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Sport dominates weekend TV as 1.3m viewers watch final session of test match

Sport dominated the weekend’s TV viewing with the final session of the fourth test match between Australia and India the most watched program pulling in more than 1.3m viewers on Saturday evening.

The match saw 946,000 tune in for the second innings after 783,000 had watched the beginning of the game. On Friday, the final session of the test pulled 1m viewers as 701,000 watched session two and 540,000 had tuned in for the first session.

Friday also saw the kick off to the Asian Cup with 235,000 metro viewers watching the game between Australia and Kuwait live on Fox Spots. On the ABC, 437,000 tuned in for the highlights which were delayed as part of an agreement with Fox.

However, the ABC came under fire for broadcasting the results on ABC News before the match had been broadcast on the channel.


On Saturday 60,000 watched the live game between Uzebekistan and North Korea on Fox Spots while 46,000 watched the live game between South Korea and Oman.

In the absence of test cricket on Sunday evening, Seven’s Better Homes and Gardens – Dr Harry’s Craziest House Calls, was the most watched non-news show of the evening, pulling in 755,000 metro viewers for Seven.

It was not enough for Seven to win the night with its audience share of 17.8 per cent beaten by Nine’s share of 18.1 per cent.

Nine’s most watched non-news show for the evening was a repeat of RBT at 7pm which was watched by 729,000 but was out-rated by Seven’s Better Homes and Gardens.

Both shows were outrated by ABC News, on at 7pm, which was watched by 834,000, while session one of Ten’s Big Bash cricket match between the Brisbane Heat and the Sydney Sixers was fourth in the timeslot with a metro audience of 592,000. Session two of the match did see an increase in audience numbers up to 679,000 as the Sixers cruised home.

The daytime match which saw the Hobart Hurricanes take on Perth Scorchers saw 487,000 metro viewers tune in for session two after 258,000 watched the first innings.

The Big Bash helped Ten secure an audience share of 12.3 per cent, behind the ABC’s share of 14.4 per cent.

In the Asian Cup, 75,000 metro viewers watched the live game between Iran and Bahrain on Fox Sports while the game between the UAE and Qatar grabbed a metro audience of 60,000.

In the 8pm timeslot Nine’s 60 Minutes grabbed a metro audience of 695,000, beating Seven’s Border Patrol which was watched by 639,000.

At 8.30pm Border Security: International lured a metro audience of 601,000 on Seven but was out-rated by the ABC’s Sherlock which had an audience of 693,000.

Seven’s 9pm movie Slumdog Millionaire was watched by 404,000, out-rating Nine’s 9pm movie The Next Three Days which had an audience of 398,000.

The Brisbane International night matches, airing on 7TWO from 8pm, drew a crowd of 472,000, helping the secondary channel secure an audience share of 8.2 per cent. 7Two’s performance helped the Seven Network edge out Nine in terms of overall audience share, with Seven’s total share sitting at 28.3 per cent ahead of Nine’s total share of 25.8 per cent.

Similarly for Ten, the performance of One, which grabbed an audience share of 6.1 per cent after 295,000 watched the 8.30pm movie Promethus, helped Ten secure an overall audience share of 21.9 per cent ahead of the ABC’s total share of19.2 per cent.

In news, Nine won the night with a metro audience of 1.023 while Seven News settled for a metro audience of 965,000. Nine News was the most watched show across all the demographics.

Top 15 Shows:
1 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Network 9 1,023,000
2 SEVEN NEWS – SUN Network 7 965,000
3 ABC NEWS SUNDAY-EV Network ABC 834,000
4 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS – DR HARRY’S CRAZIEST HOUSE CALLS Network 7 755,000
5 RBT -RPT Network 9 729,000
6 60 MINUTES -SUMMER Network 9 695,000
7 SHERLOCK-EV Network ABC 693,000
8 ANTIQUES ROADSHOW-EV Network ABC 670,000
9 ABC NEWS UPDATE-EV Network ABC 657,000
10 BORDER PATROL Network 7 639,000
11 CRICKET: T20 BIG BASH LEAGUE GAME 24 – SESSION 2 Network TEN 609,000
12 BORDER SECURITY: INTERNATIONAL Network 7 601,000
13 TEN EYEWITNESS NEWS SUN Network TEN 598,000
14 CRICKET: T20 BIG BASH LEAGUE GAME 23 – POST-GAME DAY Network TEN 557,000
15 CRICKET: T20 BIG BASH LEAGUE GAME 24 – SESSION 1 Network TEN 553,000

Audience Share:

Network 9 18.1%
Network 7 17.8%
Network ABC 14.4%
Network TEN 12.3% 1
Network 7TWO 8.2%
Network ONE 6.1%
Network GO! 4.2%
Network ELEVEN 3.5%
Network SBS ONE 3.5%
Network Gem 3.4%
Network ABC2 2.7%
Network 7mate 2.3%
Network ABC News 24 1.2%
Network SBS 2 1.1%
Network ABC3 0.8%
Network NITV 0.2%

Total Audience Share:

Network 7 TTL 28.3%
Network 9 TTL 25.8%
Network TEN TTL 21.9%
Network ABC TTL 19.2%
Network SBS TTL 4.9% 5.8%

Ratings data is copyright OzTAM and may not be reproduced, published or communicated without the prior written consent of OzTAM.

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