It’s long been run and won – though the winners may not have been known as widely. This is the Top 20 programs for 2013 across the primary channels, the alternate channels, subscription TV and, for the first time, the catch up Top 20.

There are few surprises that reality TV and sport dominate the Top 20 FTA programs for 2013. My Kitchen Rules and The Block Sky High both performed well for Seven and Nine respectively and so their finales were massive business. Also too that the AFL Grand Final was 3rd for the year and a part of 8 other sporting events in the Top 20 is reflective of our TV habits as a whole. The Voice Australia outperformed The X Factor Australia though the former didn’t hit the heights it did in 2012.

Noticeably absent from the entire list is any Network Ten program (apart from three entries in the catch up Top 20) – but that is reflective of their overall position in the shares.

Running the Mid-Year English Ashes series on GEM proved a windfall for Nine as it took 18 of the Top 20 places for the alternate/multi-channel ratings, the highest being the second session on day 5 of the first test with 861,000 people watching – a multi-channel record.

Sport dominated the subscription TV Top 20 – Football (soccer), AFL, Cricket, NRL, Rugby Union.

The catch up list offers some surprises, with Seven and Nine content featuring highly (also reflecting their online catch up services didn’t really get sorted properly until late in 2013 compared to the excellent ABC iview). The final episode of Packed To The Rafters added 257,000 extra viewers on catch up and reinforces that not everyone is watching linear broadcast TV.