Strong journalism aside, a dark and stormy night for tepid TV

You know TV is in a sad state when Thursday night’s thunderstorms turned out to be far more interesting than what the networks were offering — with the very honourable exception of the ABC’s  Foreign Correspondent and the fine work of reporter Anne Barker, that is. 

FC focused on the sad reunion of children, now adults, stolen from their Timor-Leste families by Indonesian soldiers and others decades ago. A great story with echoes of our Stolen Generations, it drew 429,000 viewers. Q+A, meanwhile, averaged 412,000 for a boring, sterile discussion on the usual suspects — no comparison.

If we’re talking quantity, it was Seven’s night due to the strong performance of the news from 6 to 7pm — 1.52 million average — and Home and Away (951.000) and then Home and Away late (935,000).

Breakfast: Sunrise, 429,000 nationally and 249,000 metro; Today, 340,000 and 231,000; News Breakfast, 299,000 and 197,000.

Regional top five: Seven News, 578,000; Seven News 6.30, 550,000; Home and Away, 395,000; Home and Away late, 381,000; 7pm ABC News, 358,000.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (30.3%)
2. Nine (24.8%)
3. Ten (19.0%)
4. ABC (15.6%)
5. SBS (10.3%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (19.0%)
2. Nine  (16.2%)
3. Ten (12.4%)
4. ABC (10.7%)
5. SBS ONE (6.3%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7TWO (4.1%)
2. 7flix (4.0%)
3. 7mate (3.2%)
4. 10 Bold (3.1%)
5. ABC Kids/Plus, Gem (2.8%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.535 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.505 million
3. Nine News 6.30  — 1.272 million
4. Nine News  — 1.227 million
5. 7pm ABC News — 1.015 million
6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.007 million
7. Home And Away (Seven) — 961,000
8. Home And Away late (Seven) — 935,000
9. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 801,000
10. Gogglebox Australia (Ten) — 800,000

Top metro programs: None with a million or more viewers.

Losers: Apart from Foreign Correspondent, a generally weak night.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News  — 957,000
2. Seven News 6.30 —955,000
3. Nine News 6.30 — 942,000
4. Nine News — 914,000
5. ACA (Nine) — 716,000
6. 7pm ABC News — 657,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 439,000
8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 343,000
9. Ten News First —321,000
10. Foreign Correspondent (ABC) — 295,000

Morning (national) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 429,000/249,000
2. Today (Nine) — 340,000/231,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC) — 299,000/197,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 222,000
5. Today Extra (Nine) — 180,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) —  49,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. Credlin (Sky News) — 77,000
2. Paul Murray (Sky News) — 73,000
3. Outback Opal Hunters (Discovery) — 69,000
4. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 67,000
5. Alan Jones (Sky News) — 65,000