Nine and Ten went backwards in a big way as Wednesday night again underlined Nine’s absence of a solid second tier ratings hit, and Ten’s complete lack of any ratings friendly programming. Seven was the easiest of winners in the metros and the regions, though we don’t know the full national figures because regional data has again been disrupted by the impact and after effects of Cyclone Debbie.

Seven’s main channel metro share of 28.2% meant the network had more people watching that channel then watched all of Nine’s five channels last night (25.6%). Seven will easily win the week because Nine’s program weaknesses and Ten’s appalling lack of watchable content for the audience.

Ten’s metro main channel share dipped under 10% last night to 8.6% which is nowhere near enough. If this continues for much longer it will be a case of ‘will the last person out of the door turn off the lights and the transmitter, please?” Family Feud could only manage 321,000 metro viewers, but that was gold compared to the terrible 254,000 for The Biggest Loser: Transformed which is busy transmuting falling ratings into lower revenues and bigger losses for the network. This is Us, which followed TBL averaged 335,000 metro viewers – poor, but at least there was an increase for This is Us of 81,000 viewers, which really damns TBL.

The problems in Queensland and the hold up in the regional ad national data robbed Seven of bragging rights for a national audience for My Kitchen Rules of just over 2 million viewers, going on the performance earlier in the week. MKR averaged a season high 1.43 million in the metros, helped by continuing contestant and other controversies.

Nine’s breakfast woes continue – Seven’s Sunrise, 336,000, Nine’s Today, 296,000. So much time and effort, so little reward. Tonight its AFL v NRL on Seven and Nine.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (36.3%)
  2. Nine (25.6%)
  3. ABC (15.9%)
  4. ABC (15.1%)
  5. SBS (7.1%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (28.2%)
  2. Nine (17.4%)
  3. ABC (11.0%)
  4. Ten (8.6%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.2%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. GO (3.6%)
  2. Eleven (33%)
  3. ONE (3.2%)
  4. 7TWO (3.1%)
  5. 7mate (2.9%)

Top 10 national programs: None available due to after effects of Cyclone Debbie

Top metro programs:

  1. MKR (Seven) — 1.43 million
  2. Seven News — 1.04 million
  3. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1 million

Losers: Ten – just rotten, Nine, weak programs, low figures.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.04 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1 million
  3. Nine News — 909,000
  4. Nine News (6.30pm) — 867,000
  5. 7pm ABC News —763,000
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 755,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 580,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 487,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 461,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 327,000

Morning (Metro) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 336,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 296,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC,  131,000 + 58,000 on News 24) — 189,000
  4. Today Extra (Nine) — 162,000
  5. The Morning Show (Seven) — 142,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 90,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. LifeStyle  (3.6%)
  2. Fox 8, TVHITS  (2.2%)
  3. Sky News, UKTV, Nick Jr  (1.6%)

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Gogglebox Australia (LifeStyle) — 214,000
  2. Selling Houses Australia (LifeStyle) — 136,000
  3. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 57,000
  4. Curious George (Nick Jr — 56,000
  5. Paw Patrol (Nick Jr) — 56,000