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Friday cricket helps Seven to a penultimate ratings win

Seven has won the penultimate night of the 2019 ratings period thanks to its cricket broadcast. On the first day of second test between Australia and Pakistan, the third session (which aired from 7:30pm to 10pm in Sydney and Melbourne) attracted 588,000 metro viewers and topped the key advertising demographics of 18-49s and 25-54s. Combined with regional markets, the third session drew 868,000 viewers.

Session one, which started at 2:30pm, drew 313,000 metro viewers, and session two (from 4:50 to 6pm) brought 318,000. With the tea and dinner breaks, and factoring in the regional markets, Seven states day one reached 3.85m viewers nationally.

Seven News, which went to air between sessions two and three of the cricket, drew 667,000 metro viewers, with its 6:30 offering drawing 626,000 viewers.

Seven aired the final edition for Today Tonight in Perth for 111,000 metro viewers on Friday night, after it announced earlier this week that it would be axing the current affairs program.

Seven’s network share for the night was 34.3%, with its primary channel amassing a 24% share.

Nine News was the highest-rated program in total people with 751,000 metro viewers tuning in at 6pm and 692,000 watching the 6:30pm slot. A Current Affair drew 539,000 metro viewers and Hot Seat, 506,000.

Up against the cricket on its primary channel, Nine broadcast the 2017 action film, The Mummy, to 228,000 metro viewers. Nine’s primary channel share was 15.6%, contributing to its 25.7% network share.

At 7:30pm the ABC broadcast a tribute to Clive James, an Australian critic, writer and broadcaster, who passed away earlier this week. The compilation of tributes paid by James’ colleagues and friends delivered 453,000 metro viewers. 431,000 metro viewers tuned in afterwards, as the ABC repeated an interview between James and Kerry O’Brien from 2013.

ABC News attracted 519,00 metro viewers for the evening.

Ten came in behind the ABC in network share, on 14.8% to the public broadcaster’s 17.7%.

Ten’s highest-rated program of the evening was The Living Room on 337,000 metro viewers. The Project at 6:30pm and 7pm drew 174,000 and 282,000 metro viewers respectively. The Graham Norton Show delivered 224,000 metro viewers.

The multichannel with the highest share was 9 Go on a 4.9% share.

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