (2.0%) 
5. ABC Kids/Comedy (1.8%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.446 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.285 million *
3. Nine/NBN News 6.30  — 1.223 million
4. Nine/NBN News   — 1.204 million
5. First AFL Final (Seven) — 1.189 million
6. 7pm ABC News — 1 million
7. A Current Affair (Nine)  —- 882,000
8. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 858,000
9. 7.30 (ABC) — 673,000
10. Home and Away (Seven) — 665,000

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 931,000
2. Nine News, Nine News 6.30 —925,000
3. Seven News 6.30 — 787,000*
4. 7pm ABC News — 686,000
5. ACA (Nine) — 624,000
6. 7.30 (ABC) — 466,000
7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 409,000
8. Ten News First — 278,000
9. The Project 6.30 (Ten) — 253,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 428,000/251,000
2. Today (Nine) — 302,000/198,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 292,000/198,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 219,000 
5. Today Extra (Nine) — 149,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 54,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. AFL: First Final, Port Adelaide v Geelong (Fox Footy) — 303,000
2. AFL: Finals On Fox (Fox Footy) — 149,000
3. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) —68,000
4. The Bolt Report, Credlin (Sky News) — 64,000