• With no Australian Open, Nine still wins primary & network in last week January
Nine should have been riding on the back of the Australia Open during TV ratings Week 5, 2021. However, the tennis is delayed a fortnight and Seven and 10 had the chance to shine.
With the start of official survey still one week away, media agencies are closely watching the start of this unsettled January ratings period.
“All quarters are important to our clients depending upon when their activity is running,” Katie Rigg-Smith (pictured), Mindshare CEO, told Mediaweek.
Nine picked up Week 5, yet there is much on offer in Week 6. “All the networks are putting a strong foot forward to kick start the TV ratings year and there is a strong buzz around both Holey Moley and The Amazing Race,” Rigg-Smith added.
“Given the backdrop of the past 12 months I think advertisers are becoming increasingly more used to the volatility of the world around us and the fact there are things like live sport being pushed back or cancelled.”
The Mindshare boss is as confident as Nine as to the lure of tennis in February. “Naturally that brings nerves about delivery, but we do know there is a strong audience and appetite for the Australian Open, despite the delay on normal scheduling, as there is with any live sport programming.
“Aussies love live sport and understand the need for changes given the global circumstances, and so we are confident the Australian Open will see strong audiences. I can’t help but think that some of the attention the quarantining of the players has garnered could increase the interest from Australians to see how the players end up playing post that two-week quarantine.”
In Week 5, Seven had the Big Bash League final regular season games and the first two finals. 10 had the biggest entertainment series with the final week of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!
Yet Nine managed to secure a win with its replacement programming.
See also: Nine’s Hamish Turner on potential Covid impact on 2021 schedule
TV ratings Week 5: How Nine won
Nine’s News Monday to Friday was the week’s #1 metro program, with an average metro audience of 903,000.
New episodes of Travel Guides aired this week, with Wednesday’s episode Nine’s #1 program for the week with People 16-39. Travel Guides on Wednesday achieved a national average audience of 912,000 (Metro: 657,000 / Regional: 255,000).
A Current Affair dominated the 7pm timeslot across the metro markets every night this week.
In commercial network shares, Nine had the following for the key demographics:
25-54s (33.9%)
16-39s (32.0%)
Grocery Shopper + Child (35.4%)
In Total People, Nine had a share of 37.2%, ranking it #1.
In primary channel shares, Nine had the following for the key demographics:
25-54s (21.2%)
16-39s (20.3%)
Grocery Shopper + Child (23.0%).
In Total People, Nine had a commercial share of 24.3%, making it No. 1 for the week with Total People.
TV ratings Week 5: 10’s Celebrity winner
10 manage to rank #1 in the 7.30pm timeslot from Sunday through to Thursday inclusive with five episodes of I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! With the show split in two each night that gave the broadcaster 10 separate entries in the top 21 programs all people. And even a much better representation in the key demos.
10 Bold manage to rank as #1 multichannel all people on five nights and was not far off the pace on the other two.
TV ratings Week 5: Seven’s Big Bash
Big Bash League cricket saw Seven win on Friday and Saturday after Big Bash League finals drew strong audiences. The biggest cricket audience was for the second session watching Friday’s Eliminator – 451,000.
Seven News narrowly trailed Nine News across metro markets, but Seven News was a Sunday winner.
Week 5: ABC & SBS
ABC News managed to sneak into the top 20 for the week at #20 with an average audience of 608,000.
During the week the only other programs to crack 500,000 were 7.30 (which only screened on Wednesday and Thursday) and a Hard Quiz repeat.
The best from SBS, and its only program to reach 200,000, was Great Continental Railway Journeys with 219,000.