No matter the election outcome, the real winner is TV

I know what I will be doing over the weekend. The big event isn’t the T20 games against India in Melbourne tonight and in Sydney on Sunday. It is, of course, the Victorian election. I for one will be watching the ABC tomorrow night and Insiders on Sunday morning. 

Last night, meanwhile, belonged to Nine — in total people, the main channels and the major demos. Paramedics (1.04 million) was the most watched non-news program. The ABC beat Ten into third in total people, and the main channels. The irrelevance of summer is almost upon Ten, as its main channel’s share fell from 9.5% on Wednesday evening to 8.8% last night. Orange is The New Brown, 502,000 for Seven. There is something there. 

In regional markets Seven’s 6pm News won with 490,000, then Seven News/Today Tonight with 470,000, followed by Paramedics with 323,000, then Home and Away with 320,000 and the 5.30pm part of The Chase Australia with 313,000.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (31.7%)
2. Seven (28.5%)
3. ABC (17.5%)
4. Ten (14.0%)
5. SBS (8.2%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (21.6%)
2. Seven (18.8%)
3. ABC (12.56%)
4. Ten (8.8%)
5. SBS ONE (4.5%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. GO (3.9%)
2. Gem (3.8%)
3. 7TWO (3.7%)
4. 7mate (3.6%)
5. 10 BOSS (2.9%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.441 million
2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.377 million
3. Nine/NBN News — 1.114 million
4. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.051 million
5. Paramedics (Nine) — 1.043 million
6. 7pm ABC News — 945,000
7. Home and Away (Seven) —891,000
8. A Current Affair (Nine) — 876,000
9. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 857,000
10. RBT (Nine) — 777,000

Top metro programs: None.

Losers: The night.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 951,000
2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 902,000
3. Nine News — 834,000
4. Nine News 6.30 — 788,000
5. 7pm ABC News — 639,000
6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 619,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 501,000
8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 391,000
9. 10 News First — 347,000
10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 220,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) – 463,000
2. Today (Nine) – 328,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 253,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 207,000
5. Mornings (Nine) — 129,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 79,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. AFL: Draft (Fox Footy) — 104,000
2. Love It Or List It Australia (LifeStyle) — 64,000
3. The Bolt Report (Sky News), Gold Rush (Discovery) — 57,000
4. Philip Spencer’s Stately Homes (LifeStyle) —56,000