The total people and main channel figures were as different as chalk and cheese. Seven won total people, and Nine won the main channels — easily. Why? Seven decided to blow off viewers by dropping the rotten Single Wives “reality” program into 7.30pm on a Thursday evening, knowing it would bomb (425,000 national viewers). It was a weak fourth on the night in the slot.

How bad was the 425,000 national viewers? Well, The Front Bar followed in the AFL markets — Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth and associated regional areas — and out-rated it with 434,000 people. But let’s not detract from the growing success of The Front Bar. The show had its best ever Melbourne figure of 274,000 viewers — third in that market last night and almost double the 139,000 people who watched Nine’s ailing AFL Footy Show.  

Last night’s NRL game on Nine averaged 651,000 for Canterbury beating Brisbane and 225,000 on Foxtel. The 876,000 in total was more than the Australian Survivor audience on Ten of 834,000 (I know it’s not strictly comparable, but just an observation). 

In regional markets Seven’s 6pm News led with 554,000 viewers, Seven News/TT next with 451,000, then Home and Away with 382,000, followed by The Chase Australia at 5.30pm with 345,000 and the 7pm ABC News in 5th with 334,000

And a correction from Wednesday night: 9-1-1 is a US procedural drama series created by Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Tim Minear, which follows the lives of Los Angeles first responders; not a reality show, as first reported. Apologies.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (28.8%)
  2. Nine (27.4%)
  3. Ten (19.4%)
  4. ABC (15.9%)
  5. SBS (8.4%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (19.8%)
  2. Seven (16.7%)
  3. Ten (13.6%)
  4. ABC (10.5%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.9%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (4.8%)
  2. GO (4.3%)
  3. 7mate (3.8%)
  4. Eleven (3.0%)
  5. ABC Kids/Comedy, ONE (2.9%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News  — 1.488 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.375 million
  3. Nine/NBN News — 1.203 million
  4. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.191 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.030 million
  6. 7pm ABC News — 1.006 million
  7. Home and Away (Seven) — 995,000
  8. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 932,000
  9. Australian Survivor (Ten) — 838,000
  10. 7.30 (ABC) — 777,000

Top metro programs: None with a million or more viewers

Losers: Single Wives on Seven, AFL Footy Show on Nine

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 934,000
  2. Nine News — 929,000
  3. Seven News/Today Tonight — 924,000
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 900,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 738,000
  6. 7pm ABC News – 672,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 517,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 502,000
  9. Ten Eyewitness News — 377,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 279,000

Morning  (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 432,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 371,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC,  ABC News) — 252,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 210,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 158,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 84,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. NRL: Canterbury v Brisbane (Fox League) — 225,000
  2. The Late Show With Matty Johns (Fox League) — 107,000
  3. Aussie Gold Hunters (Discovery) — 81,000
  4. AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) – 74,000
  5. NRL: Thursday Night League (Fox League) — 69,000