masterchef tv ratings
The MasterChef Australia judges (Image: Ten)

Seriously now, how long does it take to boil an egg?

Judging by the length of Masterchef Australia last night on Ten, it takes two hours and 30 minutes, give or take. Of course I am not being literal but 150 minutes of the same program in prime time? Why didn’t someone knock up a stew in the same time?

It was two programs: the cooking competition bit and the masterclass bit (which is always more interesting). The competition bit averaged 1.27 million nationally, the masterclass (AKA the stayers) averaged 708,000 — that’s an average for the 150 minutes of 987,000, which won Ten the night in all the key demos.

Nine might have topped total people and Seven had more people watching its main channel, but Ten really won the night by having a program that was current — not a tired old movie like 2007’s Bourne Ultimatum on Nine (pre-iPhone) (433,000 nationally) or 2014’s Other Woman on Seven (536,000).

The absence of NRL and AFL is leaving a huge hole on Thursday nights that Nine and Seven can’t fill with interesting content because it costs too much. ABC News Breakfast (330,000/213,000) just topped Today (321,000/209,000) for second in the breakfast slot behind Sunrise — 527,000/305,000.

In the regions, Seven News, 682,000, Seven News 6.30, 637,000, The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 432,000, Home and Away 373,000, 7pm ABC News, 358,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (25.8%)
  2. Seven (25.5%)
  3. Ten (24.6%)
  4. ABC (14.5%)
  5. SBS (9.7%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (18.2%)
  2. Ten (17.7%)
  3. Nine (16.8%)
  4. ABC (10.0%)
  5. SBS ONE (6.1%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 10 Bold (4.5%)
  2. 7TWO (3.4%)
  3. Gem (3.1%)
  4. 9Life (2.4%)
  5. 7mate, 10 Peach (2.3%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.87 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.73 million
  3. Nine/NBN News — 1.421 million
  4. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.38 million
  5. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 1.27 million
  6. 7pm ABC News — 1.19 million
  7. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 1.11 million
  8. ACA (Nine) –1.04 million
  9. Home and Away (Seven) — 935,000
  10. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 860,000

Top metro programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.19 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.1 million
  3. Nine News — 1.03 million
  4. Nine News 6.30 — 1.03 million

Losers: Not a good night at all

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.19 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.1 million
  3. Nine News — 1.08 million
  4. Nine News 6.30 –1.03 million
  5. 7pm ABC News – 834,000
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) – 713,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 614,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 576,000
  9. Ten News First — 446,000
  10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 367,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) – 527,000/308,000
  2. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 330,000/213,000
  3. Today (Nine) – 321,000/209,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 290,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 163,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 77,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. Aussie Gold Hunters (Discovery) — 105,000
  2. Paul Murray (Sky News) — 79,000
  3. Selling Houses Australia (LifeStyle) — 74,000
  4. The Bolt Report (Sky News) –  69,000
  5. Credlin (Sky News) — 61,000