On a mixed night, MasterChef Australia did well for Ten with no competition — 1.33 million national viewers — but next year chaps, get rid of the complicated desserts and high sugar rubbish and go for something a bit plainer (less fussy) that ordinary home cooks can aspire to. The first winner, Julie Goodwin, is still what the program should be aiming for. Offspring, also on Ten, averaged 892,000 national viewers which was solid.

But the gong for the night goes to Utopia on the ABC — its return saw it into the top 10 nationally with 1.12 million national viewers — which easily topped Offspring from 9pm. That was after Shaun and his Mad As Hell gang averaged a very tasty 1.03 million at 8.30pm, meaning it too beat Offspring. In fact the ABC won that hour. Geewillikers Batman, there’s a message there for the commercial networks about making funny comedy/satire programs and doing it well, isn’t there?

In the regions Seven did better than in the metros (where Nine was a close winner). Seven News topped the night with 666,000 viewers, with Seven News/TT on 536,000, Home and Away was third with 480,000, then came the 5.30pm part of The Chase Australia with 446,000 and then The Force (Seven, 8pm) with 409,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (26.5%)
  2. Nine (25.5%)
  3. Ten (20.6%)
  4. ABC (17.9%)
  5. SBS (9.4%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (18.0%)
  2. Seven (17.5%)
  3. Ten (15.9%)
  4. ABC (12.9%)
  5. SBS ONE (7.3%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. Gem (3.1%)
  2. ABC 2 (3.9%)
  3. 7TWO, GO (2.9%)
  4. 7mate (2.7%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.727 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.523 million
  3. Nine News — 1.402 million
  4. Nine News (6.30pm)— 1.395 million
  5. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.332 million
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.216 million
  7. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.209 million
  8. Utopia (ABC) — 1.127 million
  9. 7pm ABC News — 1.098 million
  10. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.090 million

Top metro programs:

  1. Nine News — 1.071 million
  2. Nine News 6.30 — 1.064 million
  3. Seven News — 1.061 million

Losers: Anyone who missed Mad As Hell, Utopia and Offspring. There is good TV out there.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Nine News — 1.071 million
  2. Nine News 6.30 — 1.064 million
  3. Seven News — 1.061 million
  4. Seven News/Today Tonight — 987,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 869,000
  6. 7pm ABC News —752,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 602,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 557,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 472,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 373,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 513,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 410,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC,  177,000 + 79,000 on News 24) — 256,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 232,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 173,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 133,000

Top five pay TV channels:

  1. TVHITS  (2.5%)
  2. UKTV (2.1%)
  3. Fox8  (2.0%)
  4. Sky News (1.8%)
  5. LifeStyle  (1.7%))

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 100,000
  2. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 65,000
  3. Mrs Browns Boys (UKTV) — 63,000
  4. Mrs Browns Boys (UKTV), American Dad (Fox8) — 58,000