The Sun-Herald

Culture: Make benefit box office

He may be getting sued for misrepresentation by the Romanian Gypsies and US college students who appear in his movie, but in Australia Borat is a god. Over the weekend half a million of us went to see Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan, bringing the total box office to $6.09 million in two weeks. Tom Cruise, eat your heart out! Borat sucked most of the ticket money out of the marketplace, leaving a mere $943,000 for Hugh Jackman's The Prestige, $913,000 for Tim Allen's The Santa Clause 3, and $312,000 for Russell Crowe's A Good Year.

When they weren't guffawing over Borat, Australians were at home getting nostalgic over their CD players. The top-selling albums of the weekend were 18 Singles by U2 (75,000 copies sold already) and Love by the Beatles (50,000 copies). Younger Australians were downloading I Don't Feel Like Dancing, by the Scissor Sisters, a title that sounds more appropriate for the people who were buying the top two albums.

We welcome your comments.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin).

Other columns in this series can be found at www.smh.com.au/tribalmind.

• in The Tribal Mind at 03:40 AM
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The Tribal Mind: Week 47

This is now an out of date blog. To join the latest media discussion, go to www.smh.com.au/sit.

Updated 10.15 pm Sunday November 26 Damien Leith won Australian Idol. At 10 am on Monday we'll tell you how many people watched.

The ABC's election coverage in Melbourne pulled 265,000 viewers on Saturday night, which contributed to a healthy audience share of 21 per cent for the ABC on Saturday. But the ratings chart below suggests the rest of Australia left their sets on Channel Nine all day, for cricket followed by footy, briefly interrupted by news and funny videos. Nine won the week with an average of 31.3 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 27.5, Ten got 19.3, ABC got 16.7 and SBS got 5.1. The final week of the ratings year will see Ten's share boosted by Australian Idol and Seven's share boosted by Dancing With The Stars.

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS SATURDAY (and last part of cricket) Nine 1,702,000 524,000 551,000 317,000 196,000 115,000
2 FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,343,000 431,000 384,000 249,000 146,000 132,000
3 THE ASHES: FIRST TEST Nine 1,328,000 403,000 405,000 219,000 171,000 131,000
4 RUGBY LEAGUE TRI-NATIONS Nine 1,181,000 467,000 243,000 425,000 17,000 29,000
5 THE CRICKET SHOW Nine 1,038,000 331,000 313,000 161,000 134,000 99,000
6 SEVEN NEWS SAT Seven 1,035,000 284,000 306,000 150,000 124,000 172,000
7 BEST AND WORST OF RED FACES Seven 1,007,000 217,000 357,000 180,000 121,000 132,000
8 GREAT COMEDY CLASSICS Seven 849,000 183,000 356,000 119,000 93,000 98,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Saturday November 25The cricket is working wonderfully for Nine. The ratings chart below makes it seem that Nine's news and A Current Affair are sudenly enjoying a resurgence in viewing. In fact, their figures were boosted by the Test match over-running into their timelots in Sydney and Melbourne. That in no way diminishes Nine's victory on Friday, with 33.5 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 24.4, Ten got 18.6, ABC got 19.1 (thanks to Blue Murder) and SBS got 4.4. Nine will win the week.

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS* Nine 1,483,000 454,000 489,000 259,000 165,000 116,000
2 A CURRENT AFFAIR* Nine 1,340,000 438,000 454,000 213,000 123,000 112,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,216,000 323,000 383,000 174,000 157,000 179,000
4 TEMPTATION* Nine 1,204,000 379,000 381,000 193,000 130,000 120,000
5 BLUE MURDER ABC 1,191,000 391,000 303,000 205,000 153,000 138,000
6 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,186,000 347,000 353,000 216,000 116,000 154,000
7 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,180,000 296,000 389,000 175,000 147,000 173,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,058,000 337,000 308,000 168,000 98,000 147,000
9 MOTORWAY PATROL RPT Nine 1,027,000 319,000 297,000 178,000 107,000 125,000
10 HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS Nine 892,000 253,000 350,000 186,000 104,000
11 THE ASHES: FIRST TEST - AUSTRALIA V ENGLAND Nine 884,000 296,000 261,000 127,000 115,000 86,000
12 SMALLVILLE FRI Ten 812,000 214,000 193,000 180,000 123,000 102,000
*Distorted by cricket
(OzTAM preliminary figures, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Friday November 24
Predictions that Nine's coverage of the Ashes battle would get the biggest daytime audience in history were sadly awry. Preliminary estimates put the average audience yesterday at 822,000 in the mainland capitals. But it's likely the number watching in the last hour was closer to 1.5 million, as the cricket overran into Nine's usual news time in Sydney and Melbourne. Even so, that is nowhere near the 2.2 million scored by the Melbourne Cup this year. It seems Australians are not taking sickies to see the cricket -- yet.

Nine won Thursday with 31.3 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 29.1, Ten got 17.5, ABC got 16.3 (thanks to The Floating Brothel, clearly a tempting title) and SBS got 5.8 (thanks to Inspector Rex). Nine will win the week.

What Australia watched, Thursday
1. Nine News* Nine 1.37m*
2. Today Tonight Seven 1.35
3. Seven News Seven 1.34
4. A Current Affair* Nine 1.29*
5. Temptation* Nine 1.22*
6. Home and Away Seven 1.21
7. Getaway Nine 1.13
8. Bones Seven 1.13
9. My Name Is Earl Seven 1.13
10. RPA Nine 1.10
11. How I Met Your Mother Seven 1.02
12. The Floating Brothel ABC 1.01
13. Amazing Medical Stories Nine 0.92
14. ABC News ABC 0.91
15. Big Questions Nine 0.88
*Disrupted by cricket
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Thursday November 23
Ooh, they're a tricky lot at Channel Seven. Normally they define "prime time" as 6pm to midnight, but suddenly they're eager to tell us that, if you redefine prime time as 6pm to 10.30pm, Channel Seven is beating Channel Nine in average audience for the year. This was Seven's statement: "Weeks 7-46, 2006 (excluding Commonwealth Games): Seven is No: 1 Network with a 35.7% Network Primetime Commercial Share, 0.1 share points in front of Nine and 7 points ahead of Ten's share." Sorry, this column is sticking with the original definition, and we won't be declaring a prime time winner till the end of official ratings next week. It's bloody close, though.

Seven won Wednesday with 30.1 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 28.4, Ten got 19.2, ABC got a healthy 17.8 (thanks to Spicks and Specks and The Glasshouse) and SBS got 4.4. Nine looks like winning this week.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
1. Border Security Seven 1.58
2. Seven News Seven 1.38
3. Police Files Seven 1.37
4. Today Tonight Seven 1.36
5. Home and Away Seven 1.36
6. CSI: Miami Nine 1.35
7. Criminal Minds Seven 1.27
8. McLeod's Daughters Nine 1.25
9. A Current Affair Nine 1.23
10. Nine News Nine 1.21
11. Temptation Nine 1.08
12. Spicks and Specks ABC 1.08
13. ABC News ABC 0.95
14. House Ten 0.95
15. The Glass House ABC 0.93
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Wednesday November 22
The semi final of Dancing With The Stars last night and still only 1.7 million viewers. At this rate, its grand final next Tuesday will be lucky to join the finals of the previous four seasons among the 50 most watched shows of the 21st century (click here to read them). For many Australians, it seems, the silly season has already started, and they're just not watching that much TV. This is bad news for Seven which is so close to equalling Nine's average audience for the year that one big hit next week could make all the difference.

Seven won Tuesday with 34.8 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 27.5, Ten got 19.3, ABC got 13.7 and SBS got 4.7.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
1. Dancing with the Stars Seven 1.71m
2. All Saints Seven 1.61
3. A Current Affair Nine 1.47
4. 20 to 1 Nine 1.44
5. Nine News Nine 1.38
6. Home and Away Seven 1.37
7. CSI Nine 1.35
8. Seven News Seven 1.32
9. Today Tonight Seven 1.27
10. Temptation Nine 1.22
11. Crossing Jordan Seven 1.01
12. The Simpsons 7:30pm Ten 0.98
13. ABC News ABC 0.94
14. Ten News Ten 0.86
15. Futurama Ten 0.86
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals.

For the OC tragics, it got 697,000, just topping The Wedge's 681,000.

To read about and discuss the new programing plans of Channel Seven and Channel Ten, click here.
Updated 10 am, Wednesday November 22

Channels Seven and Ten may be tussling over who deserves the title of TV's biggest winner for 2006, but there's no dispute about who is the biggest loser. That's the ABC - down 9 per cent in average audience across the whole day, with only one show in the top 100 for the year (Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler?).

The list of most watched ABC shows (below) suggests that one way Aunty might stop the slippage would be to commission a 52-week mystery series in which detective David Attenborough investigates the murder of the Queen. But of course, the ABC shouldn't care about ratings. Its role is to service segments of the community that the commercials don't want. Seven and Nine say their target audience is people aged 25 to 54, while Ten focuses on the 18-to-49ers (and puts out press releases boasting that it has "shed" over-55s).

That leaves the kiddies and oldies for the national broadcaster. The ABC works hard at programming for those extremities of life, but with viewers under 17, the ABC is down 26.1 per cent and with viewers 55 to 64, it's down 1.3 per cent. Where did the under-16s and over-55s go? Possibly to pay TV, which this column is hereby declaring the real big winner of 2006, (with Seven getting the silver medal and Ten the bronze). The combined pay stations are up 19.8 per cent with all people, 27.3 per cent with viewers under 17, and 8.1 per cent with viewers 55-64. Here's how pay fans differ from ABC fans:

What Australia loved on the ABC this year: 1 Bogle and Chandler (1.78 million) 2 Planet Earth (1.38m); 3 Andrew Denton and Billy Connolly (1.29m); 4 Midsomer Murders (1.29m), 5 The Queen by Rolf Harris (1.29m) 6 Silent Witness (1.17m); 7 The Queen at 80 (1.16m); 8 50 Years of Television (1.16m); 9 Blue Murder (1.14m) 10 The Worst Jobs in History (1.10m)

What Australia loved on Pay TV this year: 1. NRL Storm v Roosters (220,500); 2-10 NRL matches; 11 Rugby Union - Bledisloe Cup (188,000); 12-29 NRL matches; 30 AFL - Western Bulldogs v Geelong (161,500); 31-94 Footy matches, mostly NRL; 95 Cricket test match (112,000); 96, 97 Footy matches; 98 Rock Star Supernova The Verdict (110,500); 99-113 Footy and cricket; 114 Rock Star Supernova Finale Part 1 (103,000); 115-118 Footy matches; 119 Golf: British Open Round 3 (100,500); 120-161 Footy and cricket; 164 Motorsport MotoGP Turkey (83,500); 165-193 Sports; 194 Movie - Sky High (75,000); 195-217 Sports; 218 The Simpsons Interactive (68,000); 219-240 Sports 241 Movie: High School Musical (62,000). The other non-sporting shows in Pay's top 300 were a documentary on Vietnam on the History Channel (61,500); WWE Raw wrestling (58,000); and the movie Ice Princess (55,000). The first time a new series makes an appearance in the pay chart is at No 308 -- Family Guy on Fox 8 with 48,000.

Based on that, you might think the ABC could boost its audience by showing more rugby league and more Disney movies. But look closely at the audience sizes. After 10 years and millions of Murdoch and Packer dollars, subscription television still has no series able to attract more than 120,000 Australians, while the ABC can find 23 programs that please more than a million of us. So it doesn't have that much to be embarrassed about.

What Australia watched, Monday
1. Home and Away Seven 1.39m
2. Criminal Minds Seven 1.37
3. Seven News Seven 1.35
4. Today Tonight Seven 1.29
5. A Current Affair Nine 1.28
6. Nine News Nine 1.27
7. What A Year Nine 1.27
8. What's Good For You Nine 1.25
9. Temptation Nine 1.20
10. Cold Case repeat Nine 1.13
11. Dynasties ABC 1.08
12. So You Think You Can Dance Ten 1.03
13. The Great Outdoors Seven 1.00
14. ABC News ABC 0.99
15. The 7:30 Report ABC 0.91
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Nine won Monday with 30.4 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 28.9, Ten got 19.1, ABC got 14.3 and SBS got 7.3. The return of The West Wing on ABC pulled 608,000.

Updated 10 am, Monday November 20

Another talent quest? Another dancing show with a clunky title? And no Australians are involved? Sounds like the kind of concept that would be lucky to make the Silly Season schedule, let alone prime time in the official ratings year. But Channel Ten had a strategy -- launch So You Think You Can Dance off the back of Australian Idol and maybe the under 40s will hang around long enough to get hooked. Study the chart below to see how Ten's scheme worked.

With the groovers locked on Ten and the oldies locked on Nine's power package of 60 Minutes and CSI, Seven was deprived of oxygen and managed only 18.7 per cent of the prime time audience. Nine won Sunday with 33.9 per cent, followed by Ten with 27.4 per cent. The ABC got 15.8 per cent (bring back Poirot!) and SBS got 4.2.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,697,000 473,000 508,000 314,000 219,000 182,000
2 CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION Nine 1,638,000 459,000 470,000 342,000 185,000 182,000
3 60 MINUTES Nine 1,598,000 383,000 497,000 350,000 183,000 185,000
4 20 TO 1 -RPT Nine 1,487,000 356,000 443,000 317,000 206,000 166,000
5 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Ten 1,425,000 383,000 499,000 224,000 159,000 159,000
6 CSI: NY Nine 1,329,000 412,000 411,000 222,000 148,000 137,000
7 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,289,000 300,000 415,000 240,000 184,000 150,000
8 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,254,000 341,000 317,000 253,000 135,000 207,000
9 THE REAL SEACHANGE Seven 1,158,000 332,000 334,000 239,000 108,000 144,000
10 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC 996,000 330,000 248,000 177,000 87,000 154,000
11 YOU'VE GOT THE JOB Seven 878,000 246,000 276,000 187,000 78,000 92,000
12 THE QUEEN'S SISTER ABC 863,000 273,000 234,000 147,000 88,000 122,000
13 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SUN Ten 856,000 204,000 216,000 149,000 84,000 204,000
14 IT'S ME OR THE DOG Ten 855,000 229,000 240,000 154,000 107,000 124,000
15 WILD EUROPE ABC 811,000 274,000 215,000 152,000 79,000 92,000.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). His latest book is Soffritto -- A delicious Ligurian memoir. For further observations of Australian attitudes and behaviour, go to www.smh.com.au/tribalmind.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 12:09 AM
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Culture: Licensed to chill

A little Aussie paddler beat a British superspy to the top of the US box office at the weekend. On preliminary estimates, Happy Feet, a cartoon about penguins directed by Australia's George Miller (of Babe and Mad Max fame) earned $55 million during its first three days of release across the US and Canada, while the latest James Bond flick Casino Royale pulled in $53 million (with Borat third at $19 million).

Warner Bros split the costs on the $130 million project with Australia's Village Roadshow, and the two will share any profits. Happy Feet tells the story of an emperor penguin named Mumble who can't sing but can dance a mean step-shuffle-hop-step. It uses the voices of Nicole Kidman, Elijah Wood, Hugh Jackman, Anthony LaPaglia, Magda Szubanski and Steve Irwin, who play penguins, elephant seals and other Antarctic wildlife.

Another cartoon using Jackman's voice, Flushed Away, came in at number five in the US, and has so far totalled $60 million, while the new Cate Blanchett movie, Babel, co-starring Brad Pitt, was number seven, with a two-week total of $15 million.

And yet another Jackman movie, The Prestige, in which he is seen as well as heard, playing one, or possibly two, magicians (we're not giving too much away), opened at number one in Australia at the weekend with ticket sales of $1.4 million, beating Borat's $1.2 million. To be fair, Borat was on limited release and won't spread far and wide until Thursday, so that low figure should not be taken as indicating any prejudice by the people of Australia against Kazakhstan.

The Russell Crowe movie A Good Year has not enjoyed good word of mouth and, at $587,000, was down 47 per cent on its first weekend's takings. Kenny stays strong after 14 weeks, with a total of $7.1 million.

We welcome your comments

• in The Tribal Mind at 12:05 AM
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Reassessments: Jamie's got back

There's some media excitement today about the announcement that Jamie Durie will join Channel Seven, twirling on Dancing With The Stars and hosting a show called Australia's Best Backyards. We thought we should replay a report from this column of November 23, 2006, and the reader responses at the time. We still welcome your comments:

Cute factor earns Jamie an inside job
Jamie Durie spoke out yesterday for the first time since Channel Nine axed his show, Backyard Blitz. The normally diplomatic host, suddenly sporting a three-day beard and a forthright attitude, said Nine's explanation for ending the series -- because the home-renovation genre had been exhausted -- was "crap". He said he was "surprised to see it go ... I think Australians will always be very passionate about feathering their own nests, especially when it's in the great outdoors."

Durie was promoting his friend James Houston's project, MOVE for AIDS, a book and photographic exhibition of the world's top professional dancers, to be launched next Thursday. Of Backyard Blitz's demise, Durie said: "I think it's a bad move but, you know, I'm not in control of those things. I think you've only got to talk to any Australian out there. Everyone loves spending their two most favourite treasured days of the week in their backyard."

Although Durie said he had been offered another project with Nine, he's clearly chuffed with his newest gig - a regular spot on the Oprah Winfrey show in Chicago. He said his first appearance, this week, was "an incredible experience. [Oprah] is one of the most magnetic, charismatic women I've ever met and far more impressive in person than on television." Clearly, Oprah was equally impressed with the former Manpower dancer, exclaiming "The cute factor has doubled", as Durie joined the show's interior design expert, Nate Berkus, to discuss home renovations. (For more info on MOVE for AIDS contact the AIDS Trust of Australia, 02 9285 4420.)

Is Nine's assessment of Australian tastes correct, or is Jamie's?

We welcome your comments.

• in The Tribal Mind at 12:03 AM
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The Tribal Mind: Week 46

This is not the latest TV report, although it's worth reading anyway. If you want this week's discussions, go to www.smh.com.au/tribalmind.

Updated 10 am Sunday November 16

Thanks to a strong opening performance on Sunday and a strong closing performance on Saturday, Channel Nine won the week with 28.7 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 28.5, Ten got 20.6, ABC got 17.3 and SBS got 5.0. But as you'll see from our chart, below, it's possible to win the week with only two shows in the top ten, one of which is a repeat of repeats. Click here to discuss the new programing plans of Channel Seven and Channel Ten.

Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,778,000 465,000 546,000 305,000 230,000 233,000
2 BORDER SECURITY WED Seven 1,721,000 469,000 511,000 331,000 159,000 251,000
3 DANCING WITH THE STARS 5 Seven 1,705,000 507,000 520,000 282,000 189,000 206,000
4 POLICE FILES - UNLOCKED Seven 1,634,000 420,000 502,000 297,000 167,000 249,000
5 AUSTRALIAN IDOL LIVE VERDICT Ten 1,572,000 437,000 478,000 283,000 190,000 184,000
6 60 MINUTES Nine 1,497,000 386,000 472,000 277,000 161,000 201,000
7 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,454,000 432,000 494,000 191,000 172,000 165,000
8 20 TO 1 RPT Nine 1,438,000 310,000 506,000 244,000 199,000 178,000
9 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,427,000 362,000 437,000 252,000 168,000 208,000
10 CRIMINAL MINDS WED Seven 1,350,000 362,000 437,000 250,000 137,000 164,000
11 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,329,000 342,000 391,000 240,000 153,000 204,000
12 CRIMINAL MINDS MON Seven 1,303,000 332,000 443,000 245,000 153,000 130,000
13 20 TO 1 Nine 1,297,000 338,000 393,000 258,000 153,000 155,000
14 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,296,000 333,000 391,000 229,000 148,000 195,000
15 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,292,000 358,000 409,000 242,000 118,000 166,000
16 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU Nine 1,289,000 383,000 368,000 264,000 129,000 144,000
17 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,279,000 342,000 417,000 252,000 131,000 137,000
18 BONES Seven 1,279,000 315,000 387,000 279,000 142,000 157,000
19 ABBAMANIA Nine 1,265,000 408,000 394,000 198,000 140,000 125,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched on Pay TV
1 DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER FOX8 63,080
2 READ IT AND WEEP Disney Channel 62,447
3 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE QLD V MELB FOX Sports 3 58,249
4 WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT Disney Channel 57,480
5 LIVE: CRICKET: DOMESTIC ONE-DAY CUP FOX Sports 2 57,279
6 FAMILY GUY FOX8 56,224
7 SKY HIGH Disney Channel 55,903
8 CRICKET: WORLD SERIES CLASSICS FOX Sports 2 49,932
9 WWE RAW FOX8 49,204
10 THE SEINFELD STORY TV1 48,100

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NEW TRICKS ABC 1,243,000 347,000 360,000 229,000 144,000 164,000
2 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC 1,176,000 299,000 383,000 236,000 99,000 159,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,124,000 261,000 398,000 253,000 112,000 100,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,015,000 302,000 235,000 196,000 117,000 166,000
5 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Nine 978,000 233,000 308,000 203,000 140,000 95,000
6 THE BILL ABC 961,000 274,000 289,000 177,000 102,000 120,000
7 BEST AND WORST OF RED FACES Seven 893,000 257,000 258,000 164,000 89,000 125,000
8 2006 RUGBY LEAGUE TRI-NATIONS SERIES Nine 853,000 385,000 136,000 318,000 12,000 3,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,279,000 342,000 417,000 252,000 131,000 137,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,148,000 277,000 323,000 217,000 151,000 180,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,098,000 297,000 315,000 260,000 110,000 115,000
4 BLUE MURDER ABC 1,080,000 356,000 281,000 156,000 154,000 132,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,068,000 262,000 295,000 199,000 148,000 163,000

Updated 10 am Friday November 16

To read about and discuss Channel Ten's new programming plans and its new target audience, click here.

After a noisy campaign partly conducted via this column, the fans of Stargate persuaded Channel Seven to bring back Stargate Atlantis. Seven showed scepticism by playing it at 11.30 pm Thursdays, judging the fans to be insomniacs. Result: SGA got 280,000 viewers. Sounds like a small number but it was an essential part of Seven's success last night, because the first half of the show falls within the period known as "prime time". Considering its timeslot, SGA is doing better than Ten's David Tench Tonight (509,000 at 9.30pm) and Jericho (754,000 at 8.30pm).

Seven won Thursday with 30.8 per cent of the prime time audience (and is ahead for the week), while Nine got 29.3, Ten got 19.2, ABC got 15.1 and SBS got 5.7.

What Australia watched, Thursday
1. Seven News Seven 1.36
2. Today Tonight Seven 1.32
3. Home and Away Seven 1.31
4. Bones Seven 1.27
5. A Current Affair Nine 1.26
6. Nine News Nine 1.20
7. My Name Is Earl Seven 1.16
8. Temptation Nine 1.16
9. RPA Nine 1.13
10. Getaway Nine 1.08
11. Jamie's Kitchen Ten 1.07
12. How I Met Your Mother Seven 1.05
13. ABC News ABC 0.97
14. The Amazing Race Seven 0.92
15. Big Questions Nine 0.90
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Thursday November 16

Another pillar of Channel Nine's success has fallen. Today's underrated newsreader, Sharyn Ghidella (pictured), who also does the newsreading on the service Nine sells to Qantas, announced yesterday that she was quitting after 14 years and leaving Sydney for a newsreading role in Brisbane at Seven in February.

The ABC must be seriously questioning its decision to smash The Glasshouse at the end of this year. Last night the three jokers pulled in another 100,000 viewers to hit 945,000 in the mainland capitals, entering the top 15 for the first time. The Glassie's less controversial cousin, Spicks and Specks, is also on the up and up, pulling 1.2 million last night. Unfortunately for Channel Ten, S&S appeals to the kind of people who might enjoy Tripping Over, which has settled at 803,000. Perhaps a way for the ABC to gain extra funds would be to receive bribes from the commercial stations to reschedule its most competitive programs.

Channel Seven won Wednesday with 31.3 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 26.7, Ten got 19.3, ABC got a very healthy 17.7 and SBS got 4.6.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
1. Border Security Seven 1.72m
2. Police Files Seven 1.63
3. Seven News Seven 1.45
4. Home and Away Seven 1.41
5. Today Tonight Seven 1.36
6. Criminal Minds Seven 1.35
7. A Current Affair Nine 1.23
8. Spicks and Specks ABC 1.22
9. Nine News Nine 1.29
10. Temptation Nine 1.16
11. McLeod's Daughters Nine 1.15
12. CSI: Miami Nine 1.12
13. ABC News ABC 1.01
14. The Glass House ABC 0.94
15. House Ten 0.92
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Wednesday November 15
The once all-conquering Dancing With The Stars is going out with more of a whimper than a bang -- only 1.7 million viewers in the mainland capitals last night, with just two weeks to go before the grand finale. At this point in the last season, it was pulling more than 2 million. Are we growing sick of celebs, sick of Daryl, or sick of glitter? Nevertheless, Channel Seven won Tuesday with 33.6 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 28.7, Ten got 20.1, ABC got 13.2 and SBS got 4.5.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
1. Dancing with the Stars Seven 1.70m
2. All Saints Seven 1.45
3. Today Tonight Seven 1.44
4. Home and Away Seven 1.43
5. Seven News Seven 1.34
6. Nine News Nine 1.30
7. CSI Nine 1.28
8. 20 to 1 Nine 1.25
9. A Current Affair Nine 1.23
10. Temptation Nine 1.15
11. The Simpsons 7:30pm Ten 0.99
12. ABC News ABC 0.96
13. The Closer Nine 0.95
14. Neighbours Ten 0.84
15. Ten News Ten 0.84
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Tuesday, November 14
Eddie McGuire prematurely expostulated a few weeks back that Channel Nine had "won the year" in the TV ratings. Now that fuller figures are available, it turns out he was right. But advertisers trying to decide where to place their money next year and viewers trying to decide where to place their trust next year may consider it a hollow victory, because it's built upon too many Ifs and Buts for comfort.

Nine can only claim it's Still The One ...

IF the fortnight of the Commonwealth Games is included in calculating the average audience for the year. Since there won't be such an event next year, will the advertisers let Nine use this as evidence of a continuing ascendancy? When you exclude the Games, Nine's average audience is down 4 per cent on 2005.

IF you forget that much of Nine's success this year was due to its presentation of AFL games. Next year the AFL will be shared by Ten and Seven.

IF you ignore the embarassing detail that Nine had only one genuine hit show -- CSI, and that looks like being the only successful drama Nine will receive as part of its American production deals in the first half of next year.

IF you think an average audience of 1.4 million for What's Good For You, Dancing on Ice and 20 to 1 is evidence that Nine has the creativity to make Australian shows that will appeal to the kind of mass audience a broadcast network needs.

AND IF you ignore the detail that the group with which Nine did best this year -- the over 55s -- are the segment most likely to die soon or move to the ABC, which, in the minds of advertisers, is the same thing.

We suspect that any celebratory plonk Eddie McGuire opens this week is more likely to be spumante than champagne. Lets look at the fine detail ...

The shows Australia loved this year: 1 Dancing With The Stars (7); 2 Border Security (7); 3 Thank God You're Here (10); 4 Medical Emergency (7); 5 Desperate Housewives (7); 6 CSI (9); 7 House (10); 8 Nine news Sunday (9); 9 Grey's Anatomy (7); 10 Australian Idol (10).

The shows Australia hated this year: 1 Yasmin's Getting Married (10); 2 The Master (7); 3 You May Be Right (7); 4 Overhaul (9); 5 Magda's Funny Bits (9); 6 Girlband (10); 7 Clever (9); 8 The New Adventures of Old Christine (9); 9 Survivor Cook Islands (9); 10 David Tench Tonight (10).

How the networks performed (average audience over the whole day, weeks 7 to 44, compared to last year): ABC down 9.4 per cent; Ten down 0.9 per cent; Nine up 0.1 per cent; SBS up 0.4 per cent; Seven up 4.2 per cent; All free to air television down 0.3 per cent; All pay television up 20.4 per cent.

How the networks performed in prime time: (average audience between 6pm and midnight, weeks 7 to 44, excluding Commonwealth Games period): SBS down 10.9 per cent; ABC down 4.5 per cent; Nine down 4.5 per cent; Seven up 2.1 per cent; Ten up 2.1 per cent; All free to air TV down 1.4 per cent; All Pay TV up 17.8 per cent.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). His latest book is Soffritto -- A delicious Ligurian memoir. For further observations of Australian attitudes and behaviour, go to www.smh.com.au/tribalmind.

Updated 10 am, Tuesday November 14
Channel Nine won Monday with 27.5 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 26.5, Ten got 23.1, ABC got 16.3 and SBS got 6.6.

What Australia watched, Monday
1. Australian Idol Ten 1.55m
2. A Current Affair Nine 1.40
3. Nine News Nine 1.33
4. Seven News Seven 1.32
5. Criminal Minds Seven 1.30
6. Home and Away Seven 1.29
7. What's Good For You Nine 1.28
8. Temptation Nine 1.28
9. Today Tonight Seven 1.26
10. Law and Order: SVU Ten 1.12
11. ABC News ABC 1.05
12. What A Year Nine 0.99
13. Cold Case Nine 0.92
14. The Great Outdoors Seven 0.92
15. Futurama Ten 0.91
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Monday November 13
Apart from the Swedes, Australians are the world's biggest Abba-lovers. From the 70s to the 90s we bought more Abba records per capita than any other English-speaking country. And our fascination continued last night when 1.3 million people in the mainland capitals watched Channel Nine's Abbamania special. That helped Nine win Sunday with 30.2 per cent of the prime time audience, followed by Ten on 25.3, Seven on 23.5, ABC on 17.1 and SBS on 3.9.

Channel Seven did not benefit from its curious decision to make itself look like the ABC for the night, by running a BBC dramatisation about a superstar even older than Abba -- Tutankhamen -- followed by a British detective movie. Seven's lack of energy helped the ABC to draw a healthy million to Stepfather of the Bride, the latest work by Australia's greatest comic writer, Geoffrey Atherden. Now if Atherden could just write a series about Abba, he'd have Australia by the heartstrings ...

What Australia watched, Sunday
1. Australian Idol Ten 1.76m
2. 60 Minutes Nine 1.49
3. 20 to 1 repeat Nine 1.43
4. Seven News Seven 1.42
5. ABBA Mania Nine 1.26
6. Nine News Nine 1.20
7. The Real Seachange Seven 1.14
8. Movie: Van Helsing Ten 1.10
9. A Touch of Frost Seven 1.05
10. Stepfather of the Bride ABC 1.05
11. ABC News ABC 1.02
12. Egypt Seven 0.94
13. Wild Europe ABC 0.86
14. It's Me Or The Dog Ten 0.84
15. Ten News Ten 0.83
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

And here's what Australia watched on Pay TV last week:
1 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY FOX Sports 3 155,530
2 LIVE: RUGBY LEAGUE: TRI NATIONS FOX Sports 2 119,696
3 LIVE: CRICKET: PRIME MINISTERS XI FOX Sports 3 78,432
4 MOVIE: SKY HIGH Disney Channel 74,984
5 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE MEL V PERTH FOX Sports 3 71,557
6 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE ADEL V PERTH FOX Sports 2 67,174
7 FAMILY GUY FOX8 65,039
8 AMERICAN DAD! FOX8 56,906
9 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE QLD V ADEL FOX Sports 3 53,210
10 WWE RAW FOX8 51,032

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 10:21 AM
• Comments (204)

The tribal mind: Week 45

This blog is now a heritage item -- worth studying but no longer current. For the latest discussion on TV trends, click here

Updated 10 am Sunday November 12
Channels Nine and Seven were neck and neck in prime time audience for most of the week, and Nine was hoping that the umpteenth showing of The Wizard of Oz on Saturday night would pull it over the line. But after 61 years, Dorothy does not have as many friends as she used to -- The Wiz conjured only 702,000 in the mainland capitals -- with the result that Seven won the week by averaging 28.8 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 27.2 per cent, Ten got 21.6, ABC got 17.0 and SBS got 5.3.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). His latest book is Soffritto -- A delicious Ligurian memoir. For further observations of Australian attitudes and behaviour, go to www.smh.com.au/tribalmind.

What Australia watched, week ending November 11
1 MELBOURNE CUP-THE RACE Seven 2,272,000 512,000 1,061,000 356,000 161,000 182,000
2 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Ten 1,853,000 517,000 615,000 324,000 181,000 215,000
3 DANCING WITH THE STARS Seven 1,787,000 560,000 558,000 277,000 185,000 207,000
4 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,636,000 444,000 467,000 303,000 213,000 210,000
5 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,547,000 420,000 468,000 289,000 161,000 209,000
6 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,546,000 492,000 545,000 175,000 165,000 169,000
7 60 MINUTES Nine 1,452,000 421,000 375,000 343,000 142,000 171,000
8 AUSTRALIAN IDOL LIVE VERDICT Ten 1,446,000 447,000 391,000 254,000 166,000 188,000
9 CSI Nine 1,411,000 415,000 384,000 292,000 163,000 158,000
10 20 TO 1 RPT Nine 1,382,000 405,000 433,000 267,000 147,000 130,000
11 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,360,000 345,000 406,000 245,000 157,000 206,000
12 20 TO 1 Nine 1,356,000 348,000 444,000 226,000 159,000 180,000
13 CSI: MIAMI Nine 1,336,000 318,000 456,000 273,000 144,000 146,000
14 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,335,000 338,000 407,000 239,000 149,000 202,000
15 POLICE FILES UNLOCKED Seven 1,330,000 356,000 399,000 251,000 144,000 180,000
16 SEVEN NEWS SUNDAY Seven 1,324,000 394,000 286,000 305,000 153,000 186,000
17 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,310,000 373,000 399,000 233,000 124,000 182,000
18 CSI RPT Nine 1,290,000 329,000 435,000 225,000 145,000 157,000
19 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,282,000 368,000 388,000 217,000 143,000 167,000
20 RPA Nine 1,218,000 375,000 387,000 161,000 155,000 140,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
1 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC 1,128,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,117,000
3 NEW TRICKS-EV ABC 1,098,000
4 GREAT COMEDY CLASSICS Seven 1,014,000
5 BEST AND WORST OF RED FACES Seven 1,003,000
6 NINE NEWS SAT Nine 988,000
7 THE BILL ABC 936,000
8 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Nine 930,000
9 THE LAST DETECTIVE ABC 883,000
10 CELEBRATING 50 YEARS OF ABC TV ABC 843,000
What Australia watched, Friday
1 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,304,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,282,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,281,000
4 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,200,000
5 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,107,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,074,000
7 MOTORWAY PATROL Nine 1,062,000
8 BLUE MURDER ABC 1,058,000
9 TEMPTATION Nine 1,055,000
10 A TOUCH OF FROST: A NEAR DEATH EXPERIENCE Seven 893,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Friday November 10
Did you go late night shopping and then to dinner last night? Or, if you stayed home, did you rent a DVD? Looks like that's what thousands of Australian families have started doing on Thursday nights -- since they sure as hell ain't watching much TV. Big Questions, Nine's attempted clone of Spicks and Specks, is going the way of You May Be Right, Seven's attempted clone of Spicks and Specks. Why is it that viewers only want to have fun with popular culture on the ABC?

Seven won Thursday with 30.1 per cent of what little prime time audience there was (and looks like winning the week), while Nine got 27.5, Ten got 19.8, ABC got 16.0 and SBS got 6.3.

What Australia watched, Thursday
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,329,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,295,000
3 BONES Seven 1,214,000
4 RPA Nine 1,214,000
5 JAMIE'S KITCHEN - AUSTRALIA Ten 1,175,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,172,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,159,000
8 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 1,123,000
9 TEMPTATION Nine 1,120,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 1,119,000
11 GETAWAY Nine 1,048,000
12 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 966,000
13 ABC NEWS ABC 959,000
14 FAMILY FOOTSTEPS ABC 846,000
15 THE AMAZING RACE 8 Seven 841,000
16 JERICHO Ten 831,000
17 BIG QUESTIONS Nine 829,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainalnd capitals)

Updated 10 am Thursday November 9
The first of the big Australian season finales happened last night -- Thank God You're Here -- and it managed a healthy but not spectacular 1.85 million, despite a superb combination of makeup and acting that turned Hamish Blake into an 85 year old man. The figure was less than expected (the finale of TGYH's previous season got 2.1 million), probably because Ten stretched it over 90 minutes, and its fans tend to have short attention spans.

The table below demonstrates that Tripping Over is continuing to shed viewers, and The Glasshouse seems to have gained about 100,000 loyalists from the publicity about its demise. Seven won Wednesday with 28.6 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 26.5, Ten got 26.2, ABC got 15.0 and SBS got 3.6.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
1 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Ten 1,853,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,547,000
3 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,442,000
4 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,433,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,373,000
6 CSI: MIAMI Nine 1,331,000
7 POLICE FILES UNLOCKED Seven 1,330,000
8 NATIONAL NINE NEWS Nine 1,233,000
9 MCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS Nine 1,209,000
10 TEMPTATION Nine 1,189,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,174,000
12 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,160,000
13 ABC NEWS ABC 982,000
14 TRIPPING OVER Ten 965,000
15 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 933,000
16 ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS ABC 869,000
17 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 836,000
18 FUTURAMA Ten 824,000
19 NEIGHBOURS Ten 818,000
20 THE GLASS HOUSE ABC 813,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Wednesday November 8
At least 2.3 million people in the mainland capitals watched the race yesterday. We have to say "at least" because OzTAM's people meters do not reach into pubs, clubs, restaurants and offices. That figure suggests it was one of the least watched Melbourne Cups of this decade, but that may be because more people than last year got out of their pyjamas and watched it outside their homes. To compare yesterday's audience with other great Australian sporting events, click here.

Seven won Tuesday with 34.6 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 27.9, Ten got 18.4, ABC got 13.1 and SBS got 6.0.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
1. Melbourne Cup race (7) 2.27m
2. Dancing With The Stars (7) 1.79m
3. All Saints (7) 1.55m
4. Seven News (7) 1.50m
5. Today Tonight (7) 1.47m
6. Hopme and Away (7) 1.41m
7. 20 to 1 (9) 1.35m
8. CSI rpt (9) 1.29m
9. Nine news 1.26m
10. A Current Affair (9) 1.24m
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Tuesday November 7
Channel Seven thought it could rely on a Monday habit in 2 million Australians -- that most of those who tuned in regularly for Grey's Anatomy would tune in again even when Grey's was replaced by Criminal Minds. It didn't happen. Last night CM at 8.30 got exactly the same audience it had been getting at 9.30.

It looks as if 800,000 people have founding something other than broadcast television to enjoy on Monday nights -- like watching downloads of the new US season or -- more legally -- watching DVDs of their favourite shows.

Even without any particular hits, Nine won Monday with 27.6 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 26.4, Ten got 22.0, ABC got 16.5 and SBS got 7.6 (thanks to 735,000 for Mythbusters).

Meanwhile, Channel Ten is over the moon about the renaissance of Australian Idol this year. Ten reported yesterday that the Idol website (www.australianidol.bigpond.com.au) is achieving record use, with average page impressions of 250,000 a day, up 49% on the corresponding period last year, and average user sessions of around 9 minutes (which finally gives us a precise measure of the attention span of Idol fans).

Ten says Australian Idol is Australia's most popular television program website, as reported by the Nielsen/NetRatings Market Intelligence TV category. Google is the top search engine used by people seeking the Australian Idol site; TEN's website is the second external referral source.

What Australia watched, Monday
Description STN Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 AUSTRALIAN IDOL LIVE VERDICT Ten 1,406,000 434,000 374,000 252,000 161,000 185,000
2 NINE NEWS Nine 1,341,000 371,000 421,000 289,000 123,000 138,000
3 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,318,000 371,000 399,000 224,000 131,000 194,000
4 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,291,000 363,000 403,000 271,000 116,000 139,000
5 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,260,000 310,000 312,000 255,000 176,000 208,000
6 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,235,000 299,000 343,000 244,000 158,000 191,000
7 TEMPTATION Nine 1,211,000 361,000 322,000 271,000 139,000 117,000
8 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,181,000 290,000 367,000 250,000 134,000 139,000
9 LAW AND ORDER: SVU RPT Ten 1,172,000 359,000 328,000 220,000 131,000 134,000
10 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU Nine 1,158,000 307,000 336,000 270,000 127,000 118,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Monday November 6
Aussies love a grand finale, even when it doesn't involve footy. We can ignore a show for most of its season, but as soon as we hear the last episode is on the way, we rush back to learn how it all turned out -- or to be hung off cliffs till the next season. Earlier thiis year, for example, The Biggest Loser averaged 1.4 million viewers but finished with 2.3 m, while House averaged 1.7 million but finished with 2.1 million.

Last Monday, the season final of Grey's Anatomy pulled the biggest audience the show has ever achieved, leaving 2 million of us desperate to know if Izzy will ever work as a doctor again, if Bourke will regain the use of his hand, if Meredith and McDreamy are back together, and if George will end up gay, like the actor who plays him.

Still to come this year are the grand finales of Australian Idol, Dancing With The Stars and Thank God You're Here. Which suggests a competitition that will test how well you understand the Australian psyche. Can you predict how many people in the mainland capitals will watch those conclusions? Necessary background: The previous season of DWTS averaged 2.1 million and its finale got 2.7m, but this season it has averaged only 1.7m; the last Australian Idol averaged 1.4m and its final got 1.9m, and this season it has averaged 1.5m; the last TGYH averaged 1.7 and ended with 2.1m, and this season is averaging 1.7m again.

Register your predictions below. There'll be a handsome prize in a red cover for the psychic who comes closest. Nine won Sunday with 29.9 per cent of the prime time audience, while Ten got 25.9, Seven got 22.4, ABC got 17.8 and SBS got 4.0.

What Australia watched, Sunday
1. Idol Ten 1.60
2. 60 Minutes Nine 1.45
3. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nine 1.41
4. 20 to 1 Nine 1.37
5. Seven News Seven 1.31
6. National Nine News Nine 1.21
7. The ABC Of Our Lives ABC 1.15
8. School of Rock Ten 1.15
9. The Real Seachange Seven 1.13
10. CSI: NY Nine 1.10
11. ABC News ABC 0.94
12. Seabiscuit Seven 0.92
13. Wild Europe ABC 0.87
14. Ten News Ten 0.80
15. It's Me Or The Dog Ten 0.71
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am, Sunday November 5
Nine won week 45, but only just, averaging 28.7 per cent of the prime time audience to Seven's 28.5, while Ten felt its Australian Idol audience slipping away and managed just 21.0 per cent, the ABC got 17.0 per cent and SBS got 4.8 per cent.

What Australia watched, week to November 4
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,959,000 555,000 638,000 338,000 189,000 240,000
2 CSI Nine 1,842,000 487,000 584,000 337,000 213,000 221,000
3 60 MINUTES Nine 1,689,000 463,000 514,000 335,000 162,000 215,000
4 DANCING WITH THE STARS Seven 1,667,000 503,000 501,000 260,000 178,000 225,000
5 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE 2 Ten 1,556,000 485,000 460,000 266,000 168,000 177,000
6 20 TO 1 Nine 1,450,000 371,000 501,000 255,000 147,000 176,000
7 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,432,000 379,000 407,000 272,000 145,000 229,000
8 CSI RPT Nine 1,390,000 388,000 471,000 235,000 144,000 151,000
9 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,385,000 386,000 406,000 244,000 188,000 161,000
10 POLICE FILES UNLOCKED Seven 1,329,000 341,000 375,000 253,000 149,000 211,000
11 AUSTRALIAN IDOL LIVE VERDICT Ten 1,327,000 387,000 369,000 223,000 153,000 195,000
12 CSI: NY Nine 1,326,000 360,000 452,000 210,000 180,000 125,000
13 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,314,000 381,000 441,000 167,000 163,000 162,000
14 CSI: MIAMI Nine 1,306,000 362,000 362,000 299,000 160,000 123,000
15 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,300,000 351,000 339,000 243,000 158,000 210,000
16 THE REAL SEACHANGE Seven 1,275,000 346,000 376,000 226,000 136,000 190,000
17 SEVEN NEWS - SUNDAY Seven 1,272,000 356,000 326,000 253,000 140,000 196,000
18 ARIA MUSIC AWARDS Ten 1,262,000 390,000 415,000 171,000 173,000 112,000
19 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,260,000 363,000 362,000 234,000 119,000 181,000
20 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,256,000 346,000 397,000 266,000 128,000 120,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched on Pay TV
1 LIVE: CRICKET: ICC CHAMPIONS TROPHY FOX Sports 3 109,416
2 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE MELB V C'CST FOX Sports 3 101,172
3 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE SYD V PERTH FOX Sports 3 69,815
4 FAMILY GUY FOX8 67,338
5 AMERICAN DAD! FOX8 62,340
6 CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY Movie One 60,868
7 MOTORSPORT: MOTORWORLD FOX Sports 2 55,574
8 SAW II Showtime 54,341
9 SMACKDOWN! FOX8 54,003
10 LAW & ORDER: SVU TV1 50,873

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 10:14 AM
• Comments (147)

The tribal mind: Week 44

This blog is now a heritage item -- worth studying but no longer current. For the latest discussion on TV trends, click here

Updated 10 am, Sunday November 4.
Nine won the week, but only just, averaging 28.7 per cent of the prime time audience to Seven's 28.5, while Ten felt its Australian Idol audience slipping away and managed just 21.0 per cent, the ABC got 17.0 per cent and SBS got 4.8 per cent. Seven got a boost from Better Homes and Gardens on Friday but Nine got a longer boost, at least in Sydney and Brisbane, from the rugby league on Saturday (see tables below)

What Australia watched, Saturday
1 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,182,000 259,000 409,000 262,000 136,000 116,000
2 SEVEN NEWS SATURDAY Seven 1,143,000 306,000 263,000 213,000 145,000 216,000
3 BEST AND WORST OF RED FACES Seven 1,076,000 276,000 358,000 169,000 123,000 151,000
4 ABC NEWS SATURDAY ABC 1,063,000 301,000 329,000 170,000 119,000 144,000
5 NEW TRICKS ABC 1,038,000 279,000 311,000 163,000 134,000 152,000
6 GREAT COMEDY CLASSICS Seven 983,000 222,000 321,000 162,000 145,000 133,000
7 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Nine 969,000 274,000 321,000 156,000 108,000 110,000
8 2006 RUGBY LEAGUE TRI-NATIONS SERIES Nine 961,000 416,000 165,000 357,000 17,000 6,000
9 THE LAST DETECTIVE ABC 913,000 261,000 289,000 166,000 106,000 90,000
10 THE BILL ABC 868,000 242,000 266,000 146,000 101,000 114,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Friday
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1.26m
2 BLUE MURDER ABC 1.22
3 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1.19
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1.17
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1.17
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1.12
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,09
8 TEMPTATION Nine 1,06
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Thursday
1. Temptation Nine 1.34m
2. Seven News Seven 1.31
3. A Current Affair Nine 1.25
4. Jamie's Kitchen Ten 1.24
5. Today Tonight Seven 1.23
6. RPA Nine 1.23
7. Home and Away Seven 1.20
8. Nine News Nine 1.18
9. My Name Is Earl Seven 1.13
10. Getaway Nine 1.12
11. Celebrity Survivor Seven 1.11
12. How I Met Your Mother Seven 0.99
13. Family Footsteps ABC 0.98
14. Big Questions Nine 0.94
15. Jericho Ten 0.91
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)
Channel Seven won Thursday with 30.1 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 29.2 (and will probably win the week), Ten got 20.4, ABC got 15.5 and SBS got 4.7.

Updated 10 am, Thursday November 2.
The ratings table below will answer five key questions this column has raised about the current state of TV programming:
1 Is Ten's new youth drama Tripping Over a hit or a flop? (Background: last week it attracted 1.3 million).
2 How will Border Security rate when moved from its Tuesday comfort zone? (Average Tuesday audience 2.0 million).
3 Will BS take viewers from Thank God You're Here? (TGYH averages 1.7 million).
4 Will Criminal Minds find a new audience in an earlier timeslot on a different night? (On Mondays at 9.40 it attracts 1.1 million).
5 How will the publicity about axing affect the ratings for The Glasshouse? (Last week it got 701,000).

Nine won Wednesday with 29.0 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 26.9, Ten got 24.4, ABC got 16.0 and SBS got 3.6.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE 2 Ten 1,556,000 485,000 460,000 266,000 168,000 177,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,432,000 379,000 407,000 272,000 145,000 229,000
3 POLICE FILES UNLOCKED Seven 1,329,000 341,000 375,000 253,000 149,000 211,000
4 CSI: MIAMI Nine 1,302,000 361,000 358,000 299,000 161,000 123,000
5 TEMPTATION Nine 1,301,000 356,000 363,000 288,000 144,000 150,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,273,000 333,000 411,000 274,000 138,000 118,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,255,000 363,000 361,000 253,000 123,000 155,000
8 NINE NEWS Nine 1,214,000 330,000 373,000 261,000 137,000 113,000
9 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,214,000 395,000 265,000 217,000 159,000 178,000
10 MCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS Nine 1,170,000 327,000 308,000 267,000 154,000 114,000
11 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,165,000 329,000 278,000 234,000 147,000 179,000
12 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,101,000 317,000 308,000 226,000 140,000 110,000
13 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,083,000 295,000 319,000 183,000 120,000 166,000
14 TRIPPING OVER Ten 1,032,000 292,000 366,000 158,000 90,000 125,000
15 ABC NEWS ABC 967,000 276,000 283,000 156,000 110,000 142,000
16 E.R. Nine 858,000 275,000 312,000 165,000 106,000
17 NCIS RPT Ten 851,000 219,000 276,000 151,000 112,000 94,000
18 THE GLASS HOUSE ABC 835,000 282,000 226,000 158,000 99,000 69,000
19 FUTURAMA Ten 798,000 178,000 230,000 151,000 113,000 126,000
20 THE IT CROWD ABC 783,000 207,000 206,000 197,000 91,000 83,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates. mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am, Wednesday November 1.
Sometimes a show does well because of its timeslot rather than because of any special merits of its own. The test of whether Border Security (average audience 2 million) is one of those shows will be tonight, when Channel Seven moves it out of its traditional Tuesday comfort zone into competition with Ten's biggest hit of the year, Thank God You're Here (average audience 1.7 million). Care to offer a bet on how well it will do?

Seven won Tuesday with 32.5 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 31.6, Ten got 17.9, ABC got 14.0 and SBS got 3.9. (The Wedge got 696,000; Rove got 757,000).
What Australia watched, Tuesday
1. Dancing with the Stars Seven 1.66m
2. CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Nine 1.43
3. 20 to 1 Nine 1.41
4. A Current Affair Nine 1.35
5. Seven News Seven 1.34
6. Temptation Nine 1.31
7. All Saints Seven 1.31
8. Home and Away Seven 1.27
9. Today Tonight Seven 1.23
10. Nine News Nine 1.20
11. The Closer Nine 1.03
12. ABC News ABC 1.00
13. The Simpsons 7:30pm Ten 0.94
14. The Bill ABC 0.84
15. Ten News Ten 0.78
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am, Tuesday October 31
Grey's Anatomy went out with its biggest audience ever -- 1.96 million in the mainland capitals, suggesting that if Channel Seven had continued with episodes from the new US season, it might just have knocked Channel Nine off the number one spot for the year. It's hard to imagine Criminal Minds getting anywhere near that figure when it moves in the Grey's timeslot next week.

Perhaps Seven feels it doesn't need to try any more. It put out a release yesterday saying that for the ratings year so far (excluding Commonwealth Games) it has averaged 1,216,481 viewers a night, while Nine has averaged 1,215,273 viewers a night. The difference would have been greater with more Grey's.

Seven won Monday with 32.1 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 25.3, Ten got 20.6, ABC got 15.9 and SBS got 6.2.

What Australia watched, Monday
1. Grey's Anatomy Seven 1.95m
2. Home and Away Seven 1.40
3. Seven News Seven 1.36
4. Australian Idol Ten 1.31
5. A Current Affair Nine 1.27
6. Today Tonight Seven 1.26
7. What's Good For You Nine 1.24
8. Nine News Nine 1.22
9. Criminal Minds Seven 1.17
10. Temptation Nine 1.17
11. The Great Outdoors Seven 1.09
12. Law and Order: SVU Ten 1.07
13. ABC News ABC 0.93
14. What A Year Nine 0.92
15. Australian Story ABC 0.86
(OzTAM preliminary figures, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am, Monday October 30
The collapse of Channel Nine's Overhaul (down from a pathetic 869,000 viewers last week to 642,000 last night) could symbolise at least three things: the end of the "lifestyle" fad; the end of the makeover fad; and the end of the celebrity fad.

Background: Last year, Celebrity Overhaul attracted 1.5 million viewers, but after Dancing on Ice scraped the last dregs from the bottom of the celebrity barrel earlier this year, Nine found a bunch of ordinary fatties and hoped they might interest the 1.3 million who had followed Ten's The Biggest Loser. Instead, (celeb-free) Overhaul became the biggest loser of the week. Given Nine's chronic impatience, we're taking bets on how soon Overhaul will move to an insomniac timeslot or disappear altogether.

Nevertheless, Nine won Sunday (thanks to CSI) with 30.9 per cent of the prime time audience, while Ten got 27.9 per cent (thanks to Idol and the ARIAs), Seven got 21.4, ABC got 14.5 and SBS got 5.2.

What Australia watched, Sunday
1. CSI Nine 1.83m
2. 60 Minutes Nine 1.69
3. Idol Ten 1.35
4. CSI: NY Nine 1.30
5. The ARIA Awards Ten 1.29
6. The Real Seachange Seven 1.27
7. Seven News Seven 1.26
8. Nine News Nine 1.14
9. Medical Emergency Seven 1.12
10. ABC News ABC 1.06
11. Operatunity Oz ABC 0.92
12. The Einstein Factor ABC 0.72
13. Ten News Ten 0.70
14. Good As Gold Seven 0.69
15. Space Race ABC 0.65
(OzTAM preliminary figures, mainland capitals)

Updated 4pm Sunday October 29
An audience of 1.29 million puts Ten's hot new drama Tripping Over on the knife edge between hit and flop. If its audience goes up even a bit this week, we'll say it's a triumph for Australian creativity -- the new SeaChange or Secret Life of Us. If the audience drops even a bit, we can blame the English co-producers for failing to undertand Australian tastes.

What's puzzling Channel Ten is that a quarter of the people who watched Thank God You're Here in the hour before Tripping Over on Wednesday didn't stay with the new drama. Most likely they were children sent to bed by parents protecting them from nudity, swearing and drugging.

Tripping equalled the audience of Seven's All Saints and easily beat Mcleod's Daughters, which managed only 1.15 million despite Nine's efforts to sex it up. But it would not need to lose too many viewers to find itself joining The Alice, Last Man Standing and Headland in the wastebasket of Great Australian "could-have-beens".

Nine and Seven both won the week, each averaging 27.8 per cent of the prime time audience, while Ten got 22.4 per cent, ABC got 16.9 per cent, and SBS got 5.1 per cent.

This column needs to correct a false impression we gave last Monday. Tonight is the season finale of Greys Anatomy and Seven will not be continuing with episodes from the new US season. They should, but they have decided not to. Instead they're moving Criminal Minds into the 8.40 slot.

What Australia watched, week ending October 28
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,849,000 522,000 579,000 334,000 198,000 216,000
2 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE 2 Ten 1,813,000 464,000 653,000 317,000 172,000 207,000
3 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,778,000 520,000 568,000 289,000 237,000 165,000
4 DANCING WITH THE STARS 5 Seven 1,677,000 552,000 511,000 254,000 190,000 171,000
5 60 MINUTES Nine 1,665,000 462,000 539,000 338,000 166,000 160,000
6 CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION Nine 1,568,000 487,000 473,000 276,000 192,000 140,000
7 THE BOURNE SUPREMACY Ten 1,474,000 472,000 463,000 229,000 153,000 156,000
8 AUSTRALIAN IDOL LIVE VERDICT Ten 1,450,000 435,000 391,000 270,000 157,000 197,000
9 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC 1,435,000 443,000 430,000 214,000 161,000 186,000
10 20 TO 1 Nine 1,405,000 364,000 423,000 285,000 161,000 172,000
11 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,370,000 385,000 429,000 222,000 135,000 200,000
12 CSI RPT Nine 1,363,000 355,000 380,000 274,000 173,000 181,000
13 THE REAL SEACHANGE Seven 1,352,000 429,000 396,000 263,000 130,000 134,000
14 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,352,000 354,000 367,000 259,000 163,000 209,000
15 SEVEN NEWS SUNDAY Seven 1,351,000 364,000 383,000 268,000 114,000 223,000
16 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,335,000 389,000 385,000 242,000 173,000 145,000
17 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU Nine 1,318,000 381,000 417,000 239,000 146,000 135,000
18 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,307,000 377,000 398,000 229,000 129,000 174,000
19 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,297,000 409,000 419,000 162,000 168,000 140,000
20 TRIPPING OVER Ten 1,291,000 351,000 458,000 188,000 120,000 174,000
21 JAMIE'S KITCHEN - AUSTRALIA Ten 1,277,000 330,000 416,000 209,000 176,000 146,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). His latest book is Soffritto -- A delicious Ligurian memoir. For further observations of Australian attitudes and behaviour, go to www.smh.com.au/tribalmind.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 10:00 AM
• Comments (228)

The tribal mind: Flicks and discs

As our favourite TV shows wound down towards their finales last month, Australians took the opportunity to saturate their senses in other entertainments. To ensure they hadn't missed any clues when they saw The Da Vinci Code at the cinema four months ago, they watched it again on DVD, with sales evenly divided between a single disc edition and a two disc edition which contains flabby "making of" docos and an extra 25 minutes of running and theorising. They also prepared themselves for the onstage appearances of David Walliams and Matt Lucas by buying Season Three of Little Britain, so they can repeat the lines along with the stars at the Entertainment Centre in February.

At the flicks, they gave Martin Scorsese the biggest hit he's ever had in Australia, by flocking to The Departed, and finally embraced Australian talent in the form of Rachel Griffiths in Step Up, Toni Collette in Little Miss Sunshine and the Jacobsen family in Kenny, which has passed Jindabyne as the most successful local production of the year. And the baby boomers queued in the record stores for the latest 60s rehash from Human Nature. Younger music fans stayed home and downloaded.

THE PLEASURES OF OCTOBER

Movies
1 The Devil Wears Prada (box office $14.7m)
2 The Departed ($7.1m)
3 Kenny ($6.1m)
4 Step Up ($6.0m)
5 Little Miss Sunshine ($3.2m)
(MPDAA)

Albums
1 Songs of Motown II (Human Nature)
2 Rudebox (Robbie Wiliams)
3 Sam's Town (The Killers)
4 The Open Door (Evanescence)
5 I'm Not Dead (Pink)
(ARIA)

DVDs
1 The Da Vinci Code
2 Over The Hedge
3 X-Men 3: The Last Stand
4 Little Britain Series 3
5 Steve Irwin Tribute
(GFK marketing)

We welcome your comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). His latest book is Soffritto -- A delicious Ligurian memoir. For further observations of Australian attitudes and behaviour, go to www.smh.com.au/tribalmind.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 01:12 AM
• Comments (3)