(Image: abc.net.au)

The very boring wet weather in Sydney, Newcastle, Wollongong and surrounds, as well as the school holidays, created a captive audience last night, but viewers went elsewhere in search of entertainment.

As it heads into the finals, Ten’s MasterChef Australia topped the non-news programs for the night with 811,000 nationally. Nine’s Australian Ninja Warrior thingie (how inappropriate on a cold, wet winter’s night) drew 730,000, while Seven’s nostalgia-ridden News Spotlight anniversary heartstrings-tugger on Strictly Ballroom attracted 671,000.

Insiders had another good Sunday — 570,000 nationally, enough for a top 10 spot for the day, with stand-in host Patricia Karvelas. Meanwhile Aunty’s Mystery Road prequel, Origin, attracted 635,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Nine (30.0%)
  2. Seven (23.6%)
  3. Ten (21.3%)
  4. ABC (16.0%)
  5. SBS (9.1%)

Network main channels:

  1. Nine (21.0%)
  2. Seven (16.5%)
  3. Ten (14.5%)
  4. ABC (12.3%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.8%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 7mate (4.4%)
  2. Gem (4.0%)
  3. 10 Peach (3.6%)
  4. GO, 10 Bold (2.3%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News — 1.478 million
  2. Nine News — 1.236 million
  3. 7pm ABC News — 874,000
  4. MasterChef Australia (Ten) — 811,000
  5. Australian Ninja Warrior (Nine) — 730,000
  6. 7 News Spotlight — 671,000
  7. Mystery Road: Origin (ABC) — 635,000
  8. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 570,000
  9. Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery (ABC) — 552,000
  10. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 541,000

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

Losers: Seven and Nine — Ten at least tried with MasterChef.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News — 974,000
  2. Nine News — 866,000
  3. 7pm ABC News — 588,000
  4. 7 News Spotlight — 449,000
  5. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 382,000
  6. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 374,000
  7. Nine News Late — 272,000
  8. Ten News First — 266,000
  9. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 255,000
  10. SBS World News — 168,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Insiders (ABC TV, ABC News) — 570,000
  2. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 372,000
  3. Landline (ABC) — 367,000
  4. Weekend Today (Nine) — 270,000
  5. Offsiders (ABC) — 251,000
  6. Sports Sunday (Nine) — 202,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

  1. NRL: St George v Canberra (Fox League) — 249,000
  2. NRL: Sunday Ticket (Fox League) — 209,000
  3. NRL: NZ v Wests (Fox League) — 183,000
  4. AFL: Richmond v West Coast (Fox Footy) — 162,000
  5. AFL: Fremantle v Port Adelaide (Fox Footy) — 146,000