ratings ghost train
(Image: Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire/ABC iView)

Exposed: The Ghost Train Fire recorded 737,000 national viewers on Tuesday. This third and final part of the series was the 12th most popular program for the night. A blast from the rotten 1970s and early- to mid-’80s.

Ahh, the little mates of Sydney and NSW politics, ALP affairs and powerbroking and crime: Morgan Ryan, Lionel Murphy and Neville “Nifty” Wran — respectively Sydney solicitor to the crims, former federal attorney-general and High Court judge, and former NSW premier and their little crim mate, Abe Saffron. They were all exposed, finally, over the Luna Park ghost train fire and the murders of seven innocent people — and of course a band of bent coppers, starting with the worst, most bent of all, former assistant commissioner Bill Allen who was promoted up the greasy pole of the NSW police force by Wran.

The reporting and digging by Caro Meldrum-Hanna and offsider Patrick Begley left Nine’s Under Investigation, the occasional Seven series on crime figures (such as Ivan Milat), and the various Underbelly musings on Nine about Melbourne’s gangland murders look like the lightweight efforts they were.

Exposed had bent coppers, bent politicians and bent lawyers. All about property, crime cashflows and influence. All very Sydney. Remember, the late ’60s were dominated by the bent Liberal premier Robert (nee Robin) Askin and the bent police commissioner in Norman Allen. The appearance last night of just one figure, former Saffron fellow traveller Rosemary Opitz, was stunning, especially when she confirmed photos of Wran, Allen and others at Friday night drinks parties put on by Saffron.

But thanks to Married At First Sight (1.37 million), it was Nine’s night again.

Network channel share

  1. Nine (33.2%)
  2. Seven (23.5%)
  3. ABC (18.9%)
  4. Ten (16.4%)
  5. SBS (7.9%)

Network main channels

  1. Nine (24.9%)
  2. Seven (15.3%)
  3. ABC (14.0%)
  4. Ten (9.3%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.0%)

Top five digital channels

  1. 10 Bold (3.8%)
  2. 7TWO (3.2%)
  3. 7mate (3.1%)
  4. 10 Peach (2.7%)
  5. 9Life (2.5%)

Top 10 national programs

  1. Seven News — 1.510 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.442 million
  3. MAFS (Nine) — 1.375 million
  4. Nine News — 1.202 million
  5. Nine News 6.30 — 1.154 million
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.065 million
  7. 7pm ABC News — 1.006 million
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 894,000
  9. Home and Away (Seven) — 857,000
  10. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 788,000

Metro news and current affairs

  1. Seven News —971,000
  2. Nine News — 929,000
  3. Seven News 6.30 — 924,000
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 861,000
  5. ACA (Nine) — 755,000
  6. 7pm ABC News — 671,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 588,000
  8. Exposed: the Ghost Train Fire (ABC) — 478,000
  9. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 432,000
  10. Ten News First (ABC) — 324,000

Morning (national) TV

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 455,000/261,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 319,000/218,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC) —292,000/196,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 248,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 155,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 55,000

Top five pay TV programs

  1. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 70,000
  2. Credlin (Sky News) — 63,000
  3. Paul Murray Live (Sky News), Alan Jones (Sky News) — 61,000
  4. Great British Bake-Off (LifeStyle Food) — 60,000