The Winners: A dozen programs with a million or more viewers with Nine the winner of the first night of ratings after Easter, and Ten. Seven News though was the most watched program with 1.649 million people, from 60 Minutes at 7.30pm with 1.509 million and Seven’s The Force returned at 8pm with 1.482 million. Nine News was fourth with 1.380 million and the US version of Border Security called Domestic Security USA was fifth with 1.366 million people. Nine’s Domestic Blitz was sixth with a solid 1.292 million people and The Biggest Loser Weigh-In from 6.30pm to 7.30pm averaged 1.193 million people. Nine’s CSI averaged 1.178 million at 8.30pm and Ten’s So You Think You Can Dance Australia averaged 1.149 million at 7.30pm to 9pm. Seven’s Bones averaged 1.105 million at 8.30pm, Nine’s CSI Miami at 9.30pm, 1.038 million and Sunday Night scraped in to the list in 12th with 1.036 million. Rove averaged 954,000 at 9pm.

The Losers: Beyond The Darklands on Seven at 9.30pm: 685,000. Tired TV again, thinking that viewers would lap up every frame of “true crime” material after the success of Underbelly, Crime Investigation Australia and the Gangs of Oz series. Who cares? Nine started a program, The Evidence, at 10.30pm: worse than the Beyond The Darklands rubbish on Seven. 539,000 for the Nine program. Guerrilla Gardeners at 6pm on Ten, 396,000. The audience halved from Wednesday night, probably because not many people knew of the switch, hopefully. Dexter, 529,000 at 10.10pm on Ten. Dirt Game on the ABC at 8.30pm: 769,000.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally, but lost Sydney where the NRL lead in helped Nine. But not in Brisbane. The 7pm ABC News averaged 966,000. Ten News, 636,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 193,000. In the morning Weekend Sunrise, 457,000, Today on Sunday 239,000. Insiders 189,000, Inside Business, 209,000 and Offsiders, 184,000. Meet the Press on Ten, 74,000. Landline on the ABC at Noon, 290,000. Dateline on SBS at 8.30pm, 186,000.

The Stats: Nine won with a share of 29.7% (28.3%) for All People 6pm to midnight. Ten was next with 25.5% (21.9%) With Seven next on 25.4% (24.6%) with the ABC on 14.6% (21.0%) and SBS with 4.8% (4.3%). Nine won everywhere bar Perth. In regional markets WIN/NBN won for Nine with 31.1%, from Prime/7Qld with 26.7%, Southern Cross on 21.0%, the ABC on 15.5% and SBS on 5.7%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Seven won last week after the draw the week before. The ABC did very well, especially on Saturday night when it won prime time from Ten, with Seven third and Nine fourth. Nine and Seven didn’t care because it was the last night of non-ratings.

Dennis Commetti on Seven’s Sunday afternoon AFL coverage yesterday had the sledge of the weekend: After Richmond’s Matthew Richardson has muffed an easy shot for goal in the second quarter, Commetti said something along the lines that consistency and Matthew Richardson was like Michael Jackson accusing the rest of the Jackson Five of erratic behaviour. Very good.

A win for Nine and Ten last night with Seven squeezed. Sunday Night at 6.30pm was the weak point: fancy having a story on UFOs in this day and age? Sunday Night last night was a tarted up version of Today Tonight (next week exclusive crop circles?) 60 Minutes was a superior version of ACA with its lightweight line up. 1.5 million people watched. There was more cred in a Seven News story which attempted to chase a claimed Australian private army owner down in Dubai. That story had more meat in a couple of minutes than Sunday Night or 60 minutes had in two hours (actually around 87 minutes of 120 minutes). Tired, cost cutting TV at its best.

Ten won 16 to 39 and 18 to 49 because of The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance Australia. Elsewhere, there was more choice, but it was hardly earth shattering TV. Dirt Game on the ABC was an honest first up effort.

PS: Ten’s HD broadcast of the Formula 1 Grand Prix from China on One, 143,000 live at 5pm. It out-rated SBS and became the 5th most watched network for a brief time. 146,000 on the Main Channel in replay at 11.15pm. That was a very interesting result where the HD audience almost topped the main channel. It’s the biggest audience so far on the Network’s HD Channel. Both SBS and Ten One are commercial (or semi-commercial networks). There’s obviously latent interest in the free to air audience for sport. The F1 race lasted two hours, which is a big ask. It was the 75th most watched program on all free to air networks yesterday.

TONIGHT: Eddie McGuire is back on Nine at 5.30pm with a remake of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire up against Seven’s Deal or No Deal. It’s called Hot Seat. Nine is trying to boost viewing audiences for its 6pm news and ACA with a limited run of the reworked Millionaire. Deal or No Deal on Seven at 5.30pm has improved the chance of winning the $200,000 top prize by having two $200,000 cases. Eddie should get an initial push, but how long last it will be will be problematic with the same news services and unchanged ACA (except for the new reddish set which has failed).

Apart from the McGuire return, SBS dips into the archives of the BBC for another Top Gear. Nine debuts two new series: You Saved My Life at 7.30pm, which is tear jerker and at 8pm, Missing Pieces, which is Find My Family on Seven in rip-off. Hosted by Peter Overton. That’s a Network role, his main gig is being ignored in Sydney by the TV audience hosting the 6pm News.

Seven has How I Met Your Mother, Scrubs, Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters. Hardly inspiring.

Ten has The Biggest Loser and So You Think You Can Dance Australia, Good News Week and a repeat of NCIS.

The ABC has Spooks at 9.35pm after Four Corners and Media Watch and Australian Story at 8pm.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports