Australia's Ben O'Connor celebrates as he crosses the finish line to win the ninth stage of the Tour de France (image: AP/Christophe Ena)

International travel is out of reach for many but the SBS coverage of the Tour de France offered a weekend tour of the French alps from the comfort of an Australian armchair, as well as bringing to prominence a new local hero in Ben O’Connor, a genuine successor to Cadel Evans. The cycling drew 263,000 viewers nationally from 8.30pm until the very early hours of Sunday morning.

But love, sweat and tears (in the kitchen) were the big attractions Sunday night, with Seven bringing back The Farmer Wants a Wife to strong numbers (1.28 million) while Australian Ninja Warrior on Nine (1.003 million) and Ten’s MasterChef Australia (825,000) brought up the rear.

Breakfast: Insiders, 640,000; Weekend Sunrise, 487,000; Landline, 421,000; Weekend Today, 352,000.

Regional top five: Seven News, 572,000; The Farmer Wants a Wife, 460,000; Nine News, 373,000; 7pm ABC News, 361,000; Australian Ninja Warrior, 278,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (28.5%)
  2. Seven (26.7%)
  3. Ten (19.2%)
  4. ABC (14.8%)
  5. SBS (10.8%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (21.2%)
  2. Seven (20.2%)
  3. Ten (13.2%)
  4. ABC (11.06%)
  5. SBS ONE (7.2%)

Top 5 digital channels:

  1. 7mate (3.3%)
  2. 10 Bold (3.0%)
  3. GO (2.9%)
  4. 10 Peach (2.5%)
  5. 7TWO (2.2%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.759 million
  2. Nine News — 1.478 million
  3. The Farmer Wants a Wife (Seven) — 1.28 million
  4. 7pm ABC News — 1.024 million
  5. Australian Ninja Warrior (Nine) — 1.003 million
  6. MasterChef Australia (Ten) — 825,000
  7. Grand Designs (ABC) — 753,000
  8. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 741,000
  9. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 640,000
  10. Jack Irish (ABC) — 613,000

Top metro programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.187 million
  2. Nine News — 1.106 million

Losers: 60 Minutes — 30% audience loss from Ninja Warrior.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 1.187 million
  2. Nine News — 1.106 million
  3. 7pm ABC News — 663,000
  4. The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 466,000
  5. Ten News First — 330,000
  6. The Sunday Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 334,000
  7. Nine Late News — 291,000
  8. SBS World News — 189,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Insiders (ABC) — 640,000
  2. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 487,000
  3. Landline (ABC) — 421,000
  4. Weekend Today (Nine) — 352,000
  5. Offsiders (ABC) — 276,000
  6. Sports Sunday (Nine) — 273,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

  1. NRL: Wests vs Souths (Fox League) — 284,000
  2. NRL: Sunday Ticket (Fox League) — 264,000
  3. NRL: Brisbane vs. Cronulla (Fox League) — 247,000
  4. AFL: Sydney vs West Coast (Fox Footy) — 167,000
  5. AFL: Footscray vs North Melbourne (Fox Footy) — 138,000