Origin helps Nine to another win

26May08

National TV ratings race. Source: David Dale, Sun Herald Blogs

The viewing habits of Australians last week evoked a very traditional
stereotype: a nation preoccupied with football, gardening, home
renovations and Dannii Minogue. Only a sudden passion for tigers showed
any deviation from decades-old norms.

Wednesday’s State of Origin rugby league match attracted 2.09 million
viewers (including a surprising 283,000 in Melbourne). It was the
highest figure for any program this ratings year and for any State of
Origin game this decade. The other most watched shows of the week were:
Australia’s Got Talent (7) with 1.60 m; Seven Sunday news 1.65m; 60 Minutes (9) 1.57m; Better Homes and Gardens (7) 1.52m; and David Attenborough’s Tiger — Spy in the Jungle (9) 1.54m

Nine won the week with 28.3 per cent of the prime time audience,
followed by Seven on 26.8, Ten on 21.1, ABC on 18.0% and SBS 5.8%. The
ABC scored by providing a refuge for non-biffophiliacs on Wednesday — Spicks and Specks pulled 1.1 million. SBS pulled 427,000 for the Eurovision Song Contest final on Sunday night, but only 262,000 for Abba: The Movie on Saturday, which suggests at least one part of the national stereotype (a land of Abba-obsessives) may have changed.

 What Australia watched, week ending May 24
1 STATE OF ORIGIN I – MATCH Nine 2,092,000
2 SEVEN NEWS – SUNDAY Seven 1,658,000
3 AUSTRALIA’S GOT TALENT Seven 1,603,000
4 60 MINUTES Nine 1,570,000
5 NINE NEWS – SUNDAY Nine 1,544,000
6 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,520,000
7 SEVEN NEWS – MONDAY-FRIDAY Seven 1,502,000
8 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: TIGER, SPY IN THE JUNGLE Nine 1,489,000
9 STATE OF ORIGIN I – PRE MATCH Nine 1,470,000
10 NCIS Ten 1,461,000
11 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,457,000
12 SEA PATROL II Nine 1,380,000
13 GLADIATORS Seven 1,379,000
14 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,357,000
15 DOMESTIC BLITZ Nine 1,352,000

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