Yes, Seven News was weak in Melbourne on Monday night but Age journalists, Matthew Ricketson and Caroline Wilson, failed to spot something important as they tied the slump to the Network’s dispute with the AFL:

Seven’s Melbourne news ratings plunged 20 per cent on the first weeknight since it broadcast details of the private medical records of two AFL players. On Monday Seven’s news drew 316,000 viewers in Melbourne, a drop of 80,000 viewers on the previous Monday’s figure.

Seven was weak because Nine News and A Current Affair were bolstered by a turn on for a Bert Newton interview, which was a promotion for the screening of the Graham Kennedy biopic on Nine later that night. Look at the way ACA‘s audience in Melbourne jumped to 576,000 and Seven’s Today Tonight shrunk to 293,000.

If you look at the quarter hours, Seven News was on 304,000 at 6pm to 6.15pm, Nine averaged 429,000. From 6.15pm to 6.30pm, Seven News rose to 324,600 and Nine News added 96,000 viewers: people who turned over in the last few minutes for ACA and Bert. From 6.30pm to 6.45pm, Today Tonight averaged 284,500; ACA, 584,000. In the 15 minutes from 6.45pm to 7pm, TT‘s audience rose to 298,300 and ACA‘s eased to 570,900.

Then last night, Nine only beat Seven in Melbourne by 10,000 viewers, compared to the 162,000 on Monday night. If viewers were rejecting Seven over the AFL story you’d expected Nine’s big lead to have lasted more than one night. A Current Affair beat Today Tonight by 4,000 viewers in Melbourne (401,000 to 397,000). Both results are around normal for Tuesday nights in Melbourne.

If you want a story, look at the way the Nine News and ACA audiences dropped under 300,000 in Sydney last night — a very poor performance (290,000 for the News and 298,000 for ACA).

Only in Melbourne would the credulous see one night’s TV news ratings through the prism of the AFL, without looking at what was on the main opposition station. And, of course Seven News won in those other strong AFL markets, Adelaide and Perth, on both nights.