Underbelly wins for Nine as TV ratings week becomes a three-way race

Tim Burrowes

March 31, 2009 12:12

Underbelly helped Nine to an easy ratings win last night, although Ten had another solid showing in what is becoming more of a three-horse race for the TV week than usual.

Underbelly’s audience was just over 2.1m, according to the preliminary TV ratings from OzTam. But Ten will have been pleased with the performance of the Melbourne International Comedy Festival Gala, which drew an average audience of 1.1m despite being opposite Underbelly.

It means that with two nights of the ratings week gone, Seven finds itself in the unusual position of being in third place, and without Packed To The Rafters to turn to this evening for a guaranteed 2m+ audience.

Meanwhile, the ABC seems to be making Monday night its regular slot for convicted criminals to attempt to win the public’s sympathy. Last week saw perjuring judge Marcus Einfeld on Four Corners. Last night it was the turn of brawling swimmer Nick D’Arcy on Australian Story. But it wasn’t a ratings draw, failing to make the top 15 shows.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.