Seven’s battle cry

It was the week a Senate inquiry said we should “lock out” offending programmes for kids, Gordon Ramsay landed and blamed everything back on Nine, an All Saints star was bashed in the streets of Sydney, major sports were pressured to stage nighttime events, new US dramas were leaked online, two courtcases with TV identities were adjourned, the AFIs recognised ‘short-run’ drama, Eddie’s show was dropped, Telstra dropped Idol, and Peter Cundall hung up his gardening shears after 38 years.

And as Seven unveiled its newest light entertainment format Battle of the Choirs it hit the right note by winning the week with a 28.2% share over Nine’s 26.7% and TEN’s 20.7%.

The ABC had 18.8% (it’s best result this year) and SBS had 5.6%.

Seven won Monday, Tuesday, Friday and Saturday. Nine won Sunday and Thursday. Both tied on Wednesday night. Seven won all cities except Sydney which fell to Nine.

Seven News again underpinned the network’s win, as the #1 show every night of the week. It is only denied first position in the overall weekly rankings due to averaging its weeknight figures –but it was an impressive performance. Also strong for Seven were Australia’s Got Talent, Better Homes and Gardens, Today Tonight, Battle of the Choirs, Border Security, All Saints, Surf Patrol, Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Home and Away and Gladiators. Australia’s Got Talent may not have the glory figures of Dancing with the Stars but for a vehicle focussing on real people over stars it is booming. Without any serious competition (including Eddie), Better Homes and Gardens is also unstoppable. On Saturday night an old repeat of Dawn French finally won over its old broadcaster, the ABC. And even without its “double-shot” case, Deal or No Deal still spun Wheel of Fortune into a tizzy. The premiere of Battle of the Choirs improved Sunday’s 7:30 figures, but Gladiators was thumped by Domestic Blitz. The finale of Desperate Housewives was also beaten by Sea Patrol. On Wednesdays the bottom falls out of Seven’s schedule after 7:30pm.

60 Minutes was the top show of the week with 1.63m people. It led an excellent Sunday for Nine. Other top performers were CSI, Domestic Blitz, Sea Patrol, David Attenborough: Elephant, Search and Rescue, Getaway and Two and Half Men. A Current Affair seemed to suffer no hangover from Eddie McGuire, with Tracey Grimshaw averaging around 1.1 – 1.2m and a spike with Gordon Ramsay’s appearance. But interest in his shows has levelled to 1m viewers, Nine’s only saving grace on Tuesdays. Nine News continues to be dogged by Wheel of Fortune figures, the network is now trying the celebrity edition. Many view this as a “do or die” stunt. Does “Plan B” include Temptation, Frasier or Antiques Roadshow?

NCIS has been described by TEN as “the gift that keeps on giving” and with 1.57m viewers it’s hard not to see why. Even the repeat (1.3m) was streets ahead of TEN’s next best, a Simpsons repeat (1.13m). The return of Futurama was ok at 1m. Of the Big Brother franchise, Friday Night Live was not far behind the Eviction show (by this theory maybe they should never evict them?). But TEN was beaten by the ABC on three nights this week (Sun, Mon, Wed). It finished the week less than 2% in front –the tightest result so far this year.

Week 25 was the best week for the ABC this year. Wednesday was again a great night with Spicks and Specks (1.32m) and The Gruen Transfer (1.2m). Wild China, Silent Witness, The Einstein Factor, Northanger Abbey, Australian Story, Elders with Andrew Denton, and New Inventors were all strong. ABC News continues to score, beating Nine News on three nights –although it doesn’t compete head to head with Seven. Without Bed of Roses on Saturday, the night was softer for the broadcaster.

SBS’ best night was Monday.

Week 25