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Seven wins, TEN tumbling.

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The Seven Network has won Week 10 of the ratings, but the margin was deadly tight.

Seven had a 30.2% share to Nine’s 28.7% and TEN’s 20.2%. The ABC had 16% and SBS 5%.

Seven’s win over Nine is again slimming down as key American dramas find audiences trickle away. By all it rights it should be performing better. Lost came third in its timeslot this week, losing to Missing Persons Unit (9) and Law & Order: SVU (10). Heroes was also defeated by House (10). In the case of Heroes, this is arguably a case of levelling out. Not suprisingly the show started big, but as audiences realise it is a “slow burner” they have trimmed down. It is now being convincingly beaten by House which has the benefit of stand-alone storylines. Lost however has a more serious problem. This is a flagship drama with a large and loyal audience that is now becoming frustrated by the continual delaying of storyline resolution. Simply put, people are tiring of not having answers. It is compounded by competition from Nine’s biggest night.

But RPA, which top’s Nine’s Thursday, has now had to make way for The Footy Show. Nine’s small margin behind Seven should be considered impressive. After all Seven has a wealth of diverse product this year. Big new American dramas. Wins in News and Current Affairs. Shouldn’t their lead be bigger? Nine is yet to introduce much of its new programmes (Monarchy, Primeval, Lost Tribes, Sea Patrol -some of which it may not launch until the second half of the year).

TEN had a terrible week, slipping to a 20.2% share and barely ahead of the ABC. This was due largely to its lousy Sunday when Cool Aid: The Carbon Test tanked, allowing Nine to steal a win from Seven. TEN quickly announced Rove was coming to rescue Sundays and Thank God You’re Here repeats, which had been lined up for 6:30pm, will start tonight. The Con Test also remains a complex dilemma: a slim but sustained audience.

Seven won in all cities except Brisbane which went to Nine. Nationally Nine won Sunday, Wednesday and Thursday nights.

1. Dancing With The Stars Seven 1.73m
2. Ugly Betty Seven 1.70m
3. CSI Nine 1.69m
4. Grey’s Anatomy Seven 1.63m
5. CSI: Miami Nine 1.59m
6. RPA Nine 1.56m
7. Desperate Housewives Seven 1.48

More figures.

One Response

  1. I’m not convinced that Lost is driving people away due to a lack of answers.

    I think the problem stems from the fact that the writers of Lost have widened up the show with revelations about the shows antagonists, the Others. As a result of this, many viewers are simply being disatisfied with the approach on the story that the writers devised. For example, all those viewers convinced they were watching a metaphysical program may have since switched off, determining that Lost is not the show they believed it to be.

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