Big weekend in sport, with thuggery rearing its ugly head in NRL

There was an NRL final between Easts and Souths on Nine (757,000 nationally) and Foxtel (325,000) that should have had a PG rating — extreme violence and crudeness, very appealing to dinosaur commentators. If the NRL thinks that level of violence is appealing to the wider fan base, they have another thing coming.

The three other NRL finals were all great, fast, skilful games, one of them decided in a golden point. The two AFL finals were also great advertisements for the code, but not an exhibition of battering rams, swinging arms and other thuggery that we saw on Sunday afternoon. Multiple concussions and several stars ruled out of the match. If anyone had done the same thing outside a football field they would have been on an assault charge.

Elsewhere on TV: more QEII and KCIII stuff. Can we have some changes in “the protocols” for when something like that happens again (as it will sooner than later)? It was comforting to know that the wardrobe departments of the networks and Sky News had enough white shirts and black suits, ties, frocks and dresses for the weekend broadcasts.

The Block — another strong night, 1.391 million nationally. Farmer Wants A Wife on Seven, 869,000.
Looking ahead to tonight: how will Ten’s Have You Been Paying Attention? handle the queen’s demise? How about Mad As Hell on the ABC on Wednesday night, for that matter?

Network channel share:

1. Nine (34.3%)
2. Seven (27.8%)
3. ABC (15.9%)
4. Ten (14.9%)
5. SBS (7.2%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (28.5%)
2. Seven (20.8%)
3. ABC (11.5%)
4. Ten (9.6%)
5. SBS ONE (3.6%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7mate (2.8%) 
2. 7TWO (2.5%)
3. 10 Bold (2.4%) 
4. GO (2.3%)
5. 10 Peach (2.0%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.418 million
2. The Block (Nine) — 1.391 million
3. Nine News — 1.280 million
4. Farmer Wants A Wife (Seven) — 896,000
5. 7pm ABC News — 848,000
6. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 821,000
7. NRL elimination final (Nine)— 757,000
8. 7News: The Queen’s Final Journey Begins — 672,000
9. Spicks and Specks (ABC) — 507,000
10. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 503,000

Top metro programs: none with a million or more viewers.

Regional Top 5: Seven News, 421,000; The Block, 408,000; Nine News, 389,000; 7pm ABC News, 272,000; NRL Elimination Final, 270,000.

Losers: so many candidates…

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 997,000
2. Nine News — 891,000
3. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 591,000
4. 7pm ABC News — 576,000
5. 7News: The Queen’s Final Journey Begins — 438,000
6. The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 280,000
7. Ten News First — 245,000
8. The Sunday Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 230,000
9. SBS World News — 122,000

Morning (national) TV:

1. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 503,000
2. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 333,000
3. Landline (ABC) — 302,000
4. Weekend Today (Nine) — 272,000
5. Offsiders (ABC) — 217,000
6. Sports Sunday (Nine) — 160,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

1. NRL elimination final: Easts v Souths (Fox League) — 325,000
2. NRL: Finals Footy on Fox (Fox League) — 305,000
3. NRL: Finals Footy With Matty Johns (Fox League) — 142,000
4. F1: Italy Race (Fox Sports 506) — 120,000
5. Supercars Podium: Auckland (Fox Sports 506) — 111,000