Most watched programs:
1 Prime News Monday to Friday PRIME 85000
2 Seven News Monday to Friday PRIME 66000
3 McLeods Daughters NBN 55000
4 Deal or no Deal PRIME 54000
5 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 49000
6 60 Minutes NBN 48000
7 Seven News Sunday PRIME 45000
8 Getaway NBN 45000
9 Border Security PRIME 44000
10 Seven News Saturday PRIME 44000

Station ratings:
                Week 30
2007     Week 30
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN             28.5                 35.8                     30.4             33.2

PRIME         34.9                 29.8                     32.0             29.8

TEN             19.2                 18.3                     19.6             20.3

ABC             13.4                 11.8                     13.1             12.3

SBS             4.0                    4.4                      4.9               4.4

The Newcastle ratings look a little different this week without the usual NBN cleansweep of the Top 10 programs. Prime has suddenly had two shows jump into the 10, while ABC’s Spicks and Specks had another big week.

Midway through the ratings year sees Prime closing the gap on NBN, being almost 3 points up on their result last year. TEN has seen slippage since last year but should expect some growth in the 2nd half of the year.

Most watched programs:
1 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 108000
2 A Current Affair NBN 99000

3 Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show NBN 96000

4 1 VS 100 NBN 96000

5 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 91000

6 Ugly Betty PRIME 88000

7 Great Comedy Classics PRIME 85000

8 Spicks & Specks ABC 84000

9 Big Dog Goodnight NBN 81000

10 Sea Patrol NBN 80000

Station Ratings:
                            Week 30
2007     Week 30
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN                         33.2                     37.9                 35.3             36.9

PRIME                     25.2                     23.3                 25.1             22.5

TEN                         18.9                     18.2                 17.5             19.5

ABC                         15.6                     14.8                 16.3             15.6

SBS                         7.1                       5.9                   5.8               5.5

The new look Neighbours and a very strong Wednesday line-up (Thank God… and House)helped Ten to a 23 per cent share of the prime time audience.

Channel Seven managed the biggest audience share: 27.2 per cent to Nine’s 25.9. Nine’s only consolation for the dawning realisation that it will come a distant second this year was the continuing success of Sea Patrol.

The ABC is holding 17 per cent of the prime time audience, with Midsomer Murders drawing 1.4 million on Sunday and the Australian Story about Belinda Emmett drawing 1.4 million on Monday.

What Australia watched, week ending July 28

1 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,898,000
2 THANK GOD YOU’RE HERE Ten 1,888,000
3 HOUSE Ten 1,749,000
4 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,664,000
5 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,653,000
6 60 MINUTES Nine 1,651,000
7 SEA PATROL Nine 1,617,000
8 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,583,000
9 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,539,000
10 GETAWAY Nine 1,516,000
11 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,509,000
12 SURF PATROL Seven 1,476,000
13 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,448,000
14 GREY’S ANATOMY Seven 1,419,000
15 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC 1,405,000

A resurgent KOFM have leapfrogged sister-station NXFM to regain the overall lead in the Newcastle radio ratings.

A significant drop in the ratings for NXFM’s Breakfast show was the main contributor to the stations overall result, the main beneficiaries apparently being David and Tanya on KOFM.

2HD slid back further whilst maintaining the 3rd place overall and must be worried about the emergence of 1233 ABC as a potential rival for their position, especially in the Breakfast slot where Aaron Kearney has lifted the non-commercial stations ratings significantly this year.

A bigger concern for 2HD would be their audience profile which is predominantly 55 +, although that is also being eroded by 1233.

NEWFM kept steady with an 8.5 overall share but saw another drop in their Breakfast show following yet another round of staff changes. NEWFM Breakfast now languishes in last place with just 5.8 share behind JJJ and half that of next station 1233.

                                        KOFM     NXFM     2HD     NEWFM     1233     JJJ
Overall share                     20.0        18.3        15.3     8.5             11.8      6.5
Breakfast                          21.0        18.9        16.7     5.8             13.5      6.2
10-17 years                       25.1        49.8        3.1      10.8             0.5       4.2
18-24 years                       10.7        42.7        1.7      23.6             1.9     14.4
25-39 years                       21.0        28.9        4.7      15.6             3.8     15.3
40-54 years                       32.8        17.8        10.4     8.3              10.0     5.9
55 + years                        12.2         2.0          29.7    0.8               21.8     0.2

Cumulative audience          160        165          100      97               94         58
(thousands)

Average                             13          12            10        6                8        4               
(thousands)

It seems there is a world-wide game of tag going on at the moment. Bloggers are tagged by other bloggers and are encouraged to write 8 random things about themselves. Seems I have been lured into the game after being tagged this week by fellow Age of Conversation author C.B. Whittmore from Flooring the Consumer.

So here we go….8 Random Things About Me

1. I have lived in 3 countries: Australia, Finland and USA.

2. I met my American wife in Finland, married her in USA and now reside in Australia.

3. I have been a competitive sailboarder, sailor and cyclist (hello MasiGuy).

4. Owning my own advertising agency was both one of the bravest and most natural things I have ever done.

5. I love to write but until I began blogging I had never found the right forum (beyond 30 second TVC’s). I can thank Gavin Heaton for that.

6. I am the guy who flicks between TV programs looking for the ads - sick I know.

7. I picked Cadel Evans to win the Tour de France before it started. He has been fighting valiantly near the top of the race and now with drug cheats dropping like flies he may be the first Aussie winner ever. Go Cadel.

8. I am determined to create a successful "Citizen Powered Media".

Now…who should I tag?
Gordon Whitehead because he needs all the love he can get (joking)
Tim Jackson because I too love classic Italian bikes
Tim Ferriss because we’d all like to know how to have a 4 Hour Work Week
Laura Ries because I like the way she and Al think about brands
Robin Sharma because everyone needs to put things in perspective sometimes
Kofi Annan because he is a clear voice from deepest darkest Africa
Kim Klaver because my mother-in-law was so excited when she found I was in the same book as Kim Klaver
Andrew Parker because he is so passionate about his field

So there you go….8 very interesting people, 8 different perspectives, 8 blogs worth reading.

Nick Tabakoff, The Australian July 26, 2007,.

TEN is looking to build two new franchises to add to its three anchor programs, as the poor ratings season for Big Brother concludes next week.

Grant Blackley, the chief executive of Ten’s television arm, has told The Australian in an exclusive interview the company will now develop a "big five" approach to its event TV line-up, as it moves away from a dependence on shows such as Big Brother, The Biggest Loser and Australian Idol.

"Just as Big Brother dominates a certain time of the year, frankly, nothing occurs for the rest of the time it’s not on air," he said.

"So you need to continually create franchises that broaden the year and give you 52 weeks of exposure, rather than trying to overlap all of those at any one point in time."

Mr Blackley said he intended to add Australian versions of two new programs, Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader?, a show that pits adults against 10-year-olds to win cash, and So You Think You Can Dance, a dance competition in the mould of Idol, as cornerstone programs for the network.

B

oth are shows that have registered high ratings in the US, particularly among Big Brother’s core 18 to 49-year-old demographic.

The Ten boss’s comments come at a time several media commentators have suggested the network needs to decrease its reliance on Big Brother. Overall ratings for the current series are down by more than 10 per cent this year, while in the 18-49 age group the fall has been about 15 per cent.

Ten pays Southern Star Endemol an estimated $25 million to make Big Brother each year: a huge commitment for a 14-week program if it does not fire as a ratings vehicle.

One media analyst said yesterday: "At the moment, Ten’s performance is very reliant on two programs: Big Brother and Australian Idol. They need to diversify by developing new franchises, and now it seems they will be doing that."

Additionally, a story in Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph last week argued the reality-TV flagship was in long-term decline: "Big Brother is showing signs of age," it said. "Seven years will do that to a show."

However, Mr Blackley strongly denied the new moves to broaden Ten’s program line-up were related to the fact the Big Brother franchise faced long-term structural problems:

"Are those housemates not as entertaining, engaging and controversial? I think we can admit that. Is that a structural change? No, it’s not.

"We can go into … next year with the confidence that if we go through a casting period once again and come out with a different set of characters, we’ll create the drama that people want to watch. And off we go again."

Mr Blackley said this year’s ratings problems with Big Brother was analagous to temporary ratings declines in long-term sporting franchises. For example, the Australian Open tennis tournament ratings fell when Australian players performed below expectations at the event, he argued.

The Ten boss has also admitted stunts would play a key role in restoring the program to its former glory. Ten personality Kyle Sandilands entered the Big Brother House earlier this month, a move heavily parodied in the media.

MrBlackley said: "Do we apologise for stunts? Absolutely not. That’s part of reinvigorating the franchise and making it more attractive."

He also denied Ten was overly dependent on Big Brother, despite the fact it broadcasts 120 hours of the program during a 14-week period. "Is it critical to (our) fortunes? Absolutely not."

He described Big Brother as a "contributor, like every other program" in the network’s mix.

"Big Brother on aggregate would deliver maybe nine half-hours: about four hours a week out of 63 (peak-time) half-hours. So we really need to keep that in perspective."

Meanwhile, Mr Blackley hoped the new programs, Fifth Grader (which starts in September) and Dance, would become ubiquitous franchises along the lines of Big Brother and Idol.

On Fifth Grader - to be hosted by Rove McManus and made by his production company, Roving Enterprises - Mr Blackley said: "It will be 10 one-hour programs we commence with, and then we’ll look at whether we can turn it into a more definite and broader franchise."

He was also looking at turning Dance into a "dancing Australian Idol". Such a format was under consideration for 2008, with Ten screening a fresh US series in the coming months, he said.

Mr Blackley said the new programs were in part a way of spreading Ten’s risk across more franchises. "I’m not sure if we’d describe them as anchor programs, but it is a good thing for us to be able to market all of our other programs through (franchises with) successful ratings," he said.

Amanda Meade and Lara Sinclair, The Australian| July 26, 2007

THE Nine Network has asked broadcast warhorse Ray Martin to anchor a new early news show as it seeks to restore its television ratings glory and halt its revenue decline, which was this week revealed to be at a record low.

Nine has requested Martin return to nightly TV screens in an attempt to make over its late-afternoon schedule and improve its lead-in to the 6pm news.

Martin may front a national 30-minute news and current affairs show at 5pm which would replace the 4.30pm news bulletin read by Kellie Connolly.

Martin confirmed to Media yesterday that he was considering an offer to host a news program but said he had not yet made up his mind.

"I’m not going to go back on daily TV just to fill a spot," he said from Broken Hill.

"I did eight years on A Current Affair and 10 years on Midday, so unless it’s something I really want to do, I am not interested.

"The show would have to be something that didn’t compete with the 6pm news."

A spokeswoman for Nine confirmed it was one option being considered for the pre-6pm schedule but was far from being commissioned.

National Nine News has a major problem with its lead-in programs. The most recent attempt to improve the audience with a game show, Bert Newton’s Family Feud, was a failure.

Family Feud was axed earlier this year and replaced with Antiques Roadshow.

Seven has had a very strong lead-in to Seven Nightly News for several years with its hit game show Deal or No Deal, hosted by Andrew O’Keefe.

Martin reportedly earns $1.4 million a year from Nine and a source from a rival network said the show was an attempt to "make Ray sing for his supper".

But Martin, who stepped down as host of A Current Affair early in 2006, has been very busy as a reporter and as a presenter of network specials.

Last year he hosted A Current Affair when Tracy Grimshaw was away, filmed 16 stories for 60 Minutes and five for Sunday.

His interview with Steve Irwin’s widow Terri last September was one of the highest-rating shows of the year, with an audience of 2.5 million viewers in the five mainland state capitals.

He is working on a special on former prime minister Harold Holt, as well as stories for 60 Minutes and Sunday.

Sources say the news and interview show is being considered for 5pm rather than 5.30pm so it can be shot in the same studio as the 6pm news but still allow for a set change.

The proposal to Martin came in the same week that Nine’s share of TV advertising revenue was revealed to be at an historic low of 32.7 per cent.

Nine would not comment on its revenue share but is believed to be blaming most of its four-share-point slide (it was the revenue leader a year ago with 36.6 per cent) to the lack of Commonwealth Games and AFL revenue and the weak performance of its Perth affiliate.

Network sources claimed that general revenue had slid only about half a share point lower than expected.

Media buyer Harold Mitchell said advertiser confidence in Nine had been "falling away for all of the last six months", but said the network could expect an upturn in the December half.

Meanwhile, the Seven Network is the undisputed king of the heap, winning what was for it a record revenue share outside an Olympic year of 39.2 per cent in the six months to June.

While Ten improved its fortunes by a share point, winning 28.1 per cent compared with its record low last year of 27 per cent, network executives are understood to have expressed their disappointment to many of the big media agencies over the past two days.

The conversations have sparked speculation that Ten is looking to replace sales director Shaun James.

Chief executive Grant Blackley could not be contacted yesterday but Mr James said he was not leaving and the rumours were false.

The innovative new collaborative book The Age of Conversation is selling strongly after just 10 days on the market.

Lulu.com has the all three versions of the book in it’s Top 10 this week (positions 2, 4, proving that our launch campaign has successfully kicked off sales.

You can order the book HERE.

All proceeds are to be donated to Variety.

A good read and a good cause.

For the last few years the Seven Network (and Prime affiliates) have launched into the ratings year with a strong line-up of A-list shows. Desperate Housewives, Grey’s Anatomy, Lost, My Name is Earl to name a few. This has helped them get of to a flier in the ratings race, but proves problematic when the season run out and they have to replace them with their B-list shows.

Last year it meant that Seven limped to the finish line for a very close finish with Nine after establishing a strong lead earlier in the year.

2007 sees the battle continue but perhaps with a few new tactics being employed.

Once again Seven launched into the ratings race with their excellent line-up of popular programs plus a few new starters like Ugly Betty. Once again they raced away to a convincing victory in the first half of the year. Nine only won two weeks while TEN had an appalling start and is only just starting to make ground.

But now the B-listers are starting to arrive for Seven. Desperate Housewives is gone and Criminal Minds has taken its place. It’s not a bad show but pulled a much lower audience than the Despos in its opening episode.

Lost finishes up this week. Prison Break shot through last week. Earl went back to the trailer park a few weeks ago and the confused surgeons of Greys Anatomy are about to disappear.

What will we be seeing instead? That 70’s Show, Las Vegas, Bones. The brightest stars on Seven’s horizon are Kath and Kim, but their arrival has been delayed yet again. That will most likely take care of 30 minutes on Sunday night (against 60 Minutes no less) but the rest of the week is looking…weak.

Already TEN have started to make some gains with the return of Thank God You’re Here to back up House. They have a limp Big Brother drawing to a close but will be boosted again by Australian Idol.

Amongst all this Nine (and NBN) continue with their tried and true selection of CSI’s and highlight shows (What a Year, 20 to 1, Things to Try Before You Die). Sea Patrol has given them a big boost while the business end of the footy seasons will help. But otherwise their 2nd half offerings are not too exciting either. They will be hoping that Seven will fall back to the pack enough to win a few more weeks.

The wild card that may be played from September is the potential early return of some of the big guns. All 3 networks have been debating the option of running their best US shows only a week or two after their US premieres, rather than 6 months later in the new year. Seven are rumoured to be most likely to adopt this tactic with Prison Break, possibly 24 and one other.

Nine may also adopt this tactic, not with their current line-up, but with new series they have picked up from the US in recent months.

If so, we could be in for a much tighter race in the second half and a new direction in programming tactics. The next few weeks will see much of the status quo changing as old programs are retired and new ones arrive.

Immediate release is something the ad industry should be encouraging as it will keep viewers tuning in to TV rather than downloading programs they can’t wait for.It might also mean that our Summer content  is offer higher quality as the networks will still have plenty of product available to run, that was pushed aside for the immediate release programs.

Most watched programs:
1  Prime News Monday to Friday  PRIME  80000

2 Seven News Monday to Friday PRIME 68000

3 Sea Patrol NBN 63000

4 60 Minutes NBN 62000

5 Border Security PRIME 61000

6 Surf Patrol PRIME 59000

7 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 58000

8 Where Are They Now PRIME 55000

9 House TEN 52000

10 Big Dog Goodnight NBN 49000

Station ratings:
                Week 29
2007    Week 29
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006
NBN             28.7                 36.4                     30.5             33.0

PRIME         31.4                 28.6                     31.8             29.9

TEN             19.9                 21.1                     19.7             20.5

ABC             15.7                 10.5                     13.1             12.3

SBS             4.2                   3.4                       4.9              4.4