MAFS is the apple of Australians’ eyes

To quote the well-known American philosopher and baseballer Yogi Berra, TV last night was “deja vu all over again”. The great Yogi would have looked at MAFS (1.23 million nationally) and concluded game over — and invoked the mercy rule from baseball which says a game ends when one team is up 10 runs or more after a certain number of innings.

And so it should have been last night. Seven’s SAS Australia (502,000) and Amazing Race (249,000) got lost again after the news led the night with an average of 1.49 million for the 6 to 7pm hour. The ABC ran second to Nine from 9pm with: 7pm News, 983,000; 7.30, 859,000; Australian Story, 694,000; Four Corners, 662,000; Media Watch, 642,000.

But it was Nine’s night by 7.5 points in total people and 9 points in the main channels. Streaming and three- and seven-day viewing will widen the gap and size of the audience for MAFS.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (31.2%)
2. Seven (23.3%)
3. ABC (18.74%)
4. Ten (18.6%)
5. SBS (8.1%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (24.2%)
2. Seven (15.2%)
3. ABC (14.0%)
4. Ten (12.7%)
5. SBS ONE (4.4%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7TWO (3.9%)
2. 10 Bold (2.9%)
3. 7mate (2.7%)
4. ABC News, Gem (2.5%)

Regional top 5: Seven News, 540,000; Seven News 6.30, 522,000; MAFS, 377,000; 7pm ACA, 325,000, Nine News 6.30, 324,000.

Losers: SAS Australia, Amazing Race still missing. Drone search under way.

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.534 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.445 million
3. Married at First Sight (Nine) — 1.230 million
4. Nine News 6.30 — 1.183 million
5. Nine News — 1.138 million
6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.049 million
7. 7pm ABC News — 983,000
8. 7.30 (ABC) — 859,000
9. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven) — 805,000
10. Home and Away (Seven) — 796,000

Metro news and current affair

1. Seven News — 995,000
2. Seven News 6.30 — 923,000
3. Nine News 6.30 — 858,000
4. Nine News — 840,000
5. ACA (Nine) — 720,000
6. 7pm ABC News — 664,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 572,000
8. Australian Story (ABC) — 456,000
9. Four Corners (ABC) — 453,000
10. Media Watch (ABC) — 452,000

Morning (national) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 407,000/243,000
2. Today (Nine) — 297,000/204,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC) — 270,000/179,000
4. ABC morning news — 246,000
5. Mornings (Seven) — 235,000
6. Today Extra (Nine) — 161,000
7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 39,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

1. Cricket: third Test, Pakistan v Australia Day 1 (Fox Cricket) — 94,000
2. Cricket Legends: Shane Warne (Fox Cricket) — 89,000
3. Cricket: third Test, Pakistan v Australia Day 1 (Fox Cricket) — 86,000
4. F1: Bahrain Race (Fox Sports 506) — 75,000
5. Cricket: third Test, Pakistan v Australia Day 1 (Fox Cricket) — 66,000