(5 city metro combined – all figures in millions)
1. Seven News – Seven – 1.456
2. Today Tonight – Seven – 1.251
3. Nine News – Nine – 1.176
4. A Current Affair – Nine – 1.073
5. ABC News – ABC1 – 0.892
6. Australia’s Funniest Home Videos (Daily Edition) – Nine – 0.773
7. Bondi Vet (rpt) – Ten – 0.727
8. Bondi Vet (ep2 rpt) – Ten – 0.724
8. Law and Order: SVU (rpt) – Ten – 0.724
10. The Ashes: Fifth Test (Australia v England Session 2) – Nine – 0.719
11. Ten News at Five – Ten – 0.718
12. The 7pm Project – Ten – 0.706
13. 7:30 Report Summer Edition – ABC1 – 0.689
14. Top Gear (rpt) – Nine – 0.658
15. How I Met Your Mother (Summer rpt) – 0.641
The Ashes: Fifth Test (Australia v England Session 1) – Nine – 0.471
Beat The Star – Seven – 0.382
Sunrise – Seven – 0.381
Today – Nine – 0.300
Seven’s Tennis: Brisbane Interational 2011 (Day 4) – Seven – 0.110
Tennis: Hopman Cup 2011 Live – Ten – 0.107
Seven’s Tennis: Brisbane Interational 2011 (Day 4 Night) – Seven – 0.106
To those who question the validity of the old school 6pm News bulletin – BEHOLD! From the end of January, Channel 10 will be adding two more shows into this list and we can expect to see them in the top15 often. A shame that The 7pm Project has slid a little, but as much as anything that’s indicative of the holiday attitude and casual approach to watching it’s core fan base would have at the moment. As for the 7:30pm timeslot – Ch10 own it on Thursday nights, not just in the summer, with two repeat eps of Bondi Vet last night. Top Gear repeats are proving to be a reliable performer for Ch9, and it’s clear that Ch7 are simply clearing the backlog of the travesty that is Beat The Star. The start of the new ratings year cannot come quick enough…
The Ashes making it to the top ten (Daytime! What the…?) shows (a) the excitement of the England demolition of Australia from the ex-pats, and (b) there really isn’t that much to watch at the moment in non-ratings!