This morning, when Channel Nine’s beleaguered executives analyse how Nine came to win a second week of the TV ratings year, they might be tempted to credit Lisa McCune, star of Sea Patrol, which had a smashing debut last Thursday night.

Or they might be tempted to credit Wednesday’s State of Origin match, which pulled a huge audience without even being a decider.

But they’d be wrong in both cases. They’d be better off believing in magic.

As of Saturday morning, Seven was winning the week. As of Sunday morning, the average prime time audience shares for the week were: Nine 29.3 per cent, Seven 28.6, Ten 20.7, ABC 16.1, and SBS 5.4.

What happened on Saturday night? Nine’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets beat the pants off Seven’s rugby union match.

This week neither Nine nor Seven has significant biffo, but on Thursday Nine has another dose of Blue Heelers At Sea and on Saturday, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkhaban. But on Wednesday, a new factor enters the equation: Ten reintroduces Thank God You’re Here.

What Australia watched, week ending July 7
1 SEA PATROL Nine 1,980,000
2 STATE OF ORIGIN RL 3rd Match Nine 1,890,000
3 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,775,000
4 IT TAKES TWO Seven 1,712,000
5 SEVEN NEWS – SUN Seven 1,627,000
6 60 MINUTES Nine 1,615,000
7 GREY’S ANATOMY Seven 1,566,000
8 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,554,000
9 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,544,000
10 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,541,000
11 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,415,000
12 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,406,000
13 GETAWAY Nine 1,379,000
14 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,334,000
15 CONCERT FOR DIANA Nine 1,325,000

Popularity: 1%

Michael Bodey and Lara Sinclair, The Australian,  July 07, 2007

THE bruised and battered Nine network finally has something to celebrate, with its new drama Sea Patrol scoring the best debut for an Australian drama since 2001.

Sea Patrol, the most expensive Australian drama series ever made, scored ratings on Thursday night that exceeded Nine’s highest hopes — even topping this week’s NRL State of Origin audience of more than 1.7 million.

The drama, starring Lisa McCune and Ian Stenlake, averaged 1.97 million viewers in the five capital cities, with a peak audience of 2.21 million.

That makes it the highest debut for a local drama series since Seven’s Always Greener averaged 2.064 million viewers (peaking at 2.17 million) viewers in September 2001.

Nine executive director Jeffrey Browne last week noted the 13-part series cost $15 million but committed to a second series ahead of its premiere.

Programming chief Michael Healy said he was "absolutely delighted" with the program’s ratings.

While Seven will win this year’s ratings for the first time since the mid-1970s, Sea Patrol’s performance could signal the start of a ratings revival by Nine.

It may even give Nine its second weekly win of the year, with a Harry Potter movie likely to clinch the week on Saturday night. Nine is leading Seven in network share this week by 29.5 per cent to 29.0 per cent.

Nine yesterday defended its decision not to show the first 2 1/2 sets of Lleyton Hewitt’s four-set loss to Novak Djokovic at Wimbledon on Thursday night, blaming rain delays that forced the match to be rescheduled to start at the earlier time of 8pm AEST.

"When the Footy Show ended (on time in Sydney at 11pm and slightly delayed in Melbourne at 11.25pm instead of 11.15pm), we moved straight to the live coverage of Hewitt’s match," spokeswoman Arabella Gibson said.

Popularity: 1%

Popularity: 6%

Sometimes you just can’t win……

It was meant to be ratings manna from heaven, but Channel 9 has drawn fire over the poor placement of two advertisements during its screening of the Concert For Diana from Wembley on Monday night.

The Daily Telegraph understands viewers complained after two commercials for an undertaker and road safety campaign followed a performance in which US rap artist P Diddy had dedicated his appearance to the late Princess of Wales.

Diddy’s set ended with an ad break that opened with a promotion for White Lady Funerals, with the slogan “a woman’s understanding from very special women”.

That was followed by a road safety ad, which warned that “speed limits are there to save lives”.

The unfortunate sequence seemed particularly out of place during a concert to commemorate the life of Diana, who died in a car crash in Paris 10 years ago.

The ads aired in Melbourne, but it was left to the network’s embattled Sydney publicity team to respond to the controversy yesterday.

They said the blooper was “an unfortunate placement of commercial content. No offence was intended.”

Popularity: 1%

Lara Sinclair July 05, 2007, The Australian:

THE earth is moving for Australia’s media sector: the Seven network will win the TV ratings for the first time since the late 1970s, and two leading media groups are significantly increasing their power in a joint deal this week.

Advertising buyers and analysts have unanimously awarded the year to Seven, saying it has an unbeatable lead just 18 weeks into the official 40-week ratings year.

That news came as Seven yesterday revealed it had increased its stake in The West Australian’s publisher West Australian Newspapers from 15.1 per cent to 16.1 per cent.

Asked if Seven’s main owner Kerry Stokes was planning a full bid for WAN, a spokesman merely said: "We saw an opportunity in the current market to further enhance our investment."

Nine’s ratings dominance was once the cornerstone of Publishing and Broadcasting Limited’s position in the top tier of media players.

But this week’s deal to break up Southern Cross has not only re-elevated Fairfax Media to the role of a media aggressor (and given Macquarie Media some much-needed scale), it’s also raised the question of how important a television network will be in the new cross-media landscape.

Under the terms of the proposed $1.35 billion deal, Macquarie Media will buy Southern Cross, then keep the regional TV stations and sell to Fairfax its metropolitan talk radio stations and production group Southern Star for a net total of $480 million.

Southern Star makes some of our best known TV programs, such as Seven’s Deal or No Deal.

But the radio purchase prevents Fairfax from owning a TV station given the two-out-of-three rule under cross-media limits, as it will operate radio and print in city markets. Deutsche Bank backed Fairfax chief executive David Kirk’s decision to tune in to talk radio ahead of TV.

"In our view, radio was the sensible choice given the structural issues facing the metropolitan television industry, with fragmentation from online and pay television and high levels of competitor behaviour leading to cost increases," analyst Andrew Anagnostellis wrote yesterday.

That is not to take the gloss off Seven’s ratings and revenue-winning performance under chief executive David Leckie, which looks certain to put paid to a golden run at Nine that (excluding the 2000 Sydney Olympics, which advertisers leave out) lasted unbroken for more than two decades.

"Even Seven, who are the experts at clutching defeat out of the jaws of victory, can’t lose," said TV ratings analyst Peter Cox.

In prime time, this year Seven has won 37.5 per cent of the audience compared with 34.5 per cent for Nine and 27.9 per cent for Ten. Seven has won 17 of the 18 official ratings weeks, excluding Easter, and when Nine topped a week it was by one-tenth of a share point.

Media agency Mitchell & Partners estimates Nine would need to improve its average weekly audience volumes by at least 10per cent – compared with its performance to date this year – in each week that remains to beatSeven. For that to happen, Seven would also have to be the big loser. "Seven will now clearly win the ratings year although Nine won’t go down without a fight," founder Harold Mitchell said. "The tragedy is they’ve got a a lot ofgood programming in the pipeline. They needed to have it last year."

Total Advertising & Communications chief Barry O’Brien said Seven’s success in fixing its Sunday night line-up, as well as its ability to promote new content in high-rating programs, was crucial to its improvement this year.

The network’s peak night commercial audience so far this year is 1.4 points ahead of where it was last year. Nine is down by 0.6points and Ten has dropped a share point.

"If they don’t win it this year,they’ll never win it," Mr O’Brien said.

Nine would not concede the year but stopped short of publicly claiming it could still win.

The network, which prefers to calculate share based on the 6pm to midnight timeslot (a more advantageous measure to Nine but less important to advertisers), said the gap during the past four weeks was just 1.1 points and predicted Seven would drop a share point when some of its US programs – such as Desperate Housewives and Lost – finish.

Nine claimed it would win this week, following yesterday’s State of Origin rugby league match and tonight’s launch of Sea Patrol.

"We are confident that our mix of shows will hold strong appeal for our viewers and will ensure a strong lift in ratings for the network," network programming director Michael Healy said.

But MediaCom chief Annie Parsons said Nine must show program-by-program growth to get any traction going into the annual rate negotiations with media buyers. "The measure would need to be program-by-program growth and the strike rate they get with their new programs," Ms Parsons said.

Revenue figures for the six months to June are due out this month. Buyers claim Seven will have about 38 per cent of the market (up from 36.4 per cent during the same half last year), with Nine on 33 or 34 per cent (down from 36.6 per cent) and Ten on 28 or 29 per cent (up from 27 per cent).

Seven will studiously not claim the No.1 position.

According to OMD head of trading Peter Horgan, that is partly a reflection that no one will replicate Nine’s winning streak, nor will it ever mean as much as it once did.

"People recognise that to hang on to that dominant No.1 position for 20 years is going to be hard," Mr Horgan said.

"There’ll be so many more pipes into the home that need to be filled with content."

Popularity: 1%

Southern Cross Broadcasting (SBC) has released the details regarding the Macquarie Media Group (MMG) deal:

   
* Macquarie Media Group (not to be confused with Macquarie Radio, owners of 2GB) have offered $17.41 (incl. 36c special dividend) per share, for the shares in SBC that they do not already own
         
* In conjunction with the $17.41, a dividend for the period ending to June 30, 2007 of 37c a share will be payable
         
* Value of the deal – $1.37 Billion (incl. of MMG’s 13.8% share)
   
* The board of SBC have unanimously recommends the deal in the absence of a better offer and is currently under review by an independent expert to ensure it is in the best interest of SBC shareholders.
   
* A meeting will be held in October for SBC Shareholders to vote on the proposal, MMG will not be eligible to vote
   
* The deal is subject to regulatory approvals from agencies including the ACCC, ACMA and Foreign Investment Review Board
   
* The deal is subject to a number of caveats, including the completion of the sale of NWS9 to WIN Corporation
    * A break fee of 1% will be applicable under a number of conditions, including the solicitation of a competing deal.
   
* MMG and Fairfax Media (FFX) have entered into an agreement, seperate to the SBC / MMG deal, for the purchase of selected SBC assets after the completion of the MMG purchase.
         
* These assets include, but are not limited to the Metropolitan Radio Stations owned by SBC, Southern Cross Group and Satellite Music Australia
         
* MMG will retain ownership of SBC’s regional television assets

Source: MediaSpy

Popularity: 1%

Fairfax Media and Macquarie Media Group are believed to be close to preparing a bid for Southern Cross Broadcasting, according to sources close to the deal.

Under the terms of the deal, Fairfax would gain control of Southern Cross’s metropolitan radio assets, including Sydney’s 2UE, Melbourne’s 3AW, Brisbane’s 4BC and Perth’s 6PR, production house Southern Star, and possibly Satellite Music Australia, who provides subscription music services to companies including Foxtel and Austar.

Macquarie Media would get Southern Cross’s regional television stations, including its Southern Cross Ten network, and its Seven Network affiliated stations in Tasmania, South Australia, Darwin and satellite, says The Australian.

While Macquarie has long been interested in Southern Cross, currently holding a 15% stake in the company, the Fairfax Media involvement is been considered a more recent development.

Southern Cross shares are on a trading halt pending an announcement to the market either on or before Wednesday. The company is currently worth $16.44 a share, valuing it at $1.19 billion dollars, following some volatile trading following the retirement announcement of 2UE’s John Laws last week.

The company reported a net profit of $31.6 million for the half year to December 31, up 9.6 percent on the corresponding half, on flat total revenue of $287.4 million.

Source: Media Spy

Popularity: 1%

Most Watched Programs:

1 Prime News Monday to Friday PRIME 67000

2 60 Minutes NBN 60000

3 Where Are They Now PRIME 60000

4 Seven News Monday to Friday PRIME 54000

5 NBN Evening News Sunday NBN 51000

6 It Takes Two PRIME 47000

7 All Saints PRIME 46000

8 Sydney Weekender PRIME 46000

9 Home & Away PRIME 46000

10 Australia’s Funniest Home Video Show NBN 45000

Station Ratings:

                Week 26
2007        Week 26
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN             27.3                     32.4                     30.6             32.7

PRIME         33.4                     30.1                     31.8             29.5

TEN             19.9                     20.0                     19.7             20.5

ABC             14.0                     13.6                     12.9             12.6

SBS             5.4                       3.9                       5.0               4.6

Popularity: 1%

Most watched programs:

1  NBN Evening News Sunday  NBN  120000
2 NBN Evening News Monday to Friday NBN 105000

3 NBN Evening News Saturday NBN 105000

4 Backyard Blitz NBN 104000

5 CSI: Crime Scene Investigation NBN 102000

6 McLeods Daughters NBN 98000

7 A Current Affair NBN 95000
8 Big Dog Goodnight NBN 91000

9 Friday Night Football – Knights v Rabbitohs NBN 90000

10 Spicks & Specks ABC 85000

Station Ratings:
                    Week 26
2007     Week 26
2006     Prog
2007     Prog
2006

NBN                 36.1                     37.8                 35.4             36.7

PRIME             24.3                     22.6                 25.4             22.5

TEN                 18.5                     19.1                 17.2             19.7

ABC                 16.3                     14.9                 16.3             15.7

SBS                 4.8                       5.6                   5.6               5.5

Popularity: 1%

Two performances by the doctor (Dr Who) last week, plus Spicks and Specks and The Chaser boys in repeat, helped the ABC to average a remarkable 17 per cent of the prime time audience. Seven won the week with 29.0 per cent, while Nine got 27.1 per cent, Ten 21.7, and SBS 5.1.

Channel Seven has won the first half of the ratings year, but is about to run out of episodes of Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Heroes. Nine launches its fightback strategy this week with Sea Patrol, which may be hampered in audience appeal by the actors having to wear the daggiest uniforms yet seen in an Australian crime series.

What Australia watched, week ending June 30

1 IT TAKES TWO Seven 1,717,000
2 60 MINUTES Nine 1,706,000
3 GREY’S ANATOMY Seven 1,595,000
4 SEVEN NEWS – SUN Seven 1,548,000
5 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,545,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,495,000
7 CSI Nine 1,462,000
8 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,435,000
9 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,422,000
10 1 VS 100 Nine 1,416,000
11 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,405,000
12 HOUSE Ten 1,404,000
13 RPA WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Nine 1,400,000
14 CSI: MIAMI Nine 1,397,000
15 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,348,000

Source: SMH

Popularity: 1%