The queen’s funeral crowns a big night for Seven

Excuse me while I weep crocodile tears over the coverage of the queen’s funeral on Seven, Nine and the ABC late yesterday afternoon and last night. It was one of the most turgid nights of TV in this country — Sky News was also full of it over on Foxtel. What will the junketeers dispatched to London by forelock- tugging news executives do with their black frocks, suits, ties and a stack of white shirts?

Wasn’t it nice for the UK government, Buck Palace and everyone else to schedule the funeral on Britain’s bank holiday — unlike here where we stop fitfully on Thursday and those tricky Victorians get a Grand Final holiday on Friday which no one whines about any more. So why wasn’t it combined with QE 2’s hol and turned into a long weekend for everyone except a long, long weekend for those AFL-loving Vics?

More than 3.7 million people watched on the ABC, ABC News Seven and Nine, and Sky News on Foxtel where it peaked at 188,000. Seven was the network preferred by free-to-air viewers, followed by Nine and the ABC. But combine the ABC main channel and ABC News and the national broadcaster was second. 

Have You Been Paying Attention? on Ten, 441,000, and a safe haven for those all over-queened.
Seven won the broadcast from the ABC and then Nine close in third. The main channel shares had Seven with 26.5%, Nine with 24.5% and the ABC with 17.5%, but ABC News had a high share of 8.7% because it simulcast the coverage, so the ABC’s funeral coverage share was 26.2%. Understandably six of the top 10 national programs were broadcasts of the funeral from go to whoa.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (30.2%)
2. Nine (27.7%)
3. ABC (27.6%)
4. Ten (8.8%)
5. SBS (5.6%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (26.5%)
2. Nine (24.5%)
3. ABC (17.5%)
4. Ten (5.2%)
5. SBS ONE (3.7%)

Regional top 5: Seven News 6.30, 514,000; Seven News, 487,000; Seven News — The Grateful Goodbye, 413,000; Seven News, The Grateful Goodbye, night, 402,000; ABC, State Funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 314,000.

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. ABC News (8.7%)
2. 10 Bold (2.2%)
3. 7mate (1.9%)
4. 7TWO (1.3%)
5. 10 Peach, ABC Kids/Plus (1.2%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News 6.30 — 1.423 million
2. Seven News, The Grateful Goodbye — 1.388 million
3. Seven News, The Grateful Goodbye, night — 1.376 million
4. Seven News — 1.311 million 
5. Nine News 6.30 — 1.115 million
6. The Funeral of HM The Queen — Arrivals (Nine) — 1.103 million
7. The Funeral of HM The Queen (Nine) — 1.102 million
8. The Funeral of HM The Queen — Procession (Nine) — 1.068 million
9. The State Funeral of HM The Queen (ABC) — 1.022 million
10. Nine News — 1.012 million

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

Losers: grrrrrrrrrr.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News 6.30 — 909,000
2. Nine News 6.30 — 833,000
3. Seven News — 823,000
4. Nine News — 746,000
5. 7pm ABC News — 528,000
6. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 217,000
7. The Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 181,000
8. SBS News — 109,000

Morning (national) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 380,000/225,000
2. Today (Nine) 300,000/2003000
3. ABC News Breakfast — 261,000/170,000
4. ABC News Mornings — 235,000
5. The Morning Show (Seven) —212,000
6. Today Extra (Nine) — n/a
7. Studio 10 (Ten) — 31,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

1. Queen’s Funeral (Sky News) — 188,000
2. Queen’s Funeral (Sky News) — 170,000
3. Queen’s Funeral (Sky News) — 142,000
4. Queen’s Funeral (Sky News) — 131,000
5. Queen’s Funeral (Sky News) — 86,000