Nine speeds to the lead with Top Gear, Today show and Hot Seat
Nine had a resounding ratings win on Tuesday, led by the debut of Top Gear on the network and time slot wins by breakfast program Today and afternoon quiz show Hot Seat.
The two-hour launch of Top Gear – snatched from SBS last year – saw the first hour of the show bag almost 1.7 million viewers and was the most watched program for the night, according to preliminary overnight OzTam data in the five metropolitan markets. It had a peak audience of 1.9m.
The second hour attracted an average of over 1.2 million, even though the separate episode had already previously aired on SBS.
The new episode of the BBC-produced Top Gear beat Ten’s popular crime show NCIS into the top spot, with the latter coming in second with almost 1.4 million viewers. Seven’s big hope My Kitchen Rules was seventh for the night.
Among the breakfast shows, Nine’s Today beat out Sunrise for the second day in a row, coming neck-and-neck with 38,000 respectively in Perth – traditionally a Seven stronghold. Today also continued its lead in Sydney and Melbourne. Overall, Today won the morning with 370,000, compared to Seven’s Sunrise with 344,000.
However a clear picture of how close Sunrise and Today are running in a normal ratings week will only come when the Nine’s Winter Olympics coverage ends.
In the evening news wars, Seven News remained narrowly ahead of Nine, ranking third and fourth respectively. Despite the fact that Nine won in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, it could not dent Seven’s lead in Perth.
In the 5:30pm time slot, Nine’s Hot Seat beat out Seven game show rival Deal or No Deal, with 620,000 and 532,000 respectively.
Nine’s coverage of the Vancouver Winter Games saw its 9:30pm broadcast attract an average audience of 905,000 and was the thirteenth most watched show for the day.
Overall free-to-air TV viewing saw Nine win the day with a 30.8 per cent share, followed by Seven with 26 per cent and Ten with over 20 per cent.
Meanwhile, Seven has also confirmed the signing of former Westlife signer Brian McFadden on the judging panel of Australia’s Got Talent. He will join fellow judges Dannii Minogue and Kyle Sandilands, with Grant Denyer returning as the host of the fourth series.
Tuesday’s channel share:
- Nine: 30.8%
- Seven: 25.5%
- Ten: 20.7%
- ABC1: 12.9%
- SBS1: 3.7%
- 7TWO 2.1%
- GO!: 2.0%
- ABC2: 1.0%
- ABC3: 0.5%
- One: 0.5%
- SBS2: 0.3%
Tuesday’s top rating shows:
- Top Gear – 7:30pm Nine 1.7m
- NCIS Ten 1.4m
- Seven News Seven 1.3m
- Nine News Nine 1.3m
- Today Tonight Seven 1.3m
- Top Gear – 8:30pm Nine 1.2m
- My Kitchen Rules Seven 1.2m
- A Current Affair Nine 1.15m
- Two and a Half Men Nine 1.1m
- Home and Away Seven 1.1m
- Bondi Rescue Nine 966,000
- ABC News ABC 931,000
- Olympic Winter Games: Vancouver Gold Nine 905,000
- Grey’s Anatomy – Double Episode Seven 888,000
- Ten News Ten 862,000
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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I am in media and understand you need to make money but it is ridiculous when the ratio of ads to viewing time hits 3:2. Channel 9 you ruined Top Gear. Please put it back on SBS.
While I am ranting… the Olympics is not the Eddie McGuire show either. It is not all about you Eddie, it is about the Olympics. SHOW US THE SPORT, dont give us 30 min summaries with only your face for viewing entertainment. I would rather stare at a beige wall.
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I hope the advertisers are looking hard at Channel 9’s abysmal Olympic coverage. The TV makers expect to sell TVs off the back of this – who would buy a TV for what is essentially a chat show? Like the commonwealth Games before it they’ve made it near unwatchable.
As for Top Gear – it’s a 60minute programme. If Channel 9 aren’t going to show that properly either, they can Fuck Off and we’ll get it elsewhere.
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Simon Francis put out his ratings report today claiming Sunrise won. Desperate times call for desperate measures hey Simon?
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As TV stations continue to abuse and exploit their viewers (see ad breaks during top gear) they will soon discover that bit torrent is now a competitor.
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I agree that I have been trying to watch the winter Olympics but every time I flick to 9 I see Eddie M talking absolute rubbish. I just don’t understand how they can get it so wrong. I honestly haven’;t seen one sport yet and I have been trying!
I am thinking of paying for the Foxtel coverage – surely it has to be better.
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Aunty (BBC) if you are reading this, please, for your next series either go back to sbs or better still – pop it on ABC. 9 have ruined Top Gear and as for the Winter Olympics: Eddie it is not Millionaire, so shut up and let the sport flow. (Nearly as irritating as Stuart McGill on the cricket panel on SBS…)
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T.G Started five minutes late in WA and then all those commercials! then they have the hide to put on a repeat for the second hour, Channel Nine you treat your veiwers very shabbily! Please give it back to SBS or better still the ABC where it belongs or I’m off to find it on the net
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It’s not rocket science – Top Gear is, or was, a top show. Now that it’s been sold to a cheap local station in Australia, the intelligence, independence and anarchy that made the show what it was has been ruined. We don’t want to see Jeremy Clarkson et al spruiking a bloody commercial TV channel or sponsor when he’s happily independently challenged hundreds of car manufacturers for years – SBS and Top Gear producers, what were you thinking? Jeremy, James, Richard, what’s wrong with you.. aren’t you rich enough yet?
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Thing is, SBS’ coverage of Top Gear was hardly good anyway. While I’m sure 9 has made additional cuts for the sake of advertisers, SBS admitted they were given an ‘international version’ from the BBC which had at least 10-15mins cut out of it. It was also, regularly, 3 series old!
The only place you can get full Top Gear in Australia is the internet. And I suppose we’re all criminals for wanting that.
I’d kill for BBC iPlayer availability here. I’m sure the BBC would make more money via an international license fee than selling it’s shows to foreign stations.
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Hardly surprising the olympics aren’t rating well. Our household LOVE the olympics but when we saw the egotistical, smarmy, smug, juvenille, over rated buffoon dimwitted Eddie in our lounge – just wanted to throw a brick at the TV – as it was a new one, thought better of it and turned it off! What happened to proffessionalism? His comments are childish and churlish – shows the mental age of a 6 year old – apologies to the 6 year olds that may be offended.
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