60 Minutes tv ratings 40 year anniversary
(Image: 9Now)

The 60 Minutes 40 year look-back last night on Nine was illuminating — Ray Martin in a coat and tie doing an interview; Tara Brown’s Beirut adventure was canvassed, defended and criticised. Liz Hayes made a declaration at the end of the special that 60 Minutes was the reality program. If that’s the case, the reality is very carefully constructed. 

In the special, former long-time executive producer Gerald Stone made reference to the program once having “3 million viewers”, which it did, in metro markets. Until 1991 only Sydney and Melbourne viewing was rated, the rest was an extrapolation. The 3 million mentioned was the roughest of estimates, compared to the way ratings are measured today. 

Last night’s special averaged 1.09 million so down by roughly two thirds from that peak (and more, because last tonight’s figures included regional viewers). 60 Minutes’ audience is now probably a quarter of what it was at its peak. 

Otherwise, it was Nine’s night for the first night of summer ratings. ABC TV’s Insiders had another strong morning — 616,000 nationally was enough to push it into the national top 10. In regional markets Seven’s 6pm News led with 457,000, then the 7pm ABC News with 342,000, 60 Minutes with 322,000, Nine’s 6pm News with 284,000, and a repeat of Grand Designs with 262,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (31.9%)
  2. Seven (29.1%)
  3. ABC (16.4%)
  4. Ten (14.1%)
  5. SBS (8.5%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (20.7%)
  2. Seven (19.8%)
  3. ABC (10.9%)
  4. Ten (9.5%)
  5. SBS ONE (5.5%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. GO (4.9%)
  2. 7TWO (4.0%)
  3. Gem (3.5%)
  4. ABC Kids/Comedy (3.2%(
  5. 10BOSS (2.8%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.348 million
  2. Nine/NBN News — 1.174 million
  3. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 1.094 million
  4. 7pm ABC News — 957,000
  5. The Blue Planet 11 (Nine) — 740,000
  6. Grand Designs rpt (ABC) — 642,000
  7. Love Actually rpt (Seven) — 622,000
  8. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 616,000
  9. Sherlock (ABC) — 564,000
  10. The Sunday Project (Ten) — 496,000

Top metro programs: None.

Losers: the 60 Minutes anniversary special was self-congratulatory but stuck out because the next best was… what exactly?

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News, Nine News — 890,000
  2. 60 Minutes Special (Nine) — 777,000
  3. 7pm ABC News – 616,000
  4. Sunday Night – Summer (Seven) —404,000,000
  5. The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 357,000
  6. 10 News First — 243,000
  7. The Sunday Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 220,000
  8. SBS World News — 145,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Insiders (ABC, ABC TV) — 616,000
  2. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 399,000
  3. Landline – Summer (ABC) — 325,000
  4. Weekend Today (Nine) — 322,000
  5. Offsiders (ABC) — 234,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. NCIS (TVHITS) — 63,000
  2. WBBL: Renegades v Thunder: (Fox Cricket) — 59,000
  3. Soccer: Melbourne City v Newcastle (Fox Sports) — 58,000
  4. NCIS (TVHITS) — 57,000
  5. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 52,000