TV ratings Murphy Brown
(Image: CBS)

Remakes rarely are made successfully, and Murphy Brown on Ten last night is yet another in a long line of flopperoos — 491,000 nationally, with 349,000 in the metros and 143,000 in the regions. The national audience was less than half that of Have You Been Paying Attention, the el-cheapo local production that is Ten’s most consistent hit. 

Ten was in fact easily beaten by the ABC last night, as it was last week. The ABC is under greater resource constraints, and yet for the past six weeks it has been regularly beating Ten. That a constrained and under pressure (and currently leaderless) ABC can conjure up more interesting programming for TV audiences tells us how weak Ten remains.

In the regions, Seven’s 6pm News led with 495,000, followed by Seven News/Today Tonight with 484,000, then Home and Away with 363,000, followed by Bride and Prejudice with 317,000 and the 5.30pm part of The Chase Australia with 310,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (30.3%)
  2. Nine (25.8%)
  3. ABC (20.6%)
  4. Ten (15.5%)
  5. SBS (7.8%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (20.9%)
  2. Nine (17.3%)
  3. ABC (15.4%)
  4. Ten (9.7%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.9%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7TWO, GO (4.0%)
  2. 10Boss (3.8%)
  3. 7mate (3.5%)
  4. ABC Kids/Comedy (2.6%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.434 million
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 1.414 million
  3. Nine/NBN News 6.30  — 1.201 million
  4. Nine/NBN News — 1.195 million
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.052 million
  6. Bride and Prejudice: The Forbidden Weddings (Seven) — 1.016 million
  7. 7pm ABC News — 999,000
  8. Home and Away (Seven) — 992,000
  9. Australian Story (ABC) — 954,000
  10. 7.30 (ABC) — 938,000

Top metro programs: Look at the National Top 10

Losers: Ten with Murphy Brown Family, Food Fight on Nine, God Friended Me on Seven.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 939,000
  2. Seven News/Today Tonight — 930,000
  3. Nine News  — 927,000
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 921,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) – 767,000
  6. 7pm ABC News — 698,000
  7. Australian Story (ABC) — 647,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 639,000
  9. Media Watch (ABC) — 508,000
  10. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 414,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 441,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 301,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 274,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 185,000
  5. Mornings (Nine) — 143,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 85,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. F1: The Abu Dhabi GP (Fox Sports) — 66,000
  2. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 59,000
  3. The Walking Dead (FOX SHOWCASE) —57,000
  4. Outlander (FOX SHOWCASE) —56,000
  5. Curious George (Nick Jr) — 53,000