• Seven’s win: Comm Games tears and triumph and the Closing Ceremony
• 11 days of competition bookended by organisers’ major fail at Closing Ceremony
• My Kitchen Rules fires up again with biggest audience this season
• The Voice 2018 launches with 1.02m as reality rumble continues
Week 15 wrap-up: Seven gets Gold, Silver & Bronze
It was never going to be any other way of course with wall-to-wall Commonwealth Games coverage all day and nearly all night every day of the week.
And for good measure Seven found time to negotiate what seems to be a very good deal to screen cricket for the next six years.
Nine and TEN hung on as best they could during the week as most viewers were drawn to the screens of Seven. With Seven on a primary share of 30.9% for week 15, Nine did 15.8% to TEN’s 10.1%.
Seven’s combined channel share was 42.2%, the largest enjoyed by anyone this year. By using that metric, Seven has won six of the seven survey weeks this year. In year-to-date share, Seven sits at a 33.9% total people with Nine on 28.0% and Ten on 15.3%.
Week 16 TV: Sunday
Seven
The final events of the Commonwealth Games filled most of the day with some incredible performances and some massive heartbreak. Sport can be tough at times. The Scotsman Callum Hawkins, who dropped in the final minutes of the men’s marathon, made for memorable yet very uncomfortable viewing. Then watching victory being snatched from the Australian women in the netball final was also tough to watch.
In the evening before the Games’ Closing Ceremony, the My Kitchen Rules teams made ice cream at Manly and then had the crowds decide which one might be good enough to be sold in Coles. The episode pulled the show’s biggest audience so far in 2018 as it was wedged between Seven News and the Comm Games Closing Ceremony.
That Closing Ceremony seemed like an extended cabaret show featuring a cavalcade of performers belting out classic Australian anthems. It was a show that went on, and on, and on, interspersed with what seemed like some very long and unnecessary speeches.
Kudos to Seven hosts Jo Griggs and Basil Zempilas who came onscreen around 10.30pm to respond to social media criticism levelled at the coverage. Griggs in particularly was really fired up as she and Basil laid the blame with the host broadcaster and the Comm Games organising committee.
Commonwealth Games on Seven
April 4: Opening Ceremony 2.0m, Primetime primary share 43.8%
April 5: Night 1 1.23m/1.16m, Afternoon 554k, Day 418k, Primetime primary share 33.0%
April 6: Night 2 1.01/1.09m, Late night 566k, Afternoon 468k, Primetime primary share 30.7%
April 7: Night 3 979/973k, Late night 499k, Afternoon 583k, Day 471k Primetime primary share 32.3%
April 8: Night 4 1.24/1.24m, Afternoon 710k, Day 482k, Late night 466k, Primetime primary share 31.4%
April 9: Night 5 1.33/1.45m, Late 539k, Afternoon 458k, Day 321k, Primetime primary share 29.2%
April 10: Night 6 1.24m/1.48m, Late 624k, Afternoon 515k, Day 341k, Primetime primary share 34.2%
April 11: Night 7 1.15/1.19m, Late 474k, Afternoon 428k, Primetime primary share 31.5%
April 12: Night 8 Night 1.09/1.16m, Late 742k, Afternoon 447k, Day 277k, Primetime primary share 32.2%
April 13: Night 9 Night 914/988k, Late 459k, Afternoon 390k, Day 276k, Primetime primary share 28.1%
April 14: Night 10 Afternoon 664k, Night 647/583k, Day 390k, Late 369k, Primetime primary share 28.1%
April 15: Day 11 and Closing Ceremony 1.14m Highlights 1.06m, Day 624k, Primetime primary share 31.0%
As expected, over the 12 days of coverage Seven won every market, every day in every demo.
Nine
No mucking around on The Voice with a lengthy intro – it was straight into the night’s first performance. And what a cracker it was from 18-year-old Mikayla from Adelaide! All four judges – including newcomer Joe Jonas – turned around and then gave her a standing ovation. The youngster then played one of her originals and chose Delta as her coach. The season launched with 1.02m, down from 1.18m when it wasn’t up against the Comm Games.
60 Minutes followed with Tom Steinfort covering the war on illicit drugs, Tara Brown on the royal wedding and Allison Langdon with Simon Baker for an audience of 638,000.
TEN
Lisa Wilkinson was on assignment again for the Sunday episode of The Project – this time in New York for an interview with Amy Schumer. Hamish Macdonald was joined by Rove, Gorgi Coghlan and Rachel Corbett in the studio. In addition to the Hollywood star, a strong Sunday edition of the format also welcomed Apollo ahead of his Bachelor In Paradise appearance and Julia Morris ahead of her 50th birthday. The Sunday episode did 405,000, well up from 255,000 a week ago.
Apollo was the big attraction on Bachelor In Paradise or, as host Osher Günsberg said, Apollo is released back into the wild. The Sunday episode had an audience of 629,000.
NCIS then did 291,000 followed by SEAL Team with 190,000.
ABC
Grand Designs featured a couple brave enough to build on a very small plot with 568,000 watching.
The final of a handful of repeat episodes of Midsomer Murders did 350,000.
SBS
Egyptian history has a lock on this timeslot and last night the first episode of the two-part Egypt’s Sun King: The Mystery Of The Tombs did 215,000.
The doco Sherpa: Trouble On Everest then did 132,000.
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