New programs all over the remote last night, plus an oldie or three. Nine returned The Block (1.575 million, down just 41,000 from last year’s start), Seven returned Little Big Shots (1.487 million nationally, down 932,000 from 2017’s debut) and Ten returned Russell Coight (1.335 million nationally — its back after 16 years) and gave us Street Smart on debut (581,000, flop), while on the ABC it was the start of the annual UK House of The Year with Grand Designs (879,000). Tonight more Block plus the return of Doctor Doctor on Nine. Seven debuts Dance Boss and the ABC brings back Australian Story.

Nine won the night easily and the demos, Ten went backwards, as Russell Coight’s solid return wasn’t supported by anything else in Ten’s line up and the network finished a weak 4th in total people and the main channels (its main channel share of 8.0% was Murdoch-like) after the ABC and its average line up — Jack Irish’s second last ep, 1.084 million viewers. In the morning Insiders again had solid figures — 543,000 viewers. In regional markets Seven’s 6pm news was tops with 558,000, then Little Big Shots with 524,000, followed by Russell Coight on Ten with 454,000, then The Block with 412,000 and Nine News was 5th with 401,000.

Network channel share:
Nine (33.3%)
Seven (30.9%)
ABC (16.9%)
Ten (12.4%)
SBS (6.5%)

Network main channels:
Nine (24.2%)
Seven (19.5%)
ABC (12.7%)
Ten (8.0%)
SBS ONE (5.2%)

Top 5 digital channels:
7mate (6.5%)
GO (3.9%)
7TWO (3.2%)
Gem (3.1%)
ABC Kids/Comedy (2.7%)

Top 10 national programs:
Seven News — 1.711 million
The Block Launch (Nine) — 1.575 million
Little Big Shots (Seven) — 1.487 million
Nine/NBN News — 1.393 million
Russell Coight (Ten) — 1.335 million
60 Minutes (Nine) — 1.154 million
Jack Irish (ABC) — 1.084 million
7pm ABC News — 997,000
Sunday Night (Seven) — 930,000
Grand Designs (ABC) — 879,000

Top metro programs:
The Block Launch (Nine) — 1.163 million
Seven News — 1.153 million

Losers: Ten, badly.

Metro news and current affairs:
Seven News — 1.153 million
Nine News — 992,000
60 Minutes (Nine) — 809,000
7pm ABC News — 666,000
Sunday Night (Seven) — 597,000
The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 356,000
Ten Eyewitness News — 264,000
The Sunday Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 229,000
SBS World News — 155,000

Morning (National) TV:
Insiders (ABC) — 543,000
Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 424,000
Landline (ABC) — 410,000
Weekend Today (Nine) — 332,000
Offsiders (ABC) — 234,000
Sports Sunday (Nine) — 214,000

Top five pay TV programs:
NRL: Penrith v Canberra (Fox League) — 270,000
NRL: Cronulla v Manly (Fox League) — 208,000
AFL: West Coast v Fremantle (Fox Footy) — 179,000
AFL: Carlton v GWS (Fox Footy) — 137,000
NRL: Sunday Night With Matty Johns (Fox League), AFL: Bounce (Fox Footy) — 130,000