Seven kicks ratings goal

It was the week that James Packer said goodbye to Nine, and a week that the man behind Seven’s #1 rating show was sentenced to jail.

And it was a week in which sport again divided the country and the networks. Nine may have won Sydney and Brisbane, but the AFL cities of Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth gave Seven a national win of 29.2% over Nine’s 28.1%. TEN had 21.0%, the ABC 16.5% and SBS 5.5%.

So after NRL decided the outcome in Week 21, AFL bounced back in Week 22.

For Seven their News and Today Tonight were their top performers, ironically this week enduring news of their own boss, Peter Meakin, sentenced to 14 months of weekend prison detention (although did TT actually acknowledge this?). They were followed by Grey’s Anatomy, It Takes Two, Desperate Housewives, Where Are They Now, All Saints, My Name is Earl, Ugly Betty and The Rich List.

60 Minutes was the top show for the week, clearly benefiting from a demographic divided by Betty / BB. Other strong shows included CSI, CSI: Miami, National Nine News, ACA, Shrek, Funniest Home Videos, 1 vs 100 and Getaway. Tuesday remains a problem for the network with a slow start to the return of Crime and Justice and Neighbours at War.

TEN can’t seem to manage a local hit right now. Big Brother had its first weeknight under the 900,000 barrier and Teen Fit Camp tanked at 735,000. Thank goodness for American imports NCIS and House (even if the latter was beaten by the ABC). Rove also slipped just under the 1m mark, but it is much further ahead of its old Tuesday slot. Otherwise it was only The Simpsons and Law and Order SVU that delivered any serious fortune.

The ABC cleared the 20% barrier on Wednesday night, with Spicks and Specks passing a brilliant 1.5m. The Chaser also excelled. Even The New Inventors made the night’s top ten with 1.2m. Next was ABC News and Robin Hood.

SBS’ best share was again on Monday night.

Ratings Week 22.