World Cup magic for SBS last night, with the Argentina-Saudi Arabia game lifting the network to third overall in total people and the main channels. A national audience of 546,000 people watched the shock result — 2-1 to the Saudis who looked beaten at half-time by the Argentinians who had three goals disallowed and led 1-0. Ratings for the Australian thrashing by France this morning will be available on Thursday morning, along with figures for tonight’s game — Mexico v Croatia, which will rate well here.
Tonight and tomorrow night, there’s a two-program Current Affair farewell to Tracy Grimshaw. (A Current Affair-well?) Her interview five years ago this week with Don Burke stands out in my mind as one of the best bits of work, if not the best, in her fabulous career. The Roast of Paul Hogan Roast averaged 874,000 for Seven — nostalgia TV, all sepia and rose-coloured.
Network channel share:
- Seven (28.1%)
- Nine (26.6%)
- SBS (17.7%)
- ABC (15.1%)
- Ten (12.6%)
Network main channels:
- Seven (21.1%)
- Nine (19.0%)
- SBS (14.1%)
- ABC (10.3%)
- Ten (6.4%)
Top 5 digital channels:
- 7TWO, Gem (3.2%)
- 10 Peach (2.9%)
- ABC Kids/TV Plus (2.7%)
- 7mate (2.6%)
Top 10 national programs:
- Seven News — 1.347 million
- Seven News 6.30pm — 1.286 million
- Nine News 6.30pm — 939,000
- Nine News — 937,000
- The Roast of Paul Hogan (Seven) — 874,000
- A Current Affair (Nine) — 854,000
- 7pm ABC News — 842,000
- The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 744,000
- Home and Away (Seven) — 701,000
- 7.30 (ABC) — 600,000
Top metro programs: none with a million or more viewers.
Regional: Seven News, 470,000; Seven News 6.30pm, 444,000; The Roast of Paul Hogan, 361,000; Home and Away, 282,000; ACA, 281,000.
Losers: everyone! Another dire night, apart from the World Cup.
Metro news and current affairs:
- Seven News — 877,000
- Seven News 6.30pm — 837,000
- Nine News — 672,000
- Nine News 6.30pm — 670,000
- A Current Affair (Nine) — 578,000
- 7pm ABC News — 568,000
- 7.30 (ABC) — 407,000
- The Project 7pm (Ten) — 258,000
- 10 News First — 228,000
- The Project 6.30 (Ten) — 189,000
Morning (national) TV:
- Sunrise (Seven) — 364,000/210,000
- Today (Nine) — 296,000/189,000
- ABC News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 269,000/173,000
- ABC News Mornings — 214,000
- The Morning Show (Seven) — 198,000
- Today Extra (Nine) — 147,000
- Studio 10 (Ten) — 34,000
Top 5 pay TV programs:
- ODI: Aust v England Game 3 (Fox Cricket) — 192,000
- ODI: Aust v England Game 3 Innings Break (Fox Cricket) — 168,000
- ODI: Aust v England Game 3 (Fox Cricket) — 121,000
- ODI: Aust v England Game 3 Post Game (Fox Cricket) — 114,000
- Victoria People’s Forum (Sky News) — 65,000
