Ian Thorpe Interview pulls 982,000 for Ten as X Factor dips on return
Ten’s 90 minute interview with former Olympic swimming hero Ian Thorpe pulled in 982,000 metro viewers last night.
It aired at 6pm against Nine and Seven’s news bulletins then the return of ratings juggernaut The X Factor on Seven and the blind auditions for The Voice Kids on Nine which got 1.226m and 1.150m respectively. The X Factor was the second most watched show across all the demographics.
Last weeks episode of The Voice Kids saw 1.255m metro viewers tune in while the launch episode of The X Factor in 2013 had a metro audience of 1.633m according to OzTam overnight ratings.
The Thorpe interview with veteran British broadcaster Michael Parkinson where the swimmer came out as gay is understood to have cost Ten in the region of $500,000, with the swimmer also part of its commentary team for the upcoming Commonwealth Games.
Seven News was the clear winner for Sunday night, attracting a metro audience of 1.364m while Nine News at 6pm had an audience of 1.195m.
Sunday Night, airing after The X Factor, grabbed 1.167m metro viewers. It beat 60 Minutes on Nine which had a metro audience of 1.131m.
Seven’s rating success continued with A Place to Call Home, airing from 9.15pm to 10.15pm, which saw 1.131m metro viewers tune in. Last week’s episode of A Place to Call Home was watched by an extra 291,000 on catch up services, taking its total audience to 1.210m. It beat House Husbands, which aired on Nine from 9pm, and had an audience of 787,000.
The combination of Seven News, Sunday Night The X Factor and A Place to Call Home helped Seven to a share of 22.9 per cent, while Nine managed a share of 20.1 per cent.
Ian Thorpe’s interview gave Ten a share of 15.9 per cent, up from 13.1 per cent , above ABC1’s share of 11.6 per cent. SBS One had a share of 5 per cent.
Masterchef, airing at 7.30pm following the Ian Thorpe interview, had a metro audience of 965,000, after getting 909,000 for the same slot last week. It was top amongst all demographics with the exception of people aged 25 to 54 which saw 60 Minutes reign supreme.
Audiences dropped away at 9pm for the premiere episode of Ten’s new drama Extant, which stars Halle Berry as an astronaut who returns from a 13-month solo mission in outer space to find she is pregnant. It managed to attract 614,000 metro viewers, up from Sherlock Holmes drama Elementary’s 580,000 at the same time a week ago.
Grand Designs, airing at 7.40pm, was the most popular show on ABC1 with a metro audience of 920,000, whilst SBS One pulled in 289,000 for the Brazil v Netherlands play-off game at the World Cup, with 297,000 tuning in for the post-match analysis at 8am on Sunday morning.
Sunday’s top 15:
- Seven News Seven 1.364m
- The X Factor Seven 1.226m
- Nine News Nine 1.195m
- Sunday Night Seven 1.167m
- The Voice Kids Nine 1.150m
- 60 Minutes Nine 1.131m
- A Place to Call Home 1.050m
- Ian Thorpe: The Parkinson Interview Ten 982,000
- Masterchef Ten 956,000
- Grand Designs ABC1 920,000
- ABC News ABC1 819,000
- The Checkout: Snack Size ABC1 808,000
- House Husbands Nine 787,000
- ABC News ABC1 692,000
- Silent Witness ABC1 672,000
Sunday’s share:
- Seven 22.9%
- Nine 20.1%
- TEN 15.9%
- ABC1 11.6%
- SBS ONE 5.0%
- 7mate 4.3%
- GO! 4.3%
- 7TWO 4.0%
- ELEVEN 3.1%
- Gem 2.4%
- ONE 2.3%
- ABC2 2.0%
- ABC3 0.5%
- ABC News 24 0.8%
- SBS 2 0.6%
- NITV 0.2%
Data © OzTAM Pty Limited 2013. The Data may not be reproduced, published or communicated (electronically or in hard copy) in whole or in part, without the prior written consent of OzTAM.
Why is this even a story?
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If you don’t understand that, I suggest you stay a viewer, and not an exec.
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