Sydney-Melbourne play favorites with local content. The old Sydney-Melbourne rivalry has been particularly evident in the figures for this week’s high rating programs — each market naturally gravitates to locally produced content. Take Kath & Kim: it averaged 2.045 million nationally, but 726,000 of these were in Melbourne and just 493,000 in Sydney. Brisbane’s audience of 362,000 was proportionately bigger than Sydney’s. Kath and Kim is produced in Melbourne and set in the mythical Melbourne suburb of Fountaingate. This week’s other big hit, The Chaser, averaged 2.245 million viewers nationally, including 726,000 in Sydney; 699,000 people in Melbourne and a very solid 341,000 in Brisbane. It’s produced in Sydney, the Chasers are all Sydney Grammar and Sydney Uni lads, so its natural they drew a bigger audience in the harbour city. The divide was also there for the Melbourne-produced Summer Heights High, which averaged a new high of 1.394 million, with 503,000 in Melbourne (where it finished fourth on the night) and 429,000 in Sydney. And the Ten’s hit, Thank God You’re Here is produced in Melbourne: it averaged 1.785 million people nationally but 618,000 watched in Melbourne and just 484,000 in Sydney. More TV content is being produced in Melbourne than in Sydney at the moment. — Glenn Dyer

Last night’s TV ratings
The Winners: 11 programs with a million or more viewers and Nine’s Sea Patrol has now come right back to the pack. In fact it is buried in the pack and didn’t win its timeslot last night. Today Tonight was tops with 1.449 million people, ahead of Seven News with 1.426 million and Home And Away with 1.423 million. Sea Patrol was 4th with 1.265 million, Getaway was 5th with 1.181 million and Seven’s Ghost Whisperer (1.181 million) and Ten’s So You Think You Can Dance, 1.131 million were 6th and 7th but both ran to 9.30pm or beyond. The 7pm ABC News averaged 1.080 million and was ahead of Nine News with 1.069 million and A Current Affair with 1.026 million. Temptation was 11th at 7pm for Nine with 1.012 million. Ten’s Law And Order faded to 788,000 because of the 10pm start.

The Losers: None really. Ten’s dancing show worked for more than two hours and Seven’s 120 minutes of chatting to ghosts beguiled audiences as well. The ABC had an average night: none of the glory from The Chaser, Spicks and Specks and Summer Heights High on Wednesday night. SBS continues to show contempt for viewers by screening repeats of Inspector Rex (358,000) at 7.30pm. It is only being rescreened to drive ad revenue because it is a very popular program and has been fully amortised, thereby making sure SBS gets maximum yield from this tired old property. That illustrates better than most things the paucity of thinking and innovation at SBS under Shaun Brown and the current board.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally and in every market but Melbourne, Today Tonight won everywhere.This has been a very poor week for Nine and the gains of the past three weeks have disappeared. Seven has again widened the gap between 6pm and 7pm. Nine is now repeating the Antiques Roadshow at 5.30 and that has hurt the news. Nine is trying to poach Seven’s Andrew O’Keefe who hosts Weekend Sunrise and Deal or No Deal at 5.30pm. But Nine needs a vehicle and would O’Keefe really want to be known as Mr 5.30pm? Ten News At Five was again low at 771,000, the Late News/Sports Tonight was solid though with 415,000. Nine’s Nightline averaged 201,000 after the departing Ralph TV. The 7.30 Report averaged 914,000, Lateline 241,000, Lateline Business, 128,000. World News Australia on SBS, 164,000 at 6.30pm, 181,000 at 9.30. 7am Sunrise again over 400,000 at 423,000, Today eased to 250,000. Would Nine put O’Keefe in to replace Karl Stefanovic and shift him to A Current Affair?

The Stats: Nine won with a share of 28.5 (29.8% last week) from Seven with 27.9% (27.0%), Ten was third with 23.9% (23.0%), the ABC was next with 14.8% (15.5%) and SBS was on 4.8% (4.6%). Seven won all markets bar Melbourne where The Footy Show, with an assist from Sea Patrol pushed it to a big win with 997,000. Seven was third behind Ten. And that enabled Nine to sneak home nationally. Only three footy shows to go and without that and the NRL, Nine faces a tough time getting closer to Seven and perhaps even Ten in some timeslots and nights. In regional areas, a win to WIN/NBN for Nine with 30.2% from Prime/7Qld with 28.4%, Southern Cross (Ten) on 22.0%, the ABC on 13.5% and SBS on 5.8%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Nine has made a bid for Big Brother; it would be wise to drop that and look to its existing scheme, more holes have appeared. Sea Patrol is now at a level where a second series, costing $2 million more, with $1.7 million less from taxpayer subsidies in 2008, has to be questioned. Last night it was beaten in Sydney by Ghost Whisperer on Seven which averaged 355,000 from 7.30pm to 9.30pm, compared to the 341,00 for SP between 8.30 and 9.30pm. Nine’s hour of news and ACA have had a diabolically bad week this week. A ratings one-off maybe, but for the second night in a row more people watched the ABC 7pm bulletins than Nine’s bulletins at 6pm. I know they are different timeslots (and more people watched the ABC in Sydney than Nine) but as I said yesterday, Nine has a bigger promo budget and more viewers to promote its news into than the ABC. Spending money to revitalise the News, ACA and the 5.30pm slot would be smarter investing than buying Big Brother. Nine only won the night nationally because of Sea Patrol’s solid audience in Melbourne, 412,000, and the huge audience for The AFL Footy Show with 430,000 for 90 minutes from 9.30pm. It was the best rating program in Melbourne and the second highest single market audience after the 454,000 who watch Home And Away in Sydney. AFL will have the night to its own, Seven to increase its lead. The NRL will do well tomorrow night and on Sunday afternoon, giving Nine a solid launching pad in Sydney and Brisbane for the night. CSI is back for Nine, Damages starts, Kath & Kim and My Name is Earl on Seven, plus an odd sounding movie, Kingdom of Heaven? Idol on Ten and Rove. Its the last Backyard Blitz at 6.30pm Sunday on Nine. Don Burke is back the following week.

Source: OzTAM, TV Network reports