Today’s comeback hit with another slump

7.30 and Today saw a sudden loss of viewers yesterday. Mysterious in the case of 7.30, sad and perhaps predictable in the case of Today, which saw its national audience dip back to alert levels of 283,000 nationally and 188,000 in the metros. Up to Thursday’s slump, this week was looking like the best the program has had since the controversial shake-up in hosts and the departure of “Our Karl” Stefanovic. 

7.30’s loss was more mysterious, from 857,000 nationally on Wednesday night and 793,000 a week ago, to just 618,000 last night. 7.30 had fewer metro viewers (376,000) than 10 News First from 5 to 6pm (379,000). That is rare, extremely rare.

Apart from those mysteries it was a night dominated by the AFL on Seven (790,000 nationally plus 215,000 on Foxtel) and the NRL on Nine (547,000 plus 197,000 on Foxtel). Seven’s night, with daylight second and daylight third, and Nine and Ten left far behind. In regional markets it was Seven’s 6pm News with 595,000, Seven News/Today Tonight with 556,000, The Chase Australia 5.30pm with 392,000, Home and Away with 380,000 and the 7pm ABC News with 375,000.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (38.4%)
2. Nine (21.8%)
3. Ten (18.9%)
4. ABC (13.9%)
5. SBS (7.1%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (25.8%)
2. Nine (16.5%)
3. Ten (12.3%)
4. ABC (8.7%)
5. SBS ONE (4.5%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7mate (5.3%)
2. 7TWO (4.5%)
3. 10 Bold (4.3%)
4. ABC Kids/Comedy (2.7%)
5. GO (2.4%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.589 million
2. Seven News/TT —  1.474 million
3. Nine/NBN News — 1.150 million
4. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.107 million
5. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 994,000
6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 975,000
7. Home and Away (Seven) — 955,000
8. 7pm ABC News(ABC)  — 948,000
9. Masterchef Australia (Ten) — 884,000
10. AFL (Seven) — 790,000

Losers: Nine and Ten, Today and 7.30.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 994,000
2. Seven News/TT — 918,000
3. Nine News — 880,000
4. Nine News 6.30pm  — 826,000
5. ACA (Nine) — 678,000
6. 7pm ABC News – 623,000
7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 403,000
8. 10 News First  — 379,000
9. 7.30 (ABC) — 376,000
10. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 252,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 455,000 (Metros: 275,000)
2. Today (Nine) —283,000 (Metros: 188,000)
3. ABC News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) —244,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 208,000
5. Today Extra (Nine) — 123,000
6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 99,000

Top five pay TV programs:

1. AFL: Adelaide v Richmond (Fox Footy) — 215,000 
2. NRL: Canberra v Cronulla (Fox League) — 197,000
3. NRL: The Late Show With Matty Johns (Fox League) — 87,000
4. Aussie Gold Hunters (Discovery) —75,000
5. AFL: Thursday Night Footy On Fox (Fox Footy) — 67,000