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Fast-tracking fails to lift TEN’s Super-Sunday

Update: TEN adds a replay of Homeland after Season Two debut under-performs.

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It was always going to be a tough battle, especially for the coveted 8:30pm timeslot, but TEN’s new-look Super Sunday didn’t fire last night.

Once again it has fallen behind the ABC despite new episodes of Merlin, Modern Family, The New Normal, Homeland and Vegas.

Modern Family proved to be its best performer at 850,000. Emmys-darling Homeland was fourth in its slot on 633,000 viewers. Such is the ferocity of the current TV landscape that new titles The New Normal and Vegas will now have their work cut out to resonate as long-term brands. TEN had a better outing  a week ago with local content, led by Underground: The Julian Assange Story.

There will be debate about whether TEN’s fast-tracking is fast enough for die-hard fans, with Homeland having its third episode airing in the US today, and The New Normal already 6 episodes long. Nevertheless, TEN is fast-tracking far more content than Seven and Nine in an aggressive bid to win back viewers.

Nine’s House Husbands proved resilient and won a tough 8:30 battle with 1.04m viewers. ABC’s anticipated Jack Irish was also strong on 950,000.

But it was Seven that won the night in Total People, including another solid outing by Anh Does Vietnam.

Seven Network was 30.3 then Nine 28.4%, ABC 18.4%, TEN 18.1% and SBS 4.7%.

Sunday Night topped the night with 1.35m viewers for Seven. Seven’s other shows were Anh Does Vietnam (1.31m), Seven News (1.2m), Bones (853,000), Killing Time (434,000) and Strike Back (210,000).

60 Minutes was best for Nine with 1.34m viewers followed by House Husbands (1.04m), Nine News (942,000), Big Brother (863,000), The Mentalist (659,000) and Person of Interest (337,000).

Jack Irish (950,000) topped ABC1 then ABC News (811,000), Great Southern Land (784,000), Compass (300,000) and The Slap (215,000).

A new Modern Family episode was best for TEN with 850,000 followed by Homeland (633,000), Merlin (558,000), The New Normal (488,000), TEN News (430,000), The Project (322,000) and Vegas (286,000).

Battle Castle topped SBS ONE with 297,000. Immortal and World News Australia pulled 195,000 each.

FIA Formula One World Championship did well for ONE with the Pre-Race pulling a big 377,000.

UPDATED: TEN adds a replay of Homeland to 9:30pm Wednesday and moves Class of final to 10:45pm Friday.

Sunday October 14 2012

81 Responses

  1. Oztam +7 figures include repeats and DVR viewings within seven days. Oztam’s new system with expanded sample will also count online views.

    The Networks are highly sensitive about the numbers though some figures have been released from the first half of this year. Low rating shows usually had a +7 of around 100k. Your average episode of Bones or The Mentalist around 160k. And when you get two or more big shows going head to head on a Sunday or Monday night you get +7s of 300k.

    +7s make up between 15-25% of viewers for top dramas. Private Practice, which was moved to late at night, had 281k overnights and 150k +7s, which means 35% of viewers recorded it!

    Oztam released a report which said 44% of households had a timeshifting device that could skip or FF through ads. In 2011 TV viewing increased 6% to 113.6 hrs/month. Timeshifting increased 60% but it was from 7.5 to 12 hrs/month meaning 90% of TV was still watched live.

    With cheap DVRs that can playback while recording 2 or more shows I expect that timeshifting has skyrocketed this year.

  2. Good Ten is replaying “Homeland”, it always amazes me that FTA dont replay everything that has a high profile, when one considers how many times an episode is run per week on cable. There should be more of it on FTA, of course, they need to promote the other timeslot otherwise no one will know its there.

  3. Like @pegasus I prefer not to watch live tv and DVR multiple channels. The number of ads, and having to chase starting / finishing times around is ridiculous, more of an issue to me than waiting a few weeks for a show.

    Perhaps Homeland would have been better on a week night with less to compete against? I was recording 3 channels and watching 1 live on Sunday night.

  4. @Les Solomon – Homeland ran for nearly 75 mins (with ads) on Sunday. Didn’t record it so don’t have the exact time but I didn’t notice any obvious cuts.

    Channel Ten’s catchup site has 53 minutes of program which is 2 minutes less than the US version but that might be how it was supplied to Ten.

  5. @SP

    Glee was rating more like 400k during S3. The audience lost interest in the show and Ten tried moving it to Friday nights, where there was less competition, and the ratings plummeted. They moved it to Thursday’s and they went up by 150k but still wasn’t doing well.

  6. If they can just leave the shows in the same timeslot for longer than a week, they might have a chance to gather an audience.
    The instant success or death attitude by stations is self defeating.

  8. I think too much is being read into this. It has nothing to do with Ten being a damaged brand, with it not being fast-tracked enough. The programmers picked the wrong day and time for it to do any better.

  9. Do those figures include the DVR/PVR recordings? I don’t watch tv live anymore, I record them and watch them in my own time. I thought Homeland was a big hit for 10? We are not that far behind are we?

  10. We watched Ten from 7.30pm, recorded Merlin, Bones, Killing Time and Jack Irish, and will catch the encore of House Husbands next Sunday afternoon.

    I’m not bothered about fast tracking. I prefer to watch shows as they are aired on FTA. I don’t have the time or the GBs to go sourcing them from “other means”. I use the catch up sites (FixPlay, Plus7, Ten and iView) if I miss something due to programming clashes or recording stuff ups. I have occasionally watched streamed shows from other sites but those are usually ones that are not hosted on the catch up sites, and they have screened here on FTA.

    And yes I am on the “older” demographic (early 50s) 😀

  11. I think that people overrate the fast tracking. Are there really 100s of thousands of people out there who scour the US TV sites, demanding that we get a live stream of USA TV or it’s ruined? I doubt it. Some yes, but claiming that Homeland got 600,000 instead of a mill because their fast tracking is 2 wks slow seems pretty far fetched. I’d love to see some research on how many people don’t watch because it didn’t air fast enough for their liking.

  12. David, are we seeing anywhere near the increase in numbers as in the US? The +3 and +7day numbers are staggering, especially for drama and comedy.

    hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/revolution-modern-family-big-bang-premiere-weeks-ratings-378990

  13. Someone was just telling me this evening that there were too many shows on Sunday night to watch and/or record. And that Monday night has nothing on. Maybe spread the shows out? More people using DVRs? Or catch-up services online?

  14. Ten has had ads for new episodes of Glee on constant repeat all day. They’re pushing it hard. Late last season wasn’t it averaging around 650000? The sad thing is, by Ten’s standards right now, anything over 600000 is a success. And to think that there was a time when Glee was getting over 1 and a half million, as were other shows on Ten. My, how they have fallen. There’s no way Ten can even dream of getting those numbers again right now. They have to fix this mess. I’m not sure how they will, but they have to find a way.

  15. Many reasons for this but it is sort of like forest for the trees stuff.Under performing network screens the first episode of the second series of the worlds most critically acclaimed drama in the same timeslot that the average Joe Australian has got himself hooked on Nines husband thing.ABC screens the new Guy Pierce show and Seven has its Bones opener after the Anh show that would have given it a good lead in and because of “Start shows when we feel like it” mentality those who hadnt already watched it on line put it into the to hard basket because they had already missed the first 20 minutes.
    Please Ten fast track means a day or two, those who were hooked on Homeland probably could not wait particularly after it winning all the Emmys around the same time as it started back in the States.
    Tonight(Monday) would have been the go,silly programming.

  16. From reading all this, perhaps fast tracking is a bigger issue than I give it credit

    . !! I watched “Homeland” on video replay and was amazed at the number of commercials, I have only ever watched it on DVD before, they just dont play well into a series as complex as this and if I had been watching it live, the commercials would have made me turn off. Also I think I am correct in saying they are editing the episodes to fit the hour with all those commercials, ON DVD each episode runs betwen 48 and 52 minutes., I am sure Ten are editing it to fit the hour., Why cant they just programme it as 75 mins??? Could help?

  17. I cant see airing a replay of Homeland will help next Sunday’s numbers for episode much. Homeland is not the sort of show that can attract a casual viewer as it is quite complex. Homeland was my pick for the show to be number 1 ratings wise by the end of the week. I thought that would have been a forgone conclusion!!!!.

  18. Hey David

    I know you are against “illegal” downloading comments and the like but when the Daily Telegraph puts stories up like this then i dont really see the point.

    dailytelegraph.com.au/technology/how-to-watch-1000-seasons-of-us-tv-free/story-fn5h1vlf-1226084045938

    1. I do hope you’re not suggesting I adopt Rupert’s editorial policies!

      I would prefer to work with networks to bring readers interviews, exclusives, set visits, programming answers, etc rather than the site being seen as supporting piracy. I have no problem with discussing Downloading as an industry issue, it is a legitimate threat to business models. Or with comments about viewing “by other means” (ie. DVD or on overseas visits). But I don’t make the law, which currently has piracy as illegal not “illegal.”

  19. I’ll admit I watched the ABC with Great Southern Land and Jack Irish. I wanted to watch the end of Star Trek but the TV I was using couldn’t pick up any of the Ten Digital Channels last night. Analogue worked but it doesn’t help if you want to watch a digital channel only. I had enough time to check and all other digital channels were working including Channel 31. After Person of Interest I tried to see if any of the channels worked before Chuck started: no go or really 1,10 or 11 nor even 12.

  20. Hopefully Ten will now leave the F1 alone next year!! Its ratings are back now its on One….. Although i know its outside primetime.

    How did the replay rate at 10:40pm?

  21. Disappointing to see Ten not rating well. Homeland is a brilliant show and people are missing out on quality tv if they arent watching.

    Unfortunately Ten has lost it’s fan base. I use to basically only watch Ten from 8:30pm of a night because I was a loyal Late News fan. Ever since they cancelled the old version of Late news I havent bothered with Ten.

  22. Loved the season opener of Homeland, but Ten are minimizing their audience big time. Homeland was promised to be fast tracked, and we are getting the second series delayed by 2 weeks in Australia! It won six Emmys Ten!

    Vegas isn’t doing well. Give it another week and if audience numbers fall, they could put it on Eleven, and put Homeland in a double episode until it catches up to the US. Then I don’t know what they are going to do from 9:30-10:30pm, a movie perhaps?

  23. Loved the season opener of Homeland, but Ten are minimizing their audience big time. Homeland was promised to be fast tracked, and we are getting the second series delayed by 2 weeks in Australia!

    Vegas isn’t doing well. Give it another week and if audience numbers fall, they could put it on Eleven, and put Homeland in a double episode until it catches up to the US. Then I don’t know what they are going to do from 9:30-10:30pm, a movie perhaps?

  24. Hey D@GP, you sound like me. I did 7 shows last night, not inc the F1 & MotoGP from the arvo.

    Tonite gets intersting….I’ve got 11 to do with 4 PVR’s
    But only 4 for Tues nite and 5 for Thursday.

    “If it doesn’t rain it pours”

    How come they don’t pick me to have a Ratings Box?

  25. Well i think Ten did alright compared to the past few months of sundays bar last weeks.
    Homeland i think belongs during the week, Sundays is family night and its not a family show, it would go well after new ncis and more new ncis l.a to 8.30 wed and goodwife to 9.30 wed.

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