The Winners: Today Tonight was tops with 1.368 million viewers and Seven News was second with 1.334 million. Nine News was 3rd with 1.122 million and A Current Affair was 4th with 1.080 million. Nine’s 7pm repeat of Two and a Half Men averaged 1.047 million and was the last million-plus program on the night. The Footy Shows were weaker than last week with 759,000 (first estimates). Nine’s repeat of The Mentalist averaged 949,000 at 8.30pm, The Biggest Loser, 908,000 for Ten. Cougar Town for Seven at 8.30pm (876,000) and How I met Your Mother at 9pm on Seven (833,000).

The Losers: So You Think You Can Dance results for Ten, 792,000. Neighbours at 6.30pm on Ten, down to 527,000. Fire Talker: The Life & Times of Charlie Perkins on the ABC at 8.30pm, 362,000.

News & CA: Seven News again won nationally as did Today Tonight. Nine News lost Sydney to Seven by just 1000 viewers, 343,000 to 342,000. The 7pm ABC News averaged 876,000. The 7.30 Report, 709,000. Lateline, 229,000, Lateline Business, 108,000. Ten News, 807,000. The late News/Sports Tonight, 315,000. SBS News at 6.30pm, 141,000, 125,000 for the late edition. 7am Sunrise, 246,000, 7am Today, 324,000.

The Stats:

FTA: Nine won a combined overnight All People 6pm to midnight share of 31.4% from Seven with 27.0%, Ten on 24.6%, the ABC, 15.0% and SBS, 4.4%. Nine won Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. They drew Adelaide and Seven won Perth. Seven leads the week 31.1% to 28.8%. Nine actually won the night because of an 11 point win in Melbourne.

Main Channel: Nine won with an All People 6pm to midnight combined overnight share of 26.6%, from Seven with 24.0%, Ten with 20.2%, ABC 1 with 12.8% and SBS ONE, 3.8%. Nine won Sydney and Melbourne. Seven won Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Seven leads the week, 28.4% to 25.4% for Nine. The big win in Melbourne got Nine home here.

Digital: Given the dross on the main channels last night, it’s no wonder the digital offerings did well. GO won with a combined overnight All People 6pm to midnight share of 4.8% from 7TWO with 3.0%, ONE with 2.0%, ABC 2, 1.7%, SBS TWO, 0.6% and ABC 3 with 0.5%. The six digital channels had a total share of 12.6% GO leads the week with a share of 3.6% from 7TWO with 2.7%.

Pay TV: With Pay TV included, Nine won with a combined overnight 6pm to midnight All People share of 25.4%, from Seven with 21.9%, Ten, 18.0%, Pay TV, 16.9%, the ABC, 12.2% and SBS, 3.6%. The 11 FTA channels had a share of 83.1%, the 100 plus channels of Pay TV, the reported 16.9%.

Regional: A combined overnight All People 6 pm to midnight win to WIN/NBN with a share of 31.1% from Prime/7Qld with 26.1%, Ten (Southern Cross ) with 19.6%, the ABC, 17.8% and SBS with 5.5%. WIN/NBN won the main channel battle from Prime/7Qld, 28.0% to 24.4%. GO won the digital battle with a share of 3.1%, from ABC 2 with 1.7%, 7TWO with 1.6%, One with 1.0%, ABC 3, 0.8% and SBS TWO, 0.6%. Prime/7Qld leads the week from WIN/NBN, 29.3% to 28.3%.

Glenn Dyer’s comments: Nine might have got home last night, but it was a rotten night. Just five programs with more than a million viewers. That’s more like a good night in the summer ratings doldrums. On first estimates the Footy Show audiences were down in Sydney and Melbourne and up in Brisbane. The total audience of 759,000 was down on the first estimate last week of 811,000 (749,000 in the final figures).

Seven said it won primetime in all key audience demographics, 16-39s, 18-49s and 25-54s. Given the small audiences last night for many programs, that’s a claim you’d keep in a dark room somewhere. Most of what was on last night was subpar TV. Only the Italian Food Safari on SBS at 7.30pm (367,000) and Costa’s Garden Odyssey at 8pm (253,000) showed any original spark, and both were returning series, so were not all that new an idea.

Channel Seven has a good chance of worrying Nine with a splashy start next week for its new football programs. The AFL program is on Wednesday at 7.30pm because the AFL season starts on Thursday. The Nine AFL Footy Show switched to Wednesday night next week as well, so a near head to head start. The NRL show starts on the Thursday at 7.30pm, two hours before Nine’s. Will Nine bring its program forward if Seven starts attracting and holding viewers. Seven’s show will be up against Getaway on Nine, which hasn’t been doing well this year. its audiences are down on last year as it starts slowly.

And, good news for bicycle fans SBS has extended its Tour de France contract with the owners and organisers, Amaury Sport Organisation (ASO) of France, securing its Free To Air coverage until 2017, and the online and mobile delivery rights until 2017.

TONIGHT: NRL on Nine, Betters Homes and Gardens on Seven, The Biggest Loser on Ten. Nothing else. Test cricket on Foxtel.

TOMORROW: Blue Murder repeat on the ABC at 9.15pm. Nothing on anywhere else, except lots of coast saving movies on Seven, Nine and Ten. NRL on Foxtel. Test cricket on Foxtel.

SUNDAY: The morning chat shows, with lots of talk about a small island called Tasmania and the health debate on Tuesday. Sunday Night on Seven at 6.30pm. 60 Minutes on Nine at 7.30pm. The Good Wife on Ten at 8.30pm, after Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation. Dateline on SBS. Test cricket on Foxtel.

Source: OzTAM, TV Networks reports