Raiders of the Lost Ark (Image: Supplied)

In 1981, Kerry Packer was running the Nine Network. Ray Martin was a big wheel at Nine, Tracy Grimshaw joined the GTV 9 newsroom in Melbourne that year and Sunday started as well. Malcolm Fraser was PM, Carlton won the then VFL Grand Final and Parramatta won their first every rugby league premiership.

And Raiders of the Lost Ark — which Nine showed last night — premiered. It starred up and comer Harrison Ford.

Now, 39 years later, it’s Jurassic TV. Nine just doesn’t care.

It was, in essence, a cultural archeological dig — which 384,000 people tuned into — which showed us what movies and TV looked like when the boomers were still mostly young and the Gen Xers were still in school (and mullets and bouffants were worn with pride).

Seven won total people from Nine, the ABC and Ten now settling in for its usual summer agony. 

In breakfast: Sunrise, 463,000/262,000; Today, 294,000/202,000; ABC News Breakfast, 278,000/178,000.

In regional markets Seven News, 556,000; Seven News 6.30, 526,000; Home and Away, 347,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 336,000; 7pm ABC News, 318,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Seven (28.4%)
  2. Nine (26.6%)
  3. ABC(19.6%)
  4. Ten (16.6%)
  5. SBS (8.9%)

Network main channels:

  1. Seven (19.7%)
  2. Nine (17.9%)
  3. ABC (14.8%)
  4. Ten (8.7%)
  5. SBS ONE (4.8%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 10 Bold (4.7%)
  2. 7TWO (4.6%)
  3. 10 Peach (2.9%)
  4. 9Life (2.6%)
  5. ABC Kids/Comedy, 7mate (25%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. Seven News 6.30 — 1.55 million
  2. Seven News — 1.54 million
  3. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.13 million
  4. Nine/NBN News — 1.05 million
  5. 7pm ABC News — 1.04 million
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.022 million
  7. Australian Story (ABC) — 931,000
  8. Home and Away (Seven) — 895,000
  9. 7.30 (ABC) — 878,000
  10. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 829,000

Top metro programs: None with a million or more viewers

Losers: I found my Kindle!

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News 6.30 — 1.02 million
  2. Seven News — 986,000
  3. Nine News 6.30 — 863,000
  4. Nine News — 812,000
  5. A Current Affair (Nine) — 744,000
  6. 7pm ABC News – 719,000
  7. Australian Story (ABC) — 637,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) – 596,000
  9. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 445,000
  10. Media Watch (ABC) — 436,000

Morning (National) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 463,000/262,000
  2. Today (Nine) – 294,000/202,000
  3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 278,000/178,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 237,000 
  5. Today Extra (Nine) – 133,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 38,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. The Undoing (Fox Showcase) — 95,000
  2. The Undoing (Fox Showcase) — 76,000
  3. F1: Bahrain Race (Fox Sports) — 72,000
  4. Paul Murray Live (Sky News) — 66,000
  5. Alan Jones (Sky News) – 65,000