Last night’s TV ratings: Packed to the Rafters won the night averaging 2.048 million for Seven, its second 2 million plus audience of the season (the previous was for the wedding) and the third highest so far for the program. Seven’s Unlikely Animal Friends at 7.30pm to 8.30pm averaged 1.378 million and Seven News was 3rd with 1.273 million. The 7pm repeat of Two and a Half Men averaged 1.138 million for Nine, with Ten’s 8.30pm repeat of NCIS averaging 1.105 million. Today Tonight averaged 1.095 million in 6th spot, the first of the two part final of Celebrity MasterChef Australia on Ten at 7.30pm averaged 1.083 million (not quite good enough I feel, for Ten’s liking). Home and Away was 8th with 1.044 million, A Current Affair was 9th with 1.038 million and Private Practice rebounded to average 1.003 million in 10th spot, thanks to the huge audience watching Rafters ahead of it on Seven. Lie To Me on Ten at 9.30pm, 974,000.

The Losers: Nine’s movie, The Castle, at 9.30pm, 663,000. Nine’s two hour episode of 50 to 1 from 7.30pm to 9.30pm: 983,000.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally and in every market but Brisbane. Today Tonight won everywhere bar Melbourne and Brisbane where A Current Affair won. Nine News, 995,000 for a Tuesday night. Not good enough. It was 278,000 behind Seven. The 7pm ABC News won Sydney with 331,000. That’s the daylight saving factor at work, but the audience for Nine (286,000) in Sydney and nationally is simply too low for a leading news service to survive, even if it’s the time of year. The 7pm ABC News had a national audience of 976,000, only 19,000 behind Nine. The 7.30 Report averaged 705,000. Lateline averaged 311,000, Lateline Business, 130,000. Ten News averaged 741,000, the late News/Sports Tonight, 344,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 146,000, the 9.30pm edition, 152,000. 7am Sunrise, 381,000, 7am Today, 321,000.

The Stats :Seven won a combined 6pm to midnight All People with a share of 34.6% (31.8% last week), and won all the demographics. Nine was second with 25.5% (26.6%). Ten was on 22.0% (24.4%), the ABC, 13.8% (unchanged), and SBS, 4.1% (3.4%). Seven won all five metro markets. Nine finished third in Adelaide and Perth, which won’t please Bruce Gordon who has left WIN (the Nine owner in both cities) rudderless.

In regional areas a win to Prime/7Qld with 35.1%, from Southern Cross (Ten) with 23.0%, WIN/NBN with 21.8%, the ABC with 14.6% and SBS with 5.6%.

Digitally: Nine’s GO won with 2.40%, (Nine’s main channel was on 23.10%), from 7TWO with 1.90% (Seven’s main channel was on 32.70%); ABC 2 with 1.40% (ABC 1, 12.30%), Ten’s ONE with 0.60% (Ten’s main channel with 21.40%), SBS TWO with 0.40%, (SBS ONE with 3.70%).

Glenn Dyer’s comments: The final Packed to the Rafters of the year, a baby, a two million audience, Seven wins the night.

Ten’s Celebrity MasterChef was a cruel and unusual bit of TV last night. An hour of humiliation and disaster that seems to have been organised simply for the spectacle and nothing else. Fancy being forced to cook a Croquembouche. It’s the Bombe Alaska of 2009 and a culinary cliché at best. It was merely done for the spectacle and it  didn’t help Ten at all: 1.083 million viewers for the second last episode. The final is on tonight. A flawed series and one I hope hasn’t damaged the brand of the main program for next year.

And that was the night. The week is Seven’s as is the ratings year.

TONIGHT: No Spicks and Specks on the ABC, the final of The New Inventors for an hour from 8pm. Hungry Beast at 9pm and John Safran at 9.30pm. The final for the year of City Homicide on Seven at 8.30pm. The final of RPA Where Are They Now on Nine at the same time. Celebrity MasterChef Australia on Ten for two hours from 7.30pm. Inspector Rex, a repeat, as usual, on SBS at 7.30pm.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports