Nine claims narrowest of victories in 2019 Melbourne News battle

It’s been a fiercely fought battle right to the end, but Nine has once again claimed victory in the 6pm Melbourne news battle.

Once dominated by Nine, Melbourne is now the most competitive news market in the country with Seven regularly defeating it’s rival on individual nights, particularly during the AFL season.

Recent weeks however have seen Nine regain lost ground just enough to claim victory in the official survey. A title Nine Melbourne has held since 2012.

The weekday bulletin hosted by Peter Hitchener finishes the survey period with an average audience of 268,824 across the 40 weeks, narrowly ahead of Seven on 268,248. It’s worth noting these numbers could still adjust slightly once the full 28-day consolidated figures are included.

It’s also worth noting Seven has won 22 weeks, compared with Nine on 19 during the official survey period. The ‘weeks won’ measure has not been officially observed by Seven since 2016, and this year Nine has somewhat conveniently moved to a similar model. It is however still keenly observed internally.

Staff in the Seven bureau had a private celebration to celebrate their ‘weeks won’ milestone last month, but a memo from management has advised employees not to comment publicly. Across the calendar year, Nine has so far won 26 weeks, compared with Seven on 22.

In a memo to staff this morning, Nine’s Melbourne News Director, Hugh Nailon thanked his team for delivering the victory:

“It’s been a challenging year – at the end of the footy season, we were well behind Mon-Friday, but thanks to some hard work, good ideas and a bit of imagination, we’ve been able to turn it around.

Enormous thanks to every single one of you for the part you’ve played in this victory.”