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RATINGS WRAP | MELBOURNE CUP, ORIGIN and BACHELORETTE FINALE hit new ratings lows as NINE wins another week.

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State Of Origin and four nights of The Block have propelled Nine to another comfortable victory in Week 45.

It was a week when record low audiences watched two iconic sporting events. An outgoing orange president and a blue cartoon dog delivered success for the ABC. And yes, 10 continues to have problems everywhere they look.

Key Data

  • Nine was the nb1 primary channel with a 21.6% share.
  • Nine was the nb1 network with a 30.6% share.
  • Nine won the key demos in 25-54s and 16-39s.
  • Nine has now won 19 weeks, moving two ahead of Seven in the 2020 ratings survey.
  • 10 finished in fourth place again with a primary channel share of just 11.6%
  • ABC NEWS was the nb1 multichannel.
  • Episode 5 of SAS Australia was the most-watched program on streaming platforms

 (full channel data below)

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Seven

With the AFL now a distant memory, Seven was only capable of providing three nights worth of competitive programming in Week 45. The shortage of first-run content caused the networks weekly primetime share in the key 25-54 age demo to descend to its lowest level in OZTAM history.

Seven kicked off its week with Beat The Chasers, a primetime reboot of the popular afternoon quiz format.

The premiere episode benefited from strong support in regional markets achieving a national audience of 1.046 million (660k metro). Featuring the combined might of four quizmasters and far bigger cash prizes than the regular format, the network would have been hoping for a stronger metro audience.

While Beat The Chasers does contain the occasional enthralling moment, the extended 90-minute runtime means it’s a big commitment for the average easily distracted viewer.

In its third week on-air, SAS Australia is continuing to experience small declines in audience, despite generating plenty of headlines and social media commentary.

  • Monday – 962k national (671k metro)
  • Tuesday – 934k (654k metro)

SAS Australia continues to do well on 7Plus taking the top two spots on BVOD charts by a comfortable margin.

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10

After investing $100 million in cash and contra to secure broadcast rights, The Spring Racing Carnival should be delivering a week of celebration at 10.

The Race averaged 1.862 million nationally (1.410 mil metro). A figure which was a new record low for the event and comes at a time when Melbournians had to watch on TV rather than attend in person.

It’s the second year in a row 10 has experienced a decline in audience for the race. The coverage was down 26% compared with when Seven last broadcast the event in 2018.

The channel 10 executives responsible for the decision to invest in the Spring Carnival have already departed the network, and those that remain must be left wishing they could redirect all that cash at a primetime line-up that desperately needs reinventing.

Junior MasterChef continues to underperform but did manage a minor increase on its previous record low performance.

  • Sunday – 679k (528k metro)
  • Monday – 640k (486k metro)
  • Tuesday – 653k (485k metro)

The weak lead-in continues to hurt Have You Been Paying Attention – 864k nationally (642k metro).

The Bachelorette limped to its finale this week. Wednesday’s episode against the might of State Of Origin, while Thursday night’s final was well beaten by The Block.

Ratings for the finale were down a stunning 42% compared with last year. Most concerning for the youth-focused network is the 50% decline in viewers in the key 16-39 age demo.

  • Wednesday – 606k (470k metro)
  • Thursday – 651k (500k metro)
  • Thurs (Final Decision) – 754k (573k metro)

Episode 9 of The Bachelorette could only manage to finish in seventh place on BVOD platforms with an audience of 95k on 10play.

A rare win for the Wallabies against New Zealand delivered 10 a Saturday night audience of 599k (419k metro)

New multichannel 10 Shake remains stuck in second-last place on a broadcast share of just 0.4%.

Nine

The second big sporting event for the week was Wednesday nights State Of Origin on Nine.

COVID-19 has pushed these three matches to an unusual November timeslot, and judging by the result many viewers were not prepared for the change.

The match secured a national audience of 2.378 million (1.598mil metro) and delivered Nine a healthy 31% viewing share. However, it was a result that was well down on past years.

By comparison, the 2019 national average for Game One was 3.207 million viewers (2.178 mil metro)

The low result follows a 2020 trend of decreased audiences for the NRL in a year when the AFL experienced an increase due to locked down audiences. With only two years left of its broadcast deal, Nine will be asking themselves if the competition is still worth the big dollars they are paying.

The Block continues to be a primetime powerhouse ensuring the programming team have little to worry about.

  • Sunday – 1.376mil national (1.014 mil metro)
  • Monday – 1.119mil (830k metro)
  • Tuesday – 1.115mil (816k)
  • Thursday – 964k (739k)

ABC

It was a week of mixed fortunes at the ABC with its Monday current affairs offering well down on the previous week. Wednesday’s US Election coverage and comedy line-up performed strongly despite the State Of Origin competition.

But the real star of the network isn’t even on the main channel. New episodes of Aussie cartoon classic Bluey, airing in the morning on multichannel ABCKIDS are now regularly appearing in top 20 lists. The Sunday episode achieved a national audience of 514k (424k metro). These numbers quickly multiple when consolidated viewing and iview audiences are included.

The ABC News multichannel also had a strong week thanks to election turmoil in the US. On Wednesday evening the channel recorded a viewership share of 7.8%, a result which put it just narrowly behind 10’s primary channel on 8.6%.

ABC Highlights include:

  • Restoration Australia 826k national (540k metro)
  • Roadkill – 627k (403k metro)
  • Australian Story – 783k (529k)
  • Four Corners – 536k(374k)
  • Outback Ringer – 595k (357k)
  • Brock Over The Top – 576k (369k)
  • USA Votes 7pm Election Special – 924k (641k)
  • Hard Quiz – 845k (596k)
  • Gruen – 825k (601k)

News

7NEWS was the again the top show nationally every night, with Monday-Friday at 6pm averaging 1.474mil (978k metro). 9News won the battle in Sydney and Melbourne. 7News recorded its strongest win yet in Brisbane.

10 News First averaged 483k nationally Monday-Friday (341k metro)

The Project 7pm averaged 650k nationally Monday-Friday (498k metro)

Sunrise recorded another win with Monday-Friday averaging 468k national (274k metro). US Election coverage propelled ABC News Breakfast into second place while Today was forced to settle for third.

Weekly Network and Channel Shares – Week 45

Seven Network – 24.3%

  • Seven – 16.4%
  • 7TWO – 3.2%
  • 7mate – 2.8%
  • 7flix – 1.8%

Nine Network – 30.6%

  • Nine – 21.6%
  • 9Go – 2.4%
  • 9Gem – 3.5%
  • 9Life – 2.1%
  • 9Rush – 1.0%

10 Network – 17.5%

  • 10 – 11.6%
  • 10Bold – 3.2%
  • 10Peach – 2.4%
  • 10Shake – 0.4%

ABC Network – 19.9%

  • ABC – 12.9%
  • Kids/Comedy – 2.6%
  • ABC Me 0.5%
  • ABC News – 3.9%

SBS Network – 7.7%

  • SBS – 4.7%
  • Viceland – 1.3%
  • SBS Food – 0.9%
  • NITV – 0.1%
  • World Movies 0.8%
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Kevin Perry
Kevin Perryhttps://tvblackbox.com.au/author-kevin-perry/
Senior Editor and Co-Owner of the TV Blackbox website, Kevin Perry is an experienced media commentator focused on TV Production, Consumer Tech, SVOD & Sports Broadcasting. Media enquiries please Call or Text 0428-275-111
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