• Live and close AFL encounter pushes Seven to the top again
• No live NRL sees Nine slip to third place in primary rankings
See full ratings figures on the Mediaweek Morning Report here.
Seven has risen to the top with live AFL driving its audiences higher. The primary channel has posted its best Thursday share the first week of April, which was the last time there was Thursday night AFL.
Seven was also a winner in combined channel share with 30.6% thanks in part to the Dawn French army continuing to enjoy The Vicar Of Dibley and then Murdoch Mysteries.
An elimination on MasterChef kept the audience close to 900,000 as the most-watched program after 7pm.
Nine didn’t have any live NRL because of the bye weekend for many teams ahead of Game 1 State of Origin. The channel recorded its lowest Thursday share of the survey year.
Seven
Home and Away screened in three markets with 384,000.
The AFL kept viewers riveted until the very end with yet another match-winning goal kicked close to the final siren. The Seven audience was 457,000 with 304,000 in Melbourne and 153,000 in Adelaide. The game was screened on 7mate in Sydney, Brisbane and Perth.
After the football The Front Bar did 172,000 with 116,000 in Melbourne and 56,000 in Adelaide.
Nine
A Current Affair was on 801,000 with a warning about retirement homes and then a look at new mega malls for shoppers.
RBT had a national audience with 532,000 watching.
The NRL Footy Show did 190,000 with 106,000 in Sydney and 84,000 in Brisbane.
Southern markets got The Last Resort with 157,000 and 101,000 in Melbourne.
TEN
Steve Price was co-hosting on The Project and told some tales about his time on Celebrity. The guests included Ryan Adams with 551,000 watching after 7pm.
MasterChef featured an elimination challenge with Benjamin the seventh person sent home after he burnt his banana. The Thursday audience of 879,000 was a big timeslot winner and even performed well up against the AFL in Melbourne. The audience was down a little from 935,000 the Thursday prior.
A new Law & Order: SVU then did 442,000 followed by a repeat on 325,000.
ABC
The first episode of the new season of Janet King did 503,000 with a guest role for Don Hany. No spoilers though in case you haven’t watched it yet. Seven Types Of Ambiguity did similar numbers, launching on 502,000.
The Checkout was on 498,000 with investment advice for people spending big on fish oil supplements.
SBS
Michael Portillo was in Ireland making the journey up the coast from Wexford to Wicklow on Great British Railway Journeys with 250,000 watching.
A repeat of Michael Mosley’s Should I Eat Meat? did 216,000 at 8.30pm.