A massive week of big COVID headlines has seen Melbourne viewers switching on in huge numbers to their nightly news services.
Ratings rivals 7News Melbourne and 9News Melbourne both recorded their highest viewership numbers for the year so far as the city was plunged back into lockdown.
While Nine has mostly dominated news ratings in the Melbourne market for the past ten years, a resurgence by Seven over the past few months has turned the city into the most competitive ratings market in the country.
This week has seen Nine win the first half-hour (6pm-6:30pm Monday to Friday) by the narrowest of margins 9News 340k vs 7News 338k
However, the second half of Seven’s bulletin has been experiencing a ratings surge in recent months boosted by comprehensive AFL and weather coverage. The bulletin was a strong winner again this week averaging 7News 337k vs 9News 317k. (6:30pm-7pm Monday to Friday)
The strong result in the second half was enough to deliver Seven an overall victory with the Peter Mitchell presented Seven bulletin averaging 338k vs 9News 329k (6pm-7pm Monday to Friday)
(Note: The 6pm-7pm average is not considered an official metric by either network)