Network 10’s coverage of the Matildas v Brazil football international didn’t lift 10 to win the TV ratings. But the football match did its job helping 10 to its best Saturday share of 2021.
Overnight TV ratings: Seven
While the ABC drama Grantchester and 10’s coverage of the Matildas had the biggest audiences after 7.30pm, it was the movie audiences that helped guide Seven and Nine to ratings leadership.
Seven had the biggest movie audience with 287,000 watching Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.
Earlier in the evening Seven narrowly trailed Nine News at 6pm.
Earlier in the afternoon, Seven had an audience of 245,000 watching the Cox Plate coverage.
Nine
The primary channel and the network won the night and the week.
The Saturday first place finish was driven by Nine News Saturday and then the final episode of A Current Affair for the week. The latter climbed back closer to 600,000.
Nine’s Saturday movie Mama Mia! narrowly trailed Harry Potter with an audience of 274,000.
10
The channel’s primary channel share hasn’t been in double figures all year. However the Saturday share of 9.9% was better than any of the previous 41 weeks.
Driving the ratings recovery was the coverage of the first match between the Matildas and Brazil with a metro audience of 317,000. The game was a timeslot winner after Grantchester finished.
10’s other entries in the top 20 shows were 10 News First on 317,000 and the Matilda’s post game coverage with 211,000.
ABC
The Grantchester audience put the UK drama in the top five for the day with 492,000 watching – up from 453,000 a week ago.
A repeat episode of Shetland followed on 241,000, down a fraction on 251,000 last week.
SBS
Celebrity Letters and Numbers has been on a ratings rollercoaster since it launched. The numbers settled a little this week with 132,000 after 137,000 last week.
Dambusters with Dan Snow followed on 140,000, after recording an audience of 138,000 a week prior.
Saturday TV ratings Metro primetime shares primary/network
ABC 11.9% (17.3%)
Seven 17.8% (26.4%)
Nine 18.8% (30.9%)
10 9.9% (16.9%)
SBS 5.2% (8.5%)
See also: Weekend TV ratings Saturday October 16, 2021
Saturday TV ratings Metro top 20 all people
| 1 | NINE NEWS SATURDAY | Channel 9 | 819,000 |
| 2 | SEVEN NEWS SATURDAY | Channel 7 | 802,000 |
| 3 | ABC NEWS SATURDAY | ABC TV | 630,000 |
| 4 | A CURRENT AFFAIR SATURDAY | Channel 9 | 584,000 |
| 5 | GRANTCHESTER | ABC TV | 492,000 |
| 6 | GETAWAY | Channel 9 | 332,000 |
| 7 | FOOTBALL: MATILDAS V BRAZIL | 10 Bold, Channel 10 | 317,000 |
| 8 | M: HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE | Channel 7 | 287,000 |
| 9 | M: MAMMA MIA! | Channel 9 | 274,000 |
| 10 | WEEKEND SUNRISE SATURDAY | Channel 7 | 254,000 |
| 11 | SEVEN’S HORSE RACING 2021 – COX PLATE | Channel 7 | 245,000 |
| 12 | SHETLAND (R) | ABC TV | 241,000 |
| 13 | 10 NEWS FIRST SATURDAY | Channel 10 | 223,000 |
| 14 | WEEKEND TODAY SATURDAY | Channel 9 | 217,000 |
| 15 | WEEKEND SUNRISE – SATURDAY – LATE | Channel 7 | 215,000 |
| 16 | BORDER SECURITY – AUSTRALIA’S FRONT LINE (R) | Channel 7 | 213,000 |
| 17 | FOOTBALL: MATILDAS V BRAZIL POST GAME | 10 Bold, Channel 10 | 211,000 |
| 18 | WEEKEND TODAY – SATURDAY – LATE | Channel 9 | 199,000 |
| 19 | WEEKEND SUNRISE – SATURDAY – EARLY | Channel 7 | 188,000 |
| 20 | NINE NEWS: FIRST AT FIVE | Channel 9 | 186,000 |
Saturday Sports FTA and STV
Cricket
ICC T20 World Cup
Australia v South Africa
Fox Cricket 224,000/186,000
Horseracing
Cox Plate 255,000 Seven (metro)
Raceday Saturday Sky Racing 53,000 (national)
Formula 1
United States Grand Prix
Austin, Texas
Fox Sports
Practice 2: 38,000