• It’s over: After 89 memorable episodes, one final battle from Vikings on SBS
Primetime News
Seven News 900,000 (6 pm)/906,000 (6:30 pm)
Nine News is 815,000 (6 pm)/824,000 (6:30 pm)
ABC News 685,000
10 News First 308,000(5 pm)/198,000 (6pm)
SBS World News 143,000 (6:30 pm)/133,000 (7 pm)
Daily current affairs
A Current Affair 686,000
7:30 607,000
The Project 259,000 (6:30 pm)/403,000 (7 pm)
The Drum 191,000
Breakfast TV
Sunrise 255,000
News Breakfast 197,000
Today 186,000
Late Night News
The Latest 131,000
Nine News Late Edition 110,000
Nine has won its 24th primary share in a row with 24.4%, the show also had the #1 network share with 32.0% thanks to Married at First Sight which was #1 in all key demos.
932,000 tuned in to MAFS as the contestants continued their Confessions Week challenges, this was up on last Wednesday’s 891,000.
Nine’s new drama Amazing Grace followed MAFS with 504,000 watching the show’s premiere.
On Seven, Billy Connolly: It’s Been A Pleasure had 433,000 which was followed by a double of The Pembrokeshire Murders with 319,000 and 255,000. Seven’s top-rating show of the night was Homey and Away with 525,000.
On 10, the second episode of The Cube Australia had 351,000 which was down on last weeks launch audience of 567,000.
The episode saw the grandmother and grandson team of Connie and Hayden take on The Cube in a game called ‘Replicate’, whereby the duo must memorise the colour formation of squares on the floor, before placing a red or blue block on the corresponding square.
The Project had 259,000 and 403,000 as the episode featured Australian of the Year Grace Tame, Urzila Carlson, and Rhys Nicholson.
On the ABC, Hard Quiz won the battle of the game show’s over The Cube with 579,000 viewers tuning. This was followed by The Weekly with Charlie Pickering with 459,000 and then the comedy Aftertaste with 258,000.
Hard Quiz featured the usual quirky subjects including a specialist on the Canadian teen TV drama Degrassi who was last night’s winner. The Weekly was very up-to-date with clips from yesterday’s Christian Porter press conference. Charlie Pickering was all over the vaccine rollout, noting there seemed to be similarities with the way various governments handled the NBN delivery.
Nothing extra special about the SBS share of 4.7% last night. However it was a big deal for many viewing. The most popular shows were Britain’s Most Historic Towns on 178,000 followed by Michael Palin’s Travels of a Lifetime on 169,000.
However the highlight for 103,000 metro viewers was the final episode of Vikings after 88 previous instalments over nearly eight years. The brutality was something that didn’t change with the storming of a Christian church in the early episodes as shocking as the final slitting of a throat in the final episode. The series ended with Floki, the shipbuilder we met in the first episode, looking out to sea with Ubbe, one of the surviving sons of Ragnar Lothbrok, as the sun set.
Along the journey series creator Michael Hirst managed to deliver truly epic adventures for the viewers that matched the grandeur of Game of Thrones yet didn’t generate nearly the same amount of publicity. The battle scenes alone deserve some sort of award with Hirst delivery monumental clashes in seemingly nearly every episode. The final episode too offered another, this time another battle in Wessex that finally was the end for one of the most memorable characters, Ivar the Boneless.
