AndrewB's blog

With 7HD about to scale down the number of hours of break aways each day, the speculation only grows as to when channel 7 will launch their new digital channel. Possible launch dates being tipped are October 4 and October 15 which is the two year anniversary of the launch of the 7HD break away service. To date, however, there are no details pertaining to the name of the new channel or the content. Hopefully though, they will have it registered with OzTam (the people who measure ratings) soon enough so as not to cause confusion with show ratings including both viewers from the main channel and viewers from the secondary channel.

So far, it is mostly agreed by contributors and bloggers on TV websites like this one that the new channel will be mostly lifestyle based, showcasing repeats of many of the lifestyle shows channel 7 has aired over the years together with numerous factual programs as well. Some of these can already be seen on 7HD and most likely the current 7HD programming has been the trigger for these thoughts. Channel 9 used 9HD to air shows similar to what ended up being on GO.

But channel 7 could opt to do something completely different. We won’t know until the first programs come out about 2 weeks before the launch.

In the meantime though, we can only speculate and offer our opinions of what we would like to see on the new digital channel. Our poll on Throng suggests that most people would like to see movies on the new channel.

Good movies is an area that free to air TV lacks severely these days. Perhaps it is the perception that viewers no longer want to commit to watching two to three hours in one sitting or the fact that moves on free to air simply no longer rate well. The idea these days seems to be to load up the weekly program with one hour mostly crime or drama shows and half hour sitcoms. Mix that in with repeats and you essentially have the formula for what shows on TV most of the time these days.

Movies can rate well on free to air TV. But they would need to be first to free to air movies and not the same movies that get repeated many times a year we see now. Most of these heavily repeated movies – especially those on the weekends – are over ten year old and suit more of a late night airing then the standard movie start time of 8.30. This year, there have been a few examples of new to free to air movies ratings well, the most notable of which was “The Devil Wears Prada” in its first airing on channel 10 in February. Its second run in August did OK as well.

Back when 7HD was launched, there was the promise of movie nights, but that never happened. Having a good movie on at 8.30 each night (but not the same old repeats they always play) could be a welcome change and offer viewers better options without sacrificing ratings from the main channel – which of course is the way that secondary channels are seen to have to be programmed by the respective networks programming department.

Apart from movies, most who took part in the poll chose a good mix of programming would be their preferred choice. Others would like to see a channel dedicated to family entertainment which would draw mostly on 7’s relationship with Disney. Only 7% would like to see a channel made up of factual and lifestyle programming while 8% like the idea of a music or youth based channel.

The second most common format that many had thought would be likely – a time shifted or delayed broadcast of channel 7 itself is not a favourite in anyones’ books – with only 1 vote in our poll out of nearly 300 respondents. To me, while I think having repeats and catch up TV available at certain times, a time shift channel would be a waste of space.

Should be around mid September when we will know more about channel 7’s new digital channel.

And the poll is still open. Let us know your opinion on what content you would like to see on channel 7’s new digital channel. Feel free to leave comments here as to what you would name the channel, if it was up to you. Click here for the poll.

Channel 7 programming updates for late August and early September.

1. Bones – Season finale of Bones airs this Sunday Aug 30 at 8.30pm.

2. Dancing with the Stars – Final airs next Sunday September 5 at 6.30pm and is programmed to run until 9pm. More likely will actually finish later than that, so beware if you are planning to watch or record anything off channel 7 that night after Dancing.

3. Thursday night re-arrangement. Another change to Thursday nights next week from September 3. The Amazing Race will from that night on be seen at 8.30pm. TV Burp and Double Take will have their 3^rd time slot change with TV Burp to air at 9.30pm and Double Take at 10pm. After 10.30 remains the same. This also means that My Name Is Earl will remain ONLY on Wednesday nights at 9.30. This week Earl is also on at 9.30 Thursday (Aug 27) but that’s it for Thursday.

At 7.30 Thursday Sept 3, Gary Unmarried premieres with a double episode. Following Thursdays will see Gary on at 7.30 with a repeat of How I Met Your Mother at 8pm.

Not sure why they would not just leave Amazing Race at 7.30 then have comedies from 8.30 on, but that’s the way they have programmed it.

Expect TV Burp and Double Take to finish soon in any case.

4. 7HD – from next week (week starting Sept 5), night time offerings of 7HD break aways will cease. The day time breakaways will be scaled back to just 3 hours instead of the 4.5 hours it has been. This move seems very similar to what channel 9 did in the lead up to the launch of GO where HD break aways reduced then stopped in the weeks leading up to the launch of GO thus adding to the speculation that 7 will be launching their second SD channel soon. Hot tips for launch dates of the new service include October 4 and October 15. No news yet on content, format or even a name.

Also in October, GO will have its full launch with the series Vampire Diaries as one of their draw cards.

Read more about possible names and details for 7’s second SD channel here.

Ratings for Wednesday August 26 2009.

Seems noone cared who was Australia’s Perfect Couple with the finale of the show ending up a distant 4^th in its 8pm timeslot, with ABC’s New Inventors rating about 50% more than the failed reality show. Maybe 9 will have more luck next week with the premiere of their new series Money for Jam which is supposed to show us all ways of saving and budgeting money.

Elsewhere, it’s a very typical Wednesday night with the 7.30 episode of Two and a Half Men leading at 7.30 and 7’s Worlds’ Strictest Parents not far behind but maintaining a consistent audience throughout the Hour.

Without a Trace has nicely filled the void left by Cold Case, keeping 9’s shares up after 9.30pm, which is the time that 7’s goes down.

Spicks and Specks remains very high for the ABC, with the Librarians and the United States of Tara – although not actually ratings that high – edging over 10 in 3^rd place, leaving 10 for 4^th. Top show on Go last night was Sarah Conner at just over 100,000.

Order by timeslot:

5.30 – 6.00pm

1^st 10 News. 2^nd 7 Deal or No Deal. 3^rd 9 Hot Seat

6.00 – 6.30pm

1^st 7 News. 2^nd 9 News. 3^rd 10 Simpsons

6.30 – 7.00pm

1^st 7 Today Tonight. 2^nd 9 A Current Affair. 3^rd 10 Neighbours

7.00 – 7.30pm

1^st 7 Home and Away. 2^nd 9 Two and a Half Men. 3^rd ABC1 News. 4^th 7pm Project

7.30 – 8.00pm

1^st 9 Two and A Half Men. 2^nd 7 Worlds’ Strictest Parents. 3^rd 10 Australian Idol

8.00 – 8.30pm

1^st 7 Worlds’ Strictest Parents. 2^nd. 10 Australian Idol. 3^rd ABC1 The New Inventors. 4^th 9 Australia’s Perfect Couple.

8.30 – 9.00pm

1^st ABC1 Spicks and Specks. 2^nd 7 Criminal Minds. 3^rd 9 RPA

9.00 – 9.30pm

1^st 7 Criminal Minds. 2^nd 9 The Gift. 3^rd ABC1 The Librarians.

9.30 – 10.00pm

1^st 9 Without a Trace. 2^nd 7 My Name is Earl. 3^rd ABC1 United States of Tara

10.00 – 10.30pm

1^st 9 Without a Trace. 2^nd 10 Numb3rs. 3^rd 7 Scrubs

Network Shares:

1^st 7 28.2%. 2^nd 9 26.4%. 3^rd 10 20.6%. 4^th ABC 19.9%. 5^th SBS 4.9%

Week so far:

1^st 7 29.1%. 2^nd 9 25.3%. 3^rd 10 21.3%. 4^th ABC 18.0%. 5^th SBS 6.3%

The shares for Wednesday night look much the same as they do for the progressive week so far result with 7 out in front, 9 second and Ten 3^rd.

1 Seven News Seven 1,507,000
2 Today Tonight Seven 1,343,000
3 Spicks And Specks ABC1 1,321,000
4 Two And A Half Men -Wed 7.30pm Nine 1,309,000
5 World’s Strictest Parents-UK Seven 1,302,000
6 Home And Away Seven 1,213,000
7 Two And A Half Men-Rpt 7pm Nine 1,168,000
8 Criminal Minds ® Seven 1,142,000
9 RPA Nine 1,082,000
10 ABC News ABC1 1,064,000
11 Nine News Nine 1,062,000
12 Australian Idol-Semi Final 3 Ten 1,049,000
13 A Current Affair Nine 987,000
14 The Gift Nine 983,000
15 The New Inventors ABC1 948,000
16 7.30 Report ABC1 929,000
17 The Librarians ABC1 877,000
18 Without ATrace Nine 812,000
19 Law and Order: UK Ten 806,000
20 Neighbours Ten 776,000
21 Ten News At Five Ten 769,000
22 Deal Or No Deal Seven 767,000
23 My Name Is Earl Seven 749,000
24 United States Of Tara ABC1 731,000
25 The 7pm Project Ten 722,000
26 The Simpsons Ten 692,000
27 Numb3rs Ten 646,000
28 The Cook And The Chef ABC1 643,000
29 Hot Seat Nine 634,000
30 Australia’s Perfect Couple Nine 610,000 Excl A
Family Guy Seven 472,000
At The Movies ABC1 423,000
Sunrise Seven 403,000
American Dad Seven 372,000
Today Nine 330,000
LatelineABCI 240,000
The Morning Show Seven 184,000
Louis Theroux Seven 183,000
Mornings With Kerri-Anne Nine 113,000
Scrapheap Challenge ABC2 109,000
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles Go! 107,000

Timeslot times may not reflect exact times that show air due to network lateness. Here, a show starting as late as 9.45 for example will be considered as the 9.30 timeslot, if 9.30 is the time it was advertised to air. Network shares include all extra digital channels for each network. Week so far is the cumulative network share from Sunday until the day of this report. When show not shown in all cities (top 30 list): S = Sydney, B= Brisbane, M = Melbourne, A = Adelaide, P = Perth. Feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think. Anything not here that you’d like to see?

Ratings for Tuesday August 25 2009.

As usual, Packed to the Rafters blitzes all other shows with Rafters firmly in the top spot for Tuesday night again. Without 10’s big success story – Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation on last night, 10 fell to 3^rd after 9. Australian Idol was watched only by just over a million. NCIS after it though maintained its usual Tuesday night figures regardless – no affect by a lower rating show before it – further evidence of how lead ins are irrelevant to the performance of a show.

At 9.30, as predicted, the movie does not help 9 at all. Next week sees 9 offer another movie at 9.30 Tuesday – Blades of Glory. On 10, the finale of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your generation will air.

Over on GO, Survivor only managed 127,000 viewers. Perhaps more people record it and watch later given the tough competition at 8.30 Tuesdays. But I am sure if they put on 9 at 9.30 Tuesday instead of their usual hodge posh programming in would rate 700,000 or more and help 9 be second instead of 3rd on Tuesday nights.

Time slot order:

5.30 – 6.00pm

1^st 10 News. 2^nd 7 Deal or No Deal. 3^rd 9 Hot Seat.

6.00 – 6.30pm

1^st 7 News. 2^nd 9 News. 3^rd 10 Simpsons

6.30 – 7.00pm

1^st 7 Today Tonight. 2^nd 9 A Current Affair. 3^rd 10 Neighbours.

7.00 – 7.30pm

1^st 9 Two and a Half Men. 2^nd 7 Home and Away. 3^rd ABC1 News.

7.30 – 8.30pm

1^st 7 Airways / Surf Patrol. 2^nd 9 20-1. 3^rd 10 Australian Idol.

8.30 – 9.30pm

1^st 7 Packed to the Rafters. 2^nd 10 NCIS. 3^rd 9 Two and a Half Men

9.30 – 10.30pm

1^st 7 All Saints. 2^nd 10 NCIS. 3^rd 9 Talledega Nights (a distant 3^rd to the other 2)

Network Shares:

1^st 7 33.0%. 2^nd 9 24.3%. 3^rd 10 24.2%. 4^th ABC 14.0% 5^th SBS 4.6%.

Week so far:

1^st 7 29.4%. 2^nd 9 25.0%. 3^rd 10 21.6%. 4^th ABC 17.3%. 5^th SBS 6.7%

7’s lead extends further and means they will yet again win the week overall. 7 is now untouchable on Tuesday nights. 10 is winning in the younger demographics. GO has helped 9 do OK for Tuesday night, while 10 has fallen.

Top shows:

1 Packed To The Rafters Seven 1,931,000
2 AirWays Seven 1,443,000
3 Seven News Seven 1,385,000
4 Surf Patrol Seven 1,379,000
5 Today Tonight Seven 1,353,000
6 Nine News Nine 1,265,000
7 Two And A Half Men-Rpt 7pm Nine 1,198,000
8 20 To 1 -Rpt Nine 1,181,000
9 Home And Away Seven 1,170,000
10 All Saints Seven 1,145,000
11 NCIS Ep 2 9.30pm Rpt Ten 1,139,000
12 NCIS Rpt 8.30pm Ten 1,115,000
13 A Current Affair Nine 1,103,000
14 Australian Idol-Semi Final 2 Ten 1,049,000
15 ABC News ABC1 979,000
16 Neighbours Ten 848,000
17 7.30 Report ABC1 840,000
18 Two And A Half Men-Tue Nine 809,000
19 Ten News At Five Ten 805,000
20 Foreign Correspondent ABC1 767,000
21 The Simpsons Ten 761,000
22 Tony Robinson’s Crime And Punishment ABC1 754,000
23 The 7pm Project Ten 743,000
24 Deal Or No Deal Seven 736,000
25 Hot Seat Nine 727,000
26 Ten Late News With Sports Tonight Ten 521,000
27 M*A*S*H Seven 495,000
28 10 Years Younger In 10 Days – NZ Seven 482,000
29 Talladega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby-Rpt Nine 476,000
30 The Bold And The Beautiful Ten 462,000
Tracey Ullman’s State Of The Union ABC1 277,000
Gavinastacey Seven 225,000
Insight SBSONE 218,000
Survivor: Gabon Go! 127,000
EastWest101 Rpt SBSONE 125,000
Scrapheap Challenge ABC2 123,000

Timeslot times may not reflect exact times that show air due to network lateness. Here, a show starting as late as 9.45 for example will be considered as the 9.30 timeslot, if 9.30 is the time it was advertised to air. Network shares include all extra digital channels for each network. Week so far is the cumulative network share from Sunday until the day of this report. When show not shown in all cities (top 30 list): S = Sydney, B= Brisbane, M = Melbourne, A = Adelaide, P = Perth. Feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think. Anything not here that you’d like to see?

Overall audience figures were down a bit last week with the lack of any big season finales or breakaway hit shows. SC TEN has drifted back to the pack since the end of Masterchef, but Prime has failed to capitalise on this, finishing behind SC TEN again.

Whilst Seven has already wrapped up ratings victory for 2009, Prime is locked in a ding-dong battle with SC TEN for second place in Newcastle. NBN is unassailable in overall ratings already.

1 Live Friday Night Football NBN 102000

2 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 99000

3 Packed To The Rafters PRIME 94000

4 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 84000

5 Spicks & Specks ABC 82000

6 The Farmer Wants A Wife NBN 77000

7 Talkin’ Bout Your Generation TEN 76000

8 A Current Affair NBN 74000

9 Getaway NBN 73000

10 Flash Forward: Sneek Peak PRIME 73000 – I do not believe in Sneak Peeks being part of the ratings report, but they have reported it as a separate show. Channel 7 didn’t. It was only 3 minutes, so should be conserved an extended ad.

Anyway, here are the shares:

1^st NBN 34.0%. 2^nd SC10 19.6%. 3^rd ABC 18.5%. 4^th Prime 18.5%. 5^th SBS 9.0%

NBN remains first, and SC10 is improving coming 2^nd this week. Prime still sits at 4^th still defying the national trend for channel 7, who have won the ratings for the year. In Newcastle, that honour goes to NBN.

Ratings figures are compiled using the combined resources of SC TEN, NBN & Prime’s weekly AGB Nielsen Media Research reports.

NBN is a 9 affiliate, PRIME is a 7 affiliate, SC10 is 10’

s affiliate. Raw figures and information sourced from mediahunter.com.au.

Ratings for Monday August 24 2009.

With Go ratings now separated, Deal or No Deal is back firmly as first in the 5.30pm timeslot. Home and Away remains 1^st at 7pm.

The battle for 7.30 goes to Two and A Half Men, thanks mostly to viewers in Melbourne making up a very high percentage of overall viewers. Australian Idol 2^nd at 7.30 but becomes first in viewers from 8pm. Australian Idol which is mostly aimed at the younger demographics usually wins the younger demographic brackets. 7’s documentary Journey to the Edge of the Universe held 3^rd place for the full hour. 9’s Big Bang Theory dropped to 4^th at 8pm, with ABC’s Australian Story in 2^nd place – one of the many ABC shows rating extremely well at the moment.

At 8.30, City Homicide dominates, also being the 3^rd most watched show of the whole night. 9’s Farmer is 200,000 behind and 2^nd. At 9.30, Beyond the Darklands rated almost as much as Drop Dead Diva and Dexter on 9 and 10 respectively combined (even when the fact the Drop Deaad Diva is not aired in Adelaide and Perth is taken into account)

Order by timeslot:

5.30 – 6.00pm

1^st 10 News. 2^nd 7 Deal or No Deal. 3^rd 9 Hot Seat

6.00 – 6.30pm

1^st 7 News. 2^nd 9 News. 3^rd 10 Simpsons

6.30 – 7.00pm

1^st 7 Today Tonight. 2^nd 9 A Current Affair. 3^rd 10 Neighbours.

7.00 – 7.30pm

1^st 7 Home and Away. 2^nd 9 Two and A Half Men 3^rd ABC1 news

7.30 – 8.00pm

1^st 9 Two and A Half Men. 2^nd 10 Australian Idol. 3^rd 7 Journey to the Edge of the Universe

8.00 – 8.30pm

1^st 10 Australian Idol. 2^nd ABC1 Australian Story. 3^rd 7 Journey to the Edge of the Universe

8.30 – 9.40pm

1^st 7 City Homicide. 2^nd 9 Farmer Wants a Wife. 3^rd 10 Good News Week

9.40 – 10.30pm (S,M,B)

1^st 7 Beyond the Darklands. 2^nd 9 Drop Dead Diva. 3^rd ABC1 Ashes to Ashes.

Network Shares:

1^st 7 29.5%. 2^nd 9 26.4%. 3^rd 10 20.8%. 4^th ABC 17.0%. 5^th 6.3%

With the top 4 programs off the night going to 7 and the network winning in 5 time slots, 7 is 1^st for the night. 9 and GO come 2^nd. At time of posting, I don’t have separate percentages for the digital secondary channels, but based on the results of some of the GO shows on last night, GO would have made up about 1% out of the 26.4% of the 9 networks’ share last night. GO could be a lot higher tonight with Survivor being a Go draw card, and against a traditionally weak line up for 9 on Tuesday nights.

Week so far:

1^st 7 27.7%. 2^nd 9 25.2%. 3^rd 10 20.3%. 4^th ABC 19.0%. 5^th SBS 7.8%

1 Seven News Seven 1,699,000
2 Today Tonight Seven 1,593,000
3 City Homicide-Mon Seven 1,334,000
4 Home And Away Seven 1,304,000
5 Two And A Half Men 7.30pm Nine 1,277,000
6 Nine News Nine 1,228,000
7 Two And A Half Men -Rpt 7pm Nine 1,173,000
8 The Farmer Wants A Wife Nine 1,169,000
9 A Current Affair Nine 1,150,000
10 Australian Idol – Semi Final 1 Ten 1,110,000
11 ABC News ABC1 1,087,000
12 Beyond The Darklands-Mon Seven 1,077,000
13 Australian Story ABC1 1,071,000
14 Journey To The Edge Of The Universe Seven 1,068,000
15 Good News Week Ten 1,022,000
16 7.30 Report ABC1 957,000
17 The Big Bang Theory Nine 934,000
18 Ten News At Five Ten 892,000
19 Deal Or No Deal Seven 885,000
20 Neighbours Ten 855,000
21 Four Corners ABC1 802,000
22 The 7pm Project Ten 788,000
23 Hot Seat Nine 774,000
24 The Simpsons Ten 762,000
25 Media Watch ABC1 746,000
26 Top Gear Botswana Rpt SBS ONE 636,000
27 Huey’s Cooking Adventures Ten 550,000
28 Ashes To Ashes ABC1 544,000
29 Drop Dead Diva Nine 537,000 S,M,B
30 The Bold And The Beautiful Ten 532,000
Dexter Ten 491,000
Talking Heads ABC1 439,000
Sunrise Seven 384,000

2009 Miss Universe Seven 354,000
Today Nine 335,000
Footy Classified Nine 322,000
Doctor Who ABC2 98,000
One Week At A Time ONE 98,000

Here’s some additional figures including some GO shows:

DOCTOR WHO: CONFIDENTIAL CUTDOWN-LE ABC2 87,000
SCRAPHEAP CHALLENGE ABC2 84,000
DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER GO! 78,000
MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 76,000
NEIGHBOURS AT WAR GO! 73,000
BAD LADS ARMY GO! 73,000
KID VS KAT-PM ABC2 72,000
RED DWARF-EV ABC2 72,000
GOOD GAME ABC2 49,000
DRAG RACING: ANDRA CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 ONE 45,000
THE NEW ADVENTURES OF OLD CHRISTINE GO! 42,000 (day time)
BEWITCHED -RPT GO! 37,000 (Wonder if this is 5.30pm ep? Can’t tell)
NATHALIE… RPT SBS TWO 32,000

Raw ratings figures sourced from Media Spy and Tribal Mind and are Oztam 5 city metro figures. Timeslot order is some cases will may be based on average figures over a number of time slots. Timeslot order is only offered where there is enough data available to put at least 3 networks in order at the times listed.

Timeslot times may not reflect exact times that show air due to network lateness. Here, a show starting as late as 9.45 for example will be considered as the 9.30 timeslot, if 9.30 is the time it was advertised to air. Network shares include all extra digital channels for each network. Week so far is the cumulative network share from Sunday until the day of this report. When show not shown in all cities (top 30 list): S = Sydney, B= Brisbane, M = Melbourne, A = Adelaide, P = Perth. Feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think. Anything not here that you’d like to see?

ABC is fast becoming the new network TV success story with the national broadcaster now regularly coming 3^rd in ratings usually above channel 10 who are now often coming 4^th.

Last night (Sunday Aug 23), both Stephen Fry and Midsummer Murders gave the commercials a run for their money. Stephen Fry was 2^nd in its time slot behind 7’s Dancing With the Stars (although, this is based on average figures over the whole show, and the actual 7.30 component may be lower) while Midsummer Murders won all time slots from 8.30 – 10.00pm. ABC has been third on numerous nights in past weeks. It is Sunday night though usually considered as the jewel of the week and the most important night to succeed in ratings on.

Sure last night there was increased competition from SBS with the 5^th and final Ashes match, but ABC’s success lately comes at the expense of the commercial networks with only 7’s being mostly unaffected. Some of 10’s audience has drifted to GO, and Australian Idol just isn’t holding as many people as it used to.

The attraction of the ABC however is the fact there are no ads during shows and that their shows almost always start on time. Sometimes a minute or two late but never the 10 minutes or so that we see on the three commercial networks. And this theory could also be applied to GO – where all of their shows now start in time (there some initial teething problems with day time shows starting 5 minutes early, but they have fixed that now).

Probably the 4 minute ad breaks we are now seeing, coupled with unnecessary padding of reality shows is turning a lot of viewers away. Not to mention bombardment of self promotion, lower quality shows in many time slots and lack of respect to viewers overall is finally starting to take its toll on the 3 commercials.

ABC shows like Stephen Fry, Midsummer Murders, the Bill, George Gently, Spicks and Specks, Australian Story, Four Corners and ABC’s News are regularly ratings over a million, winning many of their timeslots and featuring high in nightly and weekly listings of top rating programs.

In the world of commercial TV, ratings speaks money. So if we all start tuning out, they will have to act to gain their viewers back. This movement away from the big 3 will hopefully be a wake up call and generate better quality programming and schedules that run on time all the time.

Two weeks after the launch of GO, ratings for the new channel are finally separated out of ratings for channel 9 shows. In the past two weeks, all shows on channel 9 have had an apparent surge in ratings resulting in strange results and distortion to what the facts really are.

We now have our first look at how shows on GO are doing. Here are some examples from last night (Sunday Aug 23) and during the day as well:

The Big Bang Theory-Rpt Go! 204,000 – was on from 7.30 – 9pm
Wipeout Go! 169,000 – 6.30pm
The Flintstones -Rpt Go! 131,000 4-5pm
The Nanny Go! 123,000 5-6pm
Seinfeld-Rpt Go! 101,000 6pm
The Jetsons-Rpt Go! 99,000 3-4pm
Legion Of Superheroes Go! 88,000 11am
Starsky& Hutch-Rpt Go! 76,000 1pm
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!-Rpt Go! 73,000 2pm

On channel 9, 60 Minutes had 1,040,000. Last week, 60 minutes was at 1,328,000. Given that 204,000 were watching Big Bang Theory on GO last night, we could assume perhaps a similar figure last week, so last weeks’ figure for 60 Minutes would need to be corrected to about 1,120,000. Same for Rescue: Special Ops – Big Bang Theory ep 3 last night overlaps with the first 20 minutes of Rescue. Big Bang Theory on Channel 9 Monday nights rates around a million viewers, so popularity of the show has built since 9 decided to put it on and stick with it.

Ratings for Sunday August 23 2009.

Its not that often we see the ABC do so well on the commercials networks’ most prized night – Sunday night. ABC1 was 2^nd in the 7.30 time slot with Stephen Fry, and 1^st from 8.30 – 10pm with Midsummer Murders. This resulted in ABC coming 3^rd in overall shares for the night, after 9 which was second. But once GO is separated out of 9, the lead over 9 is not actually that much.

60 Minutes fell to 4^th in it’s time slot – a position that 9 should not be happy with. Meanwhile, Dancing with the Stars was the most watched non-news show last night, with 1.3 million tuning in. Australian Idol’s top 100 show failed to impress, just over 1 million were watching. Again, Idol should perform a lot better once they are in the main competition. Also nearly two and a half hours is a big commitment for anyone to watch.

Rove fell even further down, but the Ashes are to blame for taking usual figures away from some shows.

As far as channel 9 is concerned, the truth about ratings is now revealed with Go accounting for 2.8% of shares of viewers last night and thus all of their shows dropping to show how many were really watching. If Big Bang Theory which airs at 7.30 on GO was added to 60 minutes, like it would have been last week, then 60 minutes would have appeared to have been 2^nd in its time slot. Therefore, by this fact alone, channel 9 ratings for the last two weeks and resulting time slot orders are not accurate.

Timeslot order:

6.00 – 6.30pm

1^st 7 News. 2^nd 9 News. 3^rd 10 Simpsons

6.30 – 7.30pm

1^st 7 Dancing With the Stars. 2^nd 9 Domestic Blitz. 3^rd 10 Australian Idol

7.30 – 8.40pm

1^st 7 Dancing with the Stars. 2^nd ABC1 Stephen Fry in America. 3^rd 10 Australian Idol. 4^th 60 Minutes

8.40 – 8.50pm***

1^st ABC1 Midsummer Murders. 2^nd 7 Bones. 3^rd 10 Australian Idol

8.50 – 9.35pm

1^st ABC1 Midsummer Murders. 2^nd 7 Bones. 3^rd 9 Rescue Special Ops.

9.35 – 10.05pm

1^st ABC1 Midsummer Murders. 2^nd 7 Bones Rpt. 3^rd 10 Rove.

10.05 – 10.30pm

1^st 7 Bones Rpt. 2^nd 9 CSI: Miami. 3^rd 10 Rules of Engagement

Network Shares:

1^st 7 26.0%. 2^nd 9 24.2%. 3^rd ABC 20.8%. 4^th 10 19.9%. 5^th SBS 9.1%

AND for the first time – channel shares:

1^st 7 26.0%. 2^nd 9 21.3%. 3^rd ABC1 19.7%. 4^th 10 18.1%. 5^th SBS1 8.7%

6^th GO 2.8%. 7^th ONE 1.9%. 8^th ABC2 1.1%. 9^th SBS2 0.4%

Go is clearly now the most successful secondary digital channel yet. And if digital take up was 100%, that 2.8% would be more like 7%.

1 Seven News – Sun Seven 1,650,000
2 Dancing With The Stars 9 Seven 1,352,000
3 Midsomer Murders ABC1 1,264,000
4 Nine News Sunday Nine 1,256,000
5 Bones Seven 1,142,000
6 Domestic Blitz Nine 1,142,000
7 Stephen Fry In America ABC1 1,129,000
8 Australian Idol – Top 100 Ten 1,086,000
9 ABC News Up-Date ABC1 1,079,000
10 60 Minutes Nine 1,040,000
11 ABCNews-Su ABC1 920,000
12 Rescue Special Ops Nine 878,000
13 Bones ® Seven 857,000
14 Rove Ten 832,000
15 Ten News At Five Sun Ten 688,000
16 The Einstein Factor ABC1 671,000
17 CSI: Miami Nine 594,000

18 Seven’s AFL: Rnd 21: Collingwood Vs Sydney Seven 482,000
19 Compass ABC1 479,000
20 The Simpsons Sun Ten 469,000
21 CSI: Miami-Rpt Nine 448,000
22 The 2009 Ashes: Test5Day4S1 SBS ONE 444,000
23 Las Vegas Seven 418,000
24 Postcards Nine 415,000 M, A
25 Rules Of Engagement Sun Rpt 10pm Ten 407,000
26 Weekend Sunrise Seven 389,000
27 Nine’s Sunday Football Nine 382,000 S, B
28 The Sunday Footy Show Nine 371,000
29 The 2009 Ashes: Test5Day4S2 SBS ONE 301,000
30 Rules Of Engagement Sun Ep 2 10.30pm Rpt Ten 280,000
Seven’s V8 Supercars Round 8: Queensland D2 Seven 275,000
Out Of The Blue Sun Ten 224,000
Insiders ABC1 209,000
The Big Bang Theory-Rpt Go! 204,000
Wipeout Go! 169,000
The Biggest Loser-Day Ten 147,000
FIA Formula One World Championship 2009 One 137,000
The Flintstones -Rpt Go! 131,000
The Nanny Go! 123,000
Seinfeld-Rpt Go! 101,000
The Jetsons-Rpt Go! 99,000
Legion Of Superheroes Go! 88,000
Starsky& Hutch-Rpt Go! 76,000
Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!-Rpt Go! 73,000

Raw ratings figures sourced from Media Spy and are Oztam 5 city metro figures. Timeslot order is some cases will may be based on average figures over a number of time slots. Timeslot order is only offered where there is enough data available to put at least 3 networks in order at the times listed.

Timeslot times may not reflect exact times that show air due to network lateness. Here, a show starting as late as 9.45 for example will be considered as the 9.30 timeslot, if 9.30 is the time it was advertised to air. Network shares include all extra digital channels for each network. Week so far is the cumulative network share from Sunday until the day of this report. When show not shown in all cities (top 30 list): S = Sydney, B= Brisbane, M = Melbourne, A = Adelaide, P = Perth. Feel free to leave comments and let us know what you think. Anything not here that you’d like to see?

Ratings for Saturday August 22 2009, unedited.

7’s decision to go head to head against 9 again at 6.30 has paid off, with 7 winning that time slot over the usually 1^st Video Show and then taking the night. The Bledislow cup did very well in Sydney and Brisbane, while the alternative viewing in the AFL states helped keep their shares above 9.

Rank Show Network Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth

1 Seven News – Sat Seven 1,440,000 440,000 422,000 274,000 133,000 170,000
2 Coming Home Seven 1,066,000 328,000 306,000 244,000 85,000 103,000
3 Nine News Saturday Nine 1,039,000 237,000 354,000 208,000 142,000 97,000
4 Australia’s Funniest Home Videos Nine 1,028,000 246,000 294,000 195,000 146,000 146,000
5 ABC News-Sa ABC1 785,000 277,000 220,000 135,000 85,000 67,000
6 Bill ABC1 752,000 224,000 193,000 115,000 104,000 116,000
7 Ten News At Five Sat Ten 660,000 175,000 220,000 129,000 *** 136,000
8 ABC News Up-Date ABC1 626,000 178,000 209,000 68,000 88,000 83,000
9 East Of Everything ABC1 615,000 205,000 161,000 117,000 62,000 70,000
10 Saturday Afternoon AFL Ten 567,000 45,000 230,000 23,000 149,000 119,000
11 Saturday Night AFL Ten 566,000*** 275,000 79,000 140,000 72,000
12 Gardening Australia ABC1 556,000 161,000 174,000 86,000 73,000 62,000
13 Foyle’s War Rpt ABC1 545,000 143,000 195,000 66,000 74,000 68,000
14 Before The Game Ten 544,000 366,000 7,000 100,000 70,000
15 Seven’s R.U: Bledisloe Cup: AusVNZ Seven 521,000 275,000 39,000 171,000 8,000 28,000
16 Willy Wonka a The Chocolate Factory-Rpt Nine 489,000 *** 277,000 *** 118,000 94,000
17 Suddenly30-Rpt Nine 468,000 275,000 *** 193,000 *** ***
18 M-Kate a Leopold Seven 454,000*** 265,000 *** 76,000 113,000
19 M-Broken Arrow Seven 424,000 115,000 143,000 61,000 50,000 54,000
20 The 2009 Ashes: Test5Day3S1 SBS ONE 393,000 129,000 129,000 60,000 30,000 45,000
21 M-Miracle In Lane 2 Seven 359,000 105,000 121,000 59,000 28,000 46,000
22 TalkTo The Animals Nine 356,000 93,000 106,000 73,000 43,000 41,000
23 Weekend Today-Saturday Nine 330,000 119,000 93,000 64,000 19,000 35,000
24 The 2009 Ashes: Test5Day3S2 SBS ONE 325,000 90,000 109,000 47,000 33,000 46,000
25 Saturday Disney Seven 306,000 96,000 86,000 62,000 19,000 44,000
26 Animal Emergency-Rpt Nine 302,000 142,000 160,000 *** *** ***
27 The Notebook Nine 294,000 160,000 *** 134,000 *** ***
28 Seven’s V8 Supercars Round 8: Queensland D1 Seven 287,000 64,000 71,000 76,000 40,000 35,000
29 Hot Seat-Sat Nine 272,000 123,000 149,000 *** *** ***
30 The Simpsons Sat Ten 265,000 184,000 *** 81,000 *** ***
31 Sydney Weekender Seven 254,000 254,000
Hot August Night N.YC. Nine 241,000 59,000 72,000 44,000 36,000 29,000
Bowls: Australian Indoor Championships (2009) ABC1 203,000 62,000 39,000 48,000 26,000 28,000
Kid’s WB on Nine Nine 173,000 56,000 45,000 33,000 14,000 25,000
Pearl Jam: Live In Cornice Italy Nine 134,000 50,000 36,000 32,000 16,000
Video Hits Sat Ten 121,000 25,000 46,000 19,000 18,000 12,000
H2o-Just Add Water Rpt Ten 104,000 21,000 44,000 19,000 9,000 12,000
Eddy And The Bear ABC2 82,000 34,000 15,000 13,000 10,000 10,000
FIA Formula One World Championship 2009-Oual One 65,000 20,000 7,000 14,000 16,000 9,000

Network Shares:

1^st 7 25.4%. 2^nd 9 24.9%. 3^rd 10 20.2%. 4^th ABC 19.3%. 5^th 10.3%

Final result for week 34:

1^st 7 28.3% 2^nd 26.6%. 3^rd 10 20.8%. 4^th ABC 16.5%. 5^th SBS 7.8%.

Channel 7 wins the week. As already mentioned, the network have also won the year based on number of official ratings weeks won. 9 moves closer but are still in second, thanks to GO. 10’s shares are falling, as some of the younger viewers are moving to GO. SBS is slightly up, thanks to the Ashes. This time next week, it will be very interesting to see if GO has met 9’s expectations of at least doubling the audience of ONE and attracting as much as 4% of the overall share. If this week is an indication, the rough increase to 9’s shares by GO seems to be around 2% extra. ONE accounts for about 1% of 10’s share (so when 10 gets 20.8%, the split would be something like 19.8% 10, 1% ONE)

Raw ratings figures from Media Spy and are OzTam 5 city metro figures. *** Means show not aired in that city.