(Image: AAP/Darren England)

The rain-affected T20 cricket match between Australia and India last night cracked the 300,000 mark on Fox Cricket, but once again more viewers were interested in the post-game chat (360,000) than the game itself (318,000). There was another small turnoff from the Australian innings — 338,000 — to the Indian chase — 298,000. The next match is in Melbourne on Friday, with 70,000 tickets already sold for the MCG and 40,000 for the SCG on Sunday. 

These two games will tell us if the risky move to broadcast ODI and T20 games exclusively on Foxtel will be a winner. The TV audiences for both will have to average 400,000 plus to be considered a big success. The Indian cricket team pulls big crowds; big enough to be an enduring source of Foxtel subscribers this summer? 

Seven won last night in total people, the main channels and major demos. Hard Quiz on the ABC averaged 1.03 million national viewers and was the most watched non-news program. Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell averaged 958,000 and was the fourth most watched non-news program. Home and Away was ahead of it with 992,000 and Border Security with 973,000.

In regional areas, a Seven night with Seven’s 6pm News on 512,000, Seven News/Today Tonight with 481,000, Home and Away on 351,000, the 5.30pm part of The Chase Australia on 347,000, and Emergency Call (Seven) on 332,000. 

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (30.8%)
  2. Nine (25.9%)
  3. ABC (19.9%)
  4. Ten (15.9%)
  5. SBS (7.6%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (21.2%)
  2. Nine (17.6%)
  3. ABC (14.6%)
  4. Ten (9.5%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.7%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO (3.9%)
  2. 10Boss (3.7%))
  3. 7mate (3.5%)
  4. GO (3.4%)
  5. Gem (3.1%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.423 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.369 million
  3. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.124 million
  4. Nine/NBN News — 1.102 million
  5. Hard Quiz (ABC) —1.034 million
  6. Home and Away (Seven) — 992,000
  7. 7pm ABC News — 983,000
  8. Border Security (Seven) — 963,000
  9. A Current Affair (Nine) — 961,000
  10. Shaun Micallef’s Mad As Hell  (ABC) — 958,000

Top metro programs:

Losers: Anyone who missed Mad As Hell.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 911,000
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 888,000
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 844,000
  4. Nine News—839,000
  5. 7pm ABC News — 679,000
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 671,000
  7. 7.30 (ABC) — 663,000
  8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 422,000
  9. 10 News First — 370,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 247,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 441,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 317,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 262,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 197,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 1117000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 64,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Cricket: T20, Australia v India Post Game (Fox Cricket) — 360,000
  2. Cricket: T20, Australia v India  (Fox Cricket) — 338,000
  3. Cricket: T20, Australia v India  (Fox Cricket) — 298,000
  4. 2 Nations I Obsession (Fox Cricket) — 295,000
  5. Cricket: T20, Australia v India The Big Break (Fox Cricket) — 277,000