If 2009 has been remarkable for one thing, it has been comic tone put under the spotlight. But in a week when our sense of humour was questioned once more, it was sport that ruled the week. The NRL Grand Final topped the week with 2.41m viewers, ahead of Hey Hey the Reunion. Both were Nine properties and gave the network a decisive victory -its fifth successive win.
Nine finished with 31.1% ahead of Seven’s 26.2% and TEN’s 19.6%. The ABC had 17.8% and SBS 5.3%.
Nine won 3 key demos 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54.
GO! had 2.2% share, ABC2 had 1.6%, ONE took 1.1% and SBS TWO 0.4%.
Nine won Sunday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Seven won Monday, Tuesday, Friday. Nine also won all cities except Perth, which fell to Seven.
The NRL Grand Final was the #1 show of the week with 2.52m viewers, even though the winning team’s home town missed out on the trophy presentation. It was just ahead of Hey Hey the Reunion‘s 2.21m. Nine’s other performers for the week included Nine News (Sunday), 60 Minutes and 20 to 1. A Current Affair hit 1.36m on Monday. The Mentalist lifted 100,000 to 1.08m. The Secret Millionaire debuted on 926,000 better than The Apprentice Australia slipping from 692,000 to 657,000. Rescue: Special Ops had a big lead-in but still took around the same figure as the previous week, 956,000. Hot Seat beat Deal or no Deal on two days. Nine News in Sydney is also lifting, beating Seven News on two weeknights. The return of ER was a modest 439,000. Wipeout scored 164,000 on GO!
Packed to the Rafters snatched back its place as the top show on Seven at 1.75m. Amongst its other best were Last Chance Surgery, RSPCA Animal Rescue, FlashForward, Seven News, Today Tonight, Highway Patrol, Destroyed in Seconds, Better Homes and Gardens and All Saints. Amongst its new shows this week Destroyed in Seconds premiered to 1.22m, Beauty & the Geek 1.05m, Ghost Whisperer 841,000 and a new Amazing Race at 730,000. Seven opted not to run Sunday Night against the NRL final and had a low performing evening -it would have lifted its share in ‘southern states’ if it had bothered. It was similarly thumped by Nine on Wednesday. FlashForward lost 300,000, Mercy also lost ground but won its slot. Both Sunrise and The Morning Show stayed well ahead of the competition.
NCIS increased slightly this week as TEN’s top show on 1.45m –miles ahead of its other offerings: Celebrity MasterChef (1.08m), Lie to Me (1.04m) and Glee (1.02m). Under 1m were Australian Idol, Good News Week, NCIS: Los Angeles, Rush, Rove, The Spearman Experiment, Neighbours and Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? Burn Notice was second in its slot. Friday nights the network just can’t seem to hit its stride: The Simpsons Movie premiere was 760,000 while The 7PM Project was down to 555,000. On ONE the FIA Formula One averaged 107,000. No doubt TEN will be relieved this week to see its shows compete without special events from rival networks.
Midsomer Murders soared to 1.5m viewers –a clear winner for the ABC. Also strong were Yellowstone, ABC News, Australian Story, Dead Famous, Heart and Soul, The Bill and Hunter. Spicks and Specks had tough competition but managed 845,000. Q & A put in a very competitive 629,000. Hungry Beast slipped a little to 539,000. Junkyard Wars was best for ABC2. Tuesdays are still a challenge to the network, but it beat TEN on Sunday, Friday and Saturday.
Top Gear this week was 846,000 for SBS with Man vs Wild holding onto 463,000. Meanwhile Who Do You Think You Are? took 402,000 and a doco on Cannabis was 322,000 and another on Hermann Goering was 232,000. Insight took 222,000 and Costa’s Garden Odyssey was 211,000. Monday was its best night.
Amended.