England employs the weather to stave off Ashes belting

Last night 390,000 people waited around in front of Australian TV sets to watch England reveal their secret Ashes anti-Steve Smith weapon — rain. Well, persistent precipitation; good old fashioned English raindrops for the second Ashes test at Lord’s in London. But the first session of the test saw 390,000 people watch highlights, lots of interviews, studio talk until, exhausted, we drew stumps and went to bed. Up early this morning for the closing overs… more rain and dampness.

Nine still won the night, from Seven and Ten. The Bachelor with 1.02 million viewers is doing well and not far behind The Block on Nine (1.07 million). Today has had three mornings in a row this week with sub 200,000 metro audiences (188,000 on Wednesday). It’s worth mentioning because it brings to a halt what seemed to be the show’s slow recovery. Tonight, it’s umbrellas at the ready for day two at Lord’s. In regional areas it was Seven’s 6pm News with 537,000, Seven News/Today Tonight with 485,000, Home and Away with 360,000, The Chase Australia 5.30pm with 344,000 and ACA with 318,000.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (30.3%)
2. Seven (23.6%)
3. Ten (22.2%)
4. ABC (16.3%)
5. SBS (7.6%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (18.3%)
2. Seven (15.5%)
3. Ten (15.2%)
4. ABC (12.1%)
5. SBS ONE (4.3%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. Gem (6.9%)
2. 10 Bold (4.7%)
3. 7TWO, GO (3.1%)
4. 7mate (2.9%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.588 million
2. Seven News/TT —  1.492 million
3. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.182 million
4. Nine/NBN News  — 1.167 million
5. The Block (Nine) — 1.070 million
6. ACA (Nine) — 1.060 million
7. The Bachelor (Ten) — 1.029 million
8. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.012 million
9. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 962,000
10. 7pm ABC News (ABC)  — 944,000

Top metro programs:

1. Seven News— 1.051 million
2. Seven News/TT — 1.007 million

Losers:  Cricket tragics.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.051 million
2. Seven News/TT (Seven) —1.007 million
3. Nine News— 876,000
4. Nine News 6.30 — 873,000
5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 743,000
6. 7pm ABC News — 644,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 549,000
8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 485,000
9. 10 News First  — 395,000
10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 278,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 455,000 (Metros: 269,000)
2. Today (Nine) —296,000 (Metros: 188,000)
3. ABC News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) —261,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 224,000
5. Today Extra (Nine) — 140,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) —81,000

Pay TV

1. Gogglebox Australia (LifeStyle) — 184,000.
2. Grand Designs Australia (LifeStyle) — 79,000
3. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 62,000
4.  AFL: 360 (Fox Footy) — 56,000
5.  NRL: 360 (Fox League) — 55,000