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You better smile. It’s Nine.

At a crucial time of the year, Nine reminds everyone it is still a force to be reckoned with, snatching the weekly ratings crown back from Seven.

It was the week that the industry took action on piracy against an ISP, news crews were assaulted by angry locals, a regional broadcaster axed its entire news department, a court ruled regional licenses must be sold, a reality host pleaded guilty to welfare fraud, another reality show mucked up correct voting information, Screen Australia’s new CEO signalled a smoother ride for film over television, a daytime soap would be destined for primetime, the axe fell on more US shows and an old sitcom face left for the bus depot in the sky.

And in the penultimate ratings week, the Nine Network has grabbed a win with 28.4% over Seven’s 28.0% and TEN’s 20.1%. ABC had 17.7% and SBS 5.9%.

Nine won 18-49 and 25-54 demographics while TEN won 16-39 yos. Nine won Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, Seven took Adelaide and Perth. Top show for the week was Packed to the Rafters with 2.01m.

Nine’s win is a timely reminder it is still a force to be reckoned with. It had some good performers this week that will boost morale at a crucial time of the year. 60 Minutes took 1.53m viewers, which together with 20 to 1′s impressive 1.4m the network snared back its prized Sundays. Another Domestic Blitz edition helped hook Mondays for Nine too. This is Your Life and RPA did good business on Thursday, but Wednesday’s removal of an 8pm Two and a Half Men repeat for the relaunch of Big Bang Theory was a costly move. That caused The Mentalist to slip under the 1m mark. Nine’s Rugby League World Cup probably helped Nine over the line.

Seven’s decision to prop up its final weeks with repeats mixed with new episodes has cost it the joy of a seamless streak in the second half of the year. With no Dancing with the Stars it was a softer Sunday, and viewers weren’t fooled by City Homicide‘s Monday repeats either. Packed to the Rafters came to the rescue with a glorious 2.01m viewers. Together with Find my Family, The Zoo and All Saints it skyrocketed Seven to a whopping Tuesday share. Aside from Seven News, Today Tonight, Home & Away and Better Homes and Gardens Seven was lighter on other big figures this week. Where Are They Now trailed its rivals on Sunday, better suited a 6:30 timeslot. The Unit’s attempt at a relaunch didn’t fire in its first week, third in its slot. Thursday was more competitive for Seven, just 0.3% behind Nine. Supermodel won its slot and demographics, but it’s a long way behind other reality finales. After some dodgy headlines, is it assured of any future?

NCIS with 1.31m and Australian Idol‘s 1.24m may have again been TEN’s best, but everybody knows it’s Hamish and Andy that were the real star performers. Their special helped the network rescue Wednesday’s early evenings with 1.18m viewers when nothing else has come close in a long time. It even pipped a good figure for Rove on Sunday, with 1.13m. Good News Week also passed 1m viewers as did Chris Noth’s last Law & Order: CI. House didn’t gain much traction from a better lead in with Hamish & Andy. Have viewers truly tired of the formula? Out of the Blue started out with 372,000 viewers. By Thursday it still had 321,000 –not a bad retention given the late slot.

Spicks and Specks last episode (a xmas special is still due) with 1.22m was again its best, but it was the The Howard Years that taxed rival networks, coming equal first in its slot with 1.18m viewers. Enough Rope, ABC News, A Room with a View, 7:30 Report, The New Inventors, Adam Hills Live, Humpbacks: From Fire to Ice, Catalyst, The Bill and Rough Diamond all did well.

The last Top Gear Australia held at 662,000 viewers with Swift and Shift Couriers also pushing SBS to a 7.1% share.

Week 47

16 Responses

  1. Just looking over the 1st Test figures; it got 0.877m on Saturday, and I’m presuming it comfortably won its timeslot. Would Ch. 9 be happy with that figure?

  2. Are there any publicly available stats on how certain programs do with younger demos without being relative to the opposition? For example: 600k in 18-49 for the mentalist?

  3. The only reason 9 have had so much luck this year with younger viewers is because of 2 and a half men. A really lucky break for them considering it previously didn’t rate well at all.

    Also Ramsey did well with the younger viewers at the start of the year too.

  4. So with the success of the H&A special, why doesn’t ten give them another chance at a weekly show? They are certainly more popular now than they were during their original stints on both seven and ten… they could even test the waters with an “encore season” of Real Stories to see if they can sustain an audience…

  5. Byron Nine are saving stuff for next year as well eg rpt CSI on Monday night. Seven are really only saving City Homicide..

    Craig Nine (like Seven) target the 25-54 where most of the advertising dollars are. It’s just that this year Nine has made a concerted effort to target younger viewers and it has reaped the rewards. Pretty much all of Sevens big hits skew old.

  6. Nine’s win was only a result of Seven saving its resources and even still their win was only by 0.4 of a percentage! Nine need good cricket audiences over summer to give them momentum into next year.

  7. Great to see that Nine won, thanks to the rugby. No surprises for who won the demos but at least Ten won 16-39 and had a share over 20%, first time in weeks. Seven won in over 50s so thats something for them to celebrate but they have not been very good lately especially on weekends and Mondays are a little dull. Tuesday is great for Seven but by beating Nine by 13% and losing the week is not very good. Good to see Nine so strong on Sunday, close on Monday and Wednesday, just winning Thursday and Friday with Rugby pushing Saturday in a strong 1st spot. I would imagine Nine won by a lot in East coast cities especially Brisbane and Sydney as they love Rugby. I wonder how Nine fared in Adelaide and Perth. Adelaide had Harry Potter on Saturday but it would not have been strong enough to give Nine a big win. Friday would have been bad for Nine Adelaide though.

    Seven was third on Sunday and Saturday. Two nights I avoid Seven at all costs due to better stuff on other networks and the fact Seven offer nothing exciting. Third behind Ten on Sunday and third behind the ABC on Saturday who would have thought. At least Ten and ABC have had 1 day this week in second place. They both deserve better. Seven will probably win the last week unless the Funniest Home Videos, Weddings special, CIA, Graham Kennedy special and Christmas With The Kranks do really well. Ten will likely win tonight but Seven will likely come third again.

  8. First I was surprised by Nine winning the week but then to find out the demo numbers, I always assumed ch9 was after the older audiance? With more wins next year might be closer if ch can get a few more shows working. But will this mean the networks are more likely to cut and change show line ups in 2009?

  9. Yay! And when Nine win they also win the important demos.

    & correct Alex Nine will likely be the winner in the 25-54 & 18-49 which considering last year is a huge improvement and a nice stepping stone to total dominance in the next couple of years.

  10. So is that Nine’s 11th win this year to Sevens 27?

    Much better than last year where Nine only won 2.

    So looks like by the end of next week:
    – 7 will be number one network of the year and number one in over 55’s
    – Nine will be number one in 18-49’s and 25-54’s
    – Ten will just be number one in 16-39’s

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