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Nine’s COPS thump TEN’s Rush

Two locally produced police dramas going head to head results in a win for Nine at TEN's expense.

Nine’s new drama COPS L.A.C. premiered to 1.16m viewers last night, which while only an OK figure was enough to damage Rush on TEN, which sank to 668,000.

The head to head programming of two locally produced police dramas seems particularly disingenuous on Nine’s part, but commercial television has never been about doing anybody any favours. So far the show has received mixed reviews, but a win is a win.

Seven’s X Factor, which ran in different times in different cities due to AFL scheduling, won the night with 1.36m viewers. Despite its tepid debut on Monday, the show has travelled well throughout the rest of the week.

Best for TEN was Bondi Vet on 1.04m and Recruits on 878,000.

Sunrise is on a roll right now with 408,000 over Today‘s 324,000. On Wednesday it was up to 424,000.

Nine won its second night of the week.

Week 36

64 Responses

  1. Cops LAC was terrible. I thought i would watch and see what it was about and i should have just left it alone. As for Rush its disappointing but then again i’m not surprised.

  2. Yes well maybe you are unaware that people take your comments literally… So if you expect X-factor to rate better due to it’s cost then that should be qualified, don’t you think.?

    Also I am not comparing shows in different timeslots, I am comparing viewer numbers as does your article.

    If MASH rated 1.186 million would that be “tepid”..??

    1. If MASH rated 1.18m at 5pm it would be an excellent result. But at 7:30 for a hyped up X Factor premiere it’s not. You can see by the following nights where it got over 1.3m that the premiere underperformed, and that is what I reflected in my report. I also wrote that the show has done well through the rest of the week. COPS LAC aired at 8:30 which broadly speaking attracts a lower audience.

  3. I have been sort of blah towards rush, on the verge of giving it up, this season I didn’t watch the episodes until the first 5 were stored on my pvr, but when I got around to watching them they were quite good, lots of action and adrenaline, I think this is the best season so far.

  4. So the X-factor had an audience on Monday of 1.186 million, yet you describe that as “tepid”.. Cops comes in at 1.16 million, yet that is ok.?

    Maybe let the figures do the talking and not your opinion.

    1. Did we leave our manners out today? Maybe you have forgotten you are visiting my blog, which is news and opinion (and a fair deal of industry respect). As to your point…. I don’t go comparing shows in different timeslots as you are keen to do, let alone those that have $22m and mega-promotion.

  5. COPS L.A.C must have the same producers from “Sea Patrol” because it was crap like sea patrol.
    Rush is a better show they need to improve the story lines abit more. I’m tipping Rush will get better ratings next week (9th September)

  6. OK as a massive Rush fan i could not be deterred from that but did flick over in the ads and wasnt overly enthralled by cops LAC…however will not judge too much based on that. I am just sad about Rush’s ratings so far this season when its such a brilliant show and sooooo cleverly written…Please please if you havent yet given it a chance, do so because ur missing out big time!! 😀

  7. I watched Rush live and taped LAC. I didn’t get through 15 minutes of LAC before turning it off. The probie officer and Nathan were mildly interesting but then Kate Ritchie and her partner turned up and I couldn’t have cared less for them both.

    Rush isn’t as good as it used to be. The characters are great, but the writing is sub-par.

  8. So going by the responses here and to the poll on the first page Cops doesn’t have too many fans, but will that be reflected in coming weeks in the ratings? or will it be another 2.5 Men, rates well regardless of the reviews on sites like this, once again only time will tell.

  9. Ironic that my favourite Rush episode of all time is also the lowest rating one of all time.
    I still don’t understand why Nine programmed these shows head to head. The likely senario is that both will settle at 800K, which is not good news for anyone concerned. Or if, for some crazy reason, LAC continues to dominate, Ten will simply move Rush and replace it with Glee, and then it’s game over LAC anyway.

  10. @ Harry. i loved last night’s show too! Nice to see Michael get some respect form colleagues in the last five minutes!!

    I am sorry to see Rush affected. I love this show, and look forward to it every week. I am hoping fans will be back after seeing the hype on CH9.

    I hope Rush won’t demise after this season, it’s nice to see something decent to watch as PTTR and CH don’t interest me.

  11. Very disappointing figures for Rush. I do hope this is a one off because last nights episode was actually my favourite episode of Rush Ive ever seen in all its seasons.

    Agreed the promos need to be more interesting, and also not mislead the viewer at the same time.

  12. I don’t have that much of a problem with the Rush promos, but I agree there has been some a few weeks back that weren’t very appealing and doesn’t show how great the show actually. I really like Rush’s style and directing. The acting and the intensity makes the show what it is. It’s the only cop show that I’ve kept watching over the years. I personally prefer it over any Aussie drama from Nine, which is always very didactic and self-absorbed in the way it’s set out. The Rescue Special Ops promos are terrible: “can our heroes make it out alive this time?” … “one your favourites will be in danger!”

  13. This is another godawful show from 9… Cheesier than Sea Patrol and RSO put together. The ratings won’t last, it simply has shiny new-car-smell right now.

    As for those rubbishing Rush, one has to wonder if they’ve bothered to watch it. It’s one of the best Oz made dramas around and is improving with every season.

  14. @ IHateCopShows – Rush is well produced and doesn’t cater for the lowest common denominator whereas CH and Police Cops (LAC) look like grade school productions, really bad scripts and do cater for lowest common denominator.

    Why oh why is it Cops LAC? Why not just Local Area Command?

    Having said all of that though I did find myself fidgeting with my phone all the way through Rush last night.

  15. The only good part was seeing Kate Ritchie in that skirt, but even that was lame.

    And I’m not down on Police Dramas, Rush is a great local production and from the US I love Psych and the new show Rizzoli & Isles, not to forget Castle.

    I know the locals don’t have as much money but that shouldn’t lead to bad products, I think they just try and over do it with too much star power sucking money away from other areas of the show. Cops LAC just looked amateurish when compare to the great US and UK cop shows.

  16. Watched the first 20 mins and it nearly sent me to sleep, total yawn fest. Can’t comment on Rush as i’ve never watched it, i might have been tempted if Ten didn’t scream down the tv with the volume approx 30 higher than regular programs on all their promos. It makes me reach for the mute button every time, in fact at times it puts me off watching the station altogether.

  17. Forgot, the whole 303 rifle story seemed a bit lame.
    Where did she get the bullet from?
    How good a shot was she hitting the woman in a moving car like that?

    Hope it improves.

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