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1.22m gives Seven’s 800 Words strong start

Ratings: Seven's new drama wins its timeslot, and the breakfast battle holds good news for Seven and ABC.

800 Words - ep 1 28 (c) 2015 SPP

Seven’s new drama series 800 Words is off to an excellent start, attracting 1.22m viewers last night. The show won its timeslot and proved to be the best on the network all night. It topped the 18-49 and 25-54 demos and was most popular in Sydney.

The X Factor also won its timeslot with 1.14m viewers, beating The Block and TBL Families -but the latter has improved on its previous two outings.

In the new game-show wars it is harder to make direct comparisons. The Chase dipped on its second night with 446,000 at 5pm, rising to 623,000 for 5:30. Hot Seat was 613,000.

At breakfast, Sunrise‘s London broadcast still drew a big crowd at 397,000 over Today in Canberra at 339,000. Updated: ABC News Breakfast had its best numbers ever at 150,000 / 104,000 over two channels.

Seven network won with 32.5% then Nine 24.7%, TEN 19.3%, ABC 18.1% and SBS 5.3%.

800 Words was the top ranking show for Seven on 1.22m viewers then The X Factor (1.14m), Seven News (1.06m / 980,000), Home and Away (815,000), The Chase (623,000 / 446,000) and Ramsay’s Hotel Hell (586,000). Chicago Fire was 252,000.

Nine News topped the night with (1.22m / 1.17m). Next for Nine were A Current Affair (980,000), The Block (838,000), Hot Seat (613,000) and David Attenborough’s Life Story (499,000). CSI was 270,000 / 146,000.

TBL Families lifted to 726,000 for TEN. The Project was 651,000 / 484,000, TEN Eyewitness News was 561,000, NCIS was 397,000 and NCIS: LA was 328,000.

ABC News was 908,000 for ABC then 7:30 (794,000), Foreign Correspondent (625,000), Restoration Australia (608,000), Antiques Roadshow (332,000) and Stranded (217,000).

On SBS it was Who Do You Think You Are? (365,000), Dateline (179,000), Insight (148,000) and SBS World News (133,000).

7TWO’s Foyle’s War (222,000) led multichannels.

Sunrise: 397,000
Today: 339,000
ABC News Breakfast: 150,000 / 104,000

OzTAM Overnights: Tuesday 15 September 2015

33 Responses

  1. Yeah, I liked 800 words too. It was a bit country practice and a bit sea change. Will be watching next week again.

    As for the x factor, defintely prefer it to the voice. Given the voice is clearly not actually about the voice but how people look. And they knock out much of the best talent in the early rounds as they pitch the best singers against each other and the weakest singers against each other. Of all the talent shows, australian idol is still my fave.

  2. A good start for 800 words I thought it was a good aussie/NZ drama I hope it rates well as the 8 episode series goes on it was funny and bit of drama so works well still loving the X Factor much better then the voice.

  3. Ok, I had a look at 800 Words on Plus7 and I must say I wasn’t impressed. I thought that the writing was lazy, especially the dialogue which was dire and unrealistic. Were they going for the record of how many NZ-isms they could shoehorn into the conversation? The overacting, apart from the lead, was hammy but without the subtle humour of Seachange.

    Frankly, I found it to be unpalatably hokey and was not able to watch all of it. It’s inoffensive and doesn’t require much thought so it will prob appeal to people wanting something light and easy with some nice scenery but I think it will drop below the million mark.

  4. For me it was poorly acted and storyline was just plain boring. Workmates and family all agreed it was like watching grass grow. I predict it’ll drop sharply

  5. Great news for 7, I didn’t watch 800 Words, but I thought it sounded like a good show. And TEN should be happy with TBL – double its dire numbers from last time (300-400K if I remember correctly?). Although, how long can they justify so many repeats post 8.30? NCIS, Madam Secretary, Law and Order….come on!

  6. I was looking forward to 800 words, although not with great anticipation as I feel I’ve been spoilt by HBO series, BBC First shows, Showtime programs etc, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was gentle and humorous – so much so that even my usually stern, police-officer husband had a few laughs out loud. It’s quirky edge reminds me of Northern Exposure and Seachange. We’ll watch again, but will probably timeshift to avoid the ads.

  7. Thanks David. I’m sure they would’ve expected higher numbers yesterday. It will be interesting to see if the show lasts beyond November, it was originally promised a 2 year run. It’s ratings have stabilised, but still aren’t anywhere near the competition. It would be a shame to see it go as its a fantastically produced program.

  8. I had no idea that 800 Words was on last night. I saw a stupid “Sneak Peak” while at the gym, however it did not note the time\day, so I assumed it was a week or two away. I found it will be rerun on Sunday afternoon so I will wait til then and PVR it.

  9. I’m not really enjoying the X-factor honestly the talent is not all that crash hot apart from 1 or 2 singers and looks like the judges are standing up for everyone this year and I’m like really?? I also think the judges don’t gel well together I think the numbers will drop I actually enjoyed The Voice so much better!

    1. Ur definitely in a minority!! The talent is out standing this year. The xfactor is about the talent unlike the voice which is about the judges and over inflated egos!! Just saying!

  10. What is the classification for 800 words? Can it be aired at 7.30pm.

    Haven’t watched it and not sure I will but would definitely have given it a chance at 7.30pm. These days would be less likely to watch if unsure about it and its on post 8.40pm.

  11. I made the last minute decision to give 800 words a chance. Thought it was pretty good, will watch again next week. Been bugging me all night as to who the lady with the sculpture that hit the car was, think she was the ditsy office assistant in The Blue Rose maybe?

  12. Really enjoying the X Factor. Haven’t watched before but thought I would give it a shot as an alternative to the tired old Block.
    So many wonderful and unique performers – the standard is really high, much better than The Voice.
    All the judges are really good as well. Chris Isaak is very charismatic.

    1. I’m not a fan of the genre (love the singing but hate all the filler) but I don’t think that there is any doubt that if you want to see great singing by up-and-coming talent you watch The X Factor, but if you want your show to be all about some moderately successful performers rotating in chairs you watch The Voice.

      1. Yep, The Voice is definitely all about the judges.
        Sometimes it seems they prefer to choose mediocre contestants who won’t run the risk of outshining the judges’ sometimes “questionable” talent.

  13. I’m guessiing the nearly 40% increase in the second half of The Chase is down to when people come home rather than people watching something else between 5pm and 5:30. Would that be right?

  14. Whenever there has been big news breaking, everyone used to turn to Nine. The fact that Today was in Canberra and Sunrise was in London, yet Sunrise still won convincingly should be a huge issue to Nine and its credibility as ‘News Leader’ However, of course’ at 6.00pm Nine News Sydney continues to thrash Seven News – my comment is more in relation to the morning coverage.

    1. I think you will find that people wanting full on breaking News switched to ABC News Breakfast. David said in his write-up that they appear to have had their best figures for the year. When it comes to breaking news I think Nine lost its News Leader title a long time ago.

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