Sydney viewers challenge Melbourne for soccer capital title

A week after being thrashed by France (who tanked last night) Australia made it into the round of 16 at the World Cup for only the second time.

No data on the size of the audience as the TV ratings for each day finish at 2am, which is when the Denmark game was due to start. But the pre-game lead-up saw 137,000 people watching over the half hour from 1am. Interestingly, for all of Melbourne’s claims to being the soccer capital of the country, just 15,000 were watching SBS’ coverage from 1am to 2am, compared with 43,000 in Sydney.

Seven won’t be happy with the audience for the first day of the Perth test against the Windies — 644,000 watched the final session in prime time and even with the help of an average of 1.1 million people watching the 6pm to 7pm hour of news, Nine still edged out Seven in total people and the main channels.

Seven (16.5%) came close to being overtaken for second in the main channels by the ABC with a 16.1% share. Around 50,000 extra viewers tuned in to The Project last night to farewell Carrie Bickmore after 13 years as a host. The boost was nice but the audience (451,000 nationally) was well down on what it was getting in its heyday (more than 700,000 a night).

Regional top five: Seven News, 446,000; Seven News 6.30, 405,000; 7pm ABC News, 268,000; ACA, 263,000; First Cricket Test, Day 1, 3rd Session, 254,000.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (25.1%) 
2. Seven (24.3%)
3. ABC (21.5%)
4. Ten (18.3%)
5. SBS(10.8%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (17.2%)
2. Seven (16.5%)
3. ABC (16.1%)
4. Ten (11.2%)
5. SBS ONE (6.6%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7TWO (4.1%)
2. Gem, 10 Peach (3.3%)
3. 10 Bold (2.9%)
4. ABC Kids/TV Plus (2.6%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News  — 1.154 million
2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.112 million
3. Nine News — 991,000
4. Nine News 6.30 — 953,000
5. 7pm ABC News — 812,000
6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 800,000
7. Fisk (ABC) — 711,000
8. Hard Quiz repeat (ABC) — 697,000
9. 7.30 (ABC) — 681,000
10. Cricket: First Test, Australia v West Indies (Seven) — 644,000

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

Losers: Seven’s test coverage in prime time — light on and the ABC audiences boosted.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Nine News — 749,000
2. Nine News 6.30  — 723,000
3. Seven News — 709,000
4. Seven News 6.30 — 707,000
5. 7pm ABC News — 544,000
6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 537,000
7. 7.30 (ABC) — 476,000
8. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 347,000
9. 10 News First — 268,000
10. The Project 6.30 (Ten) — 121,000

Morning (national) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 358,000/208,000
2. Today (Nine) — 281,000/183,000
3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 241,000/158,000
4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 222,000
5. ABC Morning News — 193,000
6. Today Extra (Nine) — 133,000
7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 46,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

1. Cricket: First Test, Australia v West Indies Day 1, Post Game (Fox Cricket) — 219,000
2. Cricket: First Test, Australia v West Indies Day 1 (Fox Cricket) — 202,000
3. Cricket: First Test, Australia v West Indies Day 1 (Fox Cricket) — 162,000
4. Cricket: First Test, Australia v West Indies Tea Break (Fox Cricket) — 145,000
5. Cricket: First Test, Australia v West Indies Day 1 (Fox Cricket) — 110,000