Has the summer silly season come early?

It’s Seven’s last Melbourne Cup today, so pay homage.

Summer is getting closer — just four programs with a million or more viewers nationally (and none in the metros), on the second biggest night of the week so far as TV viewing is concerned. For the second Monday night in a row, the ABC finished second to Seven in the main channels because of its solid news and current affairs line up. The most watched program apart from the various news broadcasts was Bride and Prejudice: The Forbidden Weddings — 916,000 viewers. Seven started a smaltzy US series, God Friended Me — 802,000. Heading south next week.

Flops spotted last night: Blind Date — 440,000 on Ten — followed by Have You Been Paying Attention with 853,000. So 413,000 people didn’t want a date but wanted to pay attention. Another thumbs-down for the worst show in TV in 2018. Family Food Fight on Nine from 7.30pm — 571,000. 

In regional markets it was Seven’s 6pm News at the top with 505,000, then Seven News/Today Tonight with 486,000, followed by Home and Away with 371,000, then Australian Story and 7.30 with 347,000 apiece.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (30.5%)
2. Nine (23.8%)
3. ABC (19.7%)
4. Ten (18.1%)
5. SBS (7.9%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (20.6%)
2. ABC (15.3%)
3. Nine (15.0%)
4. Ten (12.0%)
5. SBS ONE (5.6%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. GO (4.8%
2. 7mate (4.3%)
3. 10Boss (4.2%)
4. 7TWO (4.0%)
5. ABC Kids/Comedy, Gem 2.4%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.447 million
2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.408 million
3. Nine/NBN News — 1.144 million
4. Nine/NBN News — 1.139 million
5. Home and Away (Seven) — 991,000
6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 986,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) —972,000
8. 7pm ABC News — 967,000
9. Australian Story (ABC) — 933,000
10. Bride and Prejudice (Seven) — 916,000

Top metro programs: none with a million or more viewers – the National List is a better guide

Losers: Blind Date on Ten, Family Food Fight on Nine.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 942,000
2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 922,000
3. Nine News — 851,000
4. Nine News6.30 — 833,000
5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 698,000
6. 7pm ABC News – 634,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 624,000
8. Four Corners (ABC) —590,000
9. Australian Story (ABC)  — 586,000
10. Media Watch (ABC) — 521,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) – 442,000
2. Today (Nine) – 342,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 242,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 228,000
5. Mornings (Nine) — 148,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 61,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. Outlander (showcase) — 68,000
2. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 63,000
3. The Walking Dead (showcase) — 523,000
4. Nella The Princess Knight (Nick Jr) — 48,000
5. Paw Patrol (showcase) — 45,000