The Sun-Herald

WHO WE ARE: Yobbos, intellectuals and romantics

A weekly column by David Dale.
YOU can judge a nation by the ways it entertains itself. This column's holy grail is a unified field theory that will explain everything that Australians enjoy, and the best clues come at this time of year, when we can amalgamate the amusements upon which Australians spent their money. In the best tradition of scientific scholarship, lets examine the evidence before we offer the theory. Here's all you need to know about the shared cultural experiences of the great southern land this year ...

Australia's favourite movies of 2006 (in cinema and on DVD):
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest; The Chronicles of Narnia; The Da Vinci Code; Casino Royale; Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan; Ice Age 2: The Meltdown; Cars; The Devil Wears Prada; Over The Hedge; High School Musical; Kenny; X-Men 3: The Last Stand; Click; Walk The Line. All these flicks were seen by more than 900,000 of us.

Our favourite albums in 2006:
Back To Bedlam, James Blunt; The Winner's Journey, Damien Leith; Boned, the 12th Man; two Motown albums, Human Nature; I'm Not Dead, Pink; Tea and Sympathy, Bernard Fanning; Ultimate Kylie, Kylie Minogue; Wolfmother, Wolfmother; The Secret Life of, The Veronicas; Black Fingernails, Red Wine, Eskimo Joe; Here Come The Drums, Rogue Traders; Stadium Arcadium, Red Hot Chilli Peppers. Each of those was bought by more than 200,000 of us.

Our favourite television in 2006:
The Commonwealth Games opening; the footy finals;the Beaconsfield miners interview; Dancing with the Stars; Border Security; Thank God You're Here; The Men's Open Tennis Final; the Australia vs Italy World Cup match; Desperate Housewives; House; Grey's Anatomy; the Terri Irwin interview; CSI; The Biggest Loser. They were watched by more than two million of us.

Australia's favourite reading in 2006: the magazines Women's Weekly (610,000 copies a month); Woman's Day (526,000 a week); New Idea (432,000 a week); and Readers Digest (355,000 a month); and the books The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet (244,600); Spotless (Lush and Fleming -- 238,000); The Da Vinci Code (167,400); Sybil (Bryce Courtenay 157,500); Guinness World Records 2007 (157,450); Cross (James Patterson - 88,100); The Valley (Di Morrissey - 85,400).

Our favourite Google searches:
Qantas, Jetstar, Australian Idol, Steve Irwin, Paris Hilton, Trading Post, Myspace, Jessica Alba, AFL, Wikipedia. (For detail, go to the Australian section of google's monthly archives)

So there's your data. What does it make us:

A land of paranoid hypochondriacs, obsessed with conspiracies, invasions, spying, scrubbing and medical melodrama?
Or a land of romantic fantasists, obsessed with swordfights, saccharine ballads, childish magic, furry animals and shallow sentiment?
Or a land of idle gossips, obsessed with unsourced scandals, vacuous celebrities and hollow triumphs?
Or a land of headbanging yobbos, obsessed with footy, cricket, hard rock and toilet jokes?
Or a land of sophisticated intellectuals, obsessed with international politics, social satire, challenging plotlines, and complex character development?

The answer is yes, all of those things are us, and a lot more. If there's one point this column has been trying to make this year, it's that there is no such thing as the average Australian. There are many different average Australians and they all amuse themselves in different ways.

The mass market is dead. Long live the niches.

Published in The Sun-Herald, 24/12/2006.

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. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in Who We Are at 12:06 AM
• Comments (22)

Trends: Tele tubbies lap up soap

Does this woman make you so excited you feel obliged to order another deep dish stuffed crust double cheese meat lovers special with pineapple? Do Gretel Killeen and Mark Holden make you so disturbed you feel obliged to throw up? These are possible interpretations of research we've just received from the Roy Morgan organisation.

Recently The Tribal Mind within this column discussed a survey which showed that obese Americans watch NCIS, House, Cold Case, CSI and My Name Is Earl, while underweight Americans watch The Simpsons, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire, Charmed, South Park and America's Next Top Model (click here to read it). We wondered if anyone had investigated such waistband/taste correlations here.

Turns out Morgan's have done exactly this project, based on detailed interviews with 25,000 Australians over 18. These are the main results ...

Programs preferred by obese Australians: Judge Judy, The Young and the Restless, The Bold and the Beautiful, Sunrise, Today Tonight, Deal or No Deal, Medical Emergency, Home and Away, Dancing with the Stars, McLeod's Daughters.

Programs preferred by by underweight Australians: The OC, The Simpsons, Australian Idol, Thank God You're Here, Big Brother, House, Futurama, Oprah, CSI, South Park.

The researcher, Gary Morgan, says: "When television viewing is analysed by body mass index classifications, some obvious patterns emerge -- obese Australians are much more likely to watch daytime television, particularly soap operas; the more people weigh, the more television they watch."

But the real mystery is: What do the correlations mean? What is cause and what is effect? Do we choose certain shows because we're fat or thin, or do certain shows make us want to eat/exercise or stop eating/exercising? Lets hear your theories.

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.

• in The Tribal Mind at 12:06 AM
• Comments (12)

WHO WE ARE: A little examination

A column about Australia, by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 17/12/2006.
The only word for it is uncanny. Last Sunday in this column (see below) I discussed the US Government's plans for a new citizenship test, and suggested some questions that might be used if Australia were to follow suit. The very next day, John Howard announced he was going to introduce a test based on the American model.

I suggested last week that any citizenship test could source its questions from the little book Who We Are: A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin), which was inspired by this column's readers. Mr Howard did say on Monday that applicants for naturalisation would be given "reading materials" to prepare them for interrogation, so I live in hope. I fear, however, that he may have been having a slap at this column's inclusion of popular culture topics when he said: "This is not some kind of Trivial Pursuit". One person's Trivial Pursuit is another person's deep understanding of what separates human beings from the animals.

In any case, I have done some rethinking about the kind of questions that should be in the citizenship test. As Mr Howard knows, the reason Australia changed in the past 50 years from one of the dullest places on earth to one of the most interesting was immigration. If we're to avoid sinking back into boredom we must keep adding variety to the populace. So here's a quiz designed not to frighten away would-be citizens but to educate them about the land they want to make their own ...

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. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in Who We Are at 12:15 AM
• Comments (57)

The music Australia loves

THIS IS AN OUT OF DATE REPORT. TO SEE THE UPDATED CHARTS AND JOIN THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF AUSTRALIAN POPULAR CULTURE, GO TO http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

Lists of top selling albums and most successful performers, prepared by David Dale and last updated updated September, 2006

The top selling albums of the past ten years
1 Come On Over (Shania Twain)
2 Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morissette)
3 Innocent Eyes (Delta Goodrem)
4 Savage Garden (Savage Garden)
5 Falling Into You (Celine Dion)

6 Abba Gold (Abba)
7 Immaculate Collection (Madonna)
8 Recurring Dream (Crowded House)
9 Come Away With Me (Norah Jones)
10 Forgiven Not Forgotten (The Corrs)
11 Yourself or Someone Like You (Matchbox 20)
12 Forrest Gump (Soundtrack)
13 The Very Best of (The Eagles)
14 1 (The Beatles)
15 Affirmation (Savage Garden)
16 The Eminem Show (Eminem)
17 Live (Throwing Copper)
18 HIStory (Michael Jackson)
19 Get Born (Jet)
20 The Sound of White (Missy Higgins)
21 Unplugged (Eric Clapton)
22 Let Go (Avril Lavigne)
23 Barricades and Brickwalls (Kasey Chambers)
24 Fever (Kylie Minogue)
25 Odyssey No 5 (Powderfinger)
26 Remasters (Led Zeppelin)
27 Symbols (Led Zeppelin)
28 The Best of 1980-1990 (U2)
29 The Ultimate Collection (Creedence Clearwater Revival)
30 No Angel (Dido)
31 Back To Bedlam (James Blunt)
32 Just As I Am (Guy Sebastian)
33 Fallen (Evanescence)
34 That's What I'm Talking About (Shannon Noll)
35 Feeler (Pete Murray)
36 Life For Rent (Dido)
37 Michael Buble (Michael Buble)
38 Greatest Hits (Robbie Williams)
39 Breakaway (Kelly Clarkson)
40 Songs About Jane (Maroon 5)
41 Mistaken Identity (Delta Goodrem)
42 American Idiot (Green Day)
43 It's Time (Michael Buble)
44 Love Angel Music Baby (Gwen Stefani)
45 Monkey Business (Black Eyed Peas)
46 So Fresh - Hits of summer 2003 (Various)
Based on charts since 1995 from the Australian Record Industry Association

The all-time million sellers, according to ARIA accreditations

1. Bat Out of Hell (Meatloaf) 22 platinum*
2. Whispering Jack (John Farnham) 17p
3. Come On Over (Shania Twain) 15p
4. Jagged Little Pill (Alanis Morissette) 14p
5. Innocent Eyes (Delta Goodrem) 14p
6. Greatest Hits Collection (Queen) 13p
7. Thriller (Michael Jackson) 12p
8. Rumours (Fleetwood Mac) 12p
9. Savage Garden (Savage Garden) 12p
10. Falling Into You (Celine Dion) 12p
11. Abba Gold (Abba) 11p
12. Immaculate Collection (Madonna) 11p
13. Dark Side of the Moon (Pink Floyd) 11p
14. Recurring Dream (Crowded House) 11p
15. War of the Worlds (Jeff Wayne) 10p

*A recording is awarded platinum status each time it sells 70,000 copies. But not all record companies have supplied ARIA with sales information on all their performers, so the list above is incomplete. It lacks obvious million sellers such as The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Seekers, and Neil Diamond.
Till we find out for sure, we must rely on estimates like this ...

The all-time most popular musicians with Australian record buyers
Prepared by David Dale for The Sydney Morning Herald, based on each performer's total sales of vinyl and CD albums, using estimates from the Australian Record Industry Association and music researcher David Kent's Australian Chart Book.

Performer Biggest Year Bestselling Album
1 Elton John 1973 Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
2 The Beatles 1968 Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
3 Billy Joel 1976 Piano Man
4 Paul McCartney 1973 Band on the Run
5 Michael Jackson 1982 Thriller
7 Abba 1975 The Best of Abba
8 John Farnham 1986 Whispering Jack
9 Jimmy Barnes 1985 For The Working Class Man
10 Neil Diamond 1972 Hot August Night
11 Madonna 1990 The Immaculate Collection
12 Fleetwood Mac 1977 Rumours
13 The Rolling Stones 1971 Goat's Head Soup
14 Rod Stewart 1975 Atlantic Crossing
15 Dire Straits 1978 Brothers in Arms
16 Led Zeppelin 1973 Led Zeppelin II
17 Pink Floyd 1973 Dark Side of the Moon
18 Eurythmics 1985 Be Yourself Tonight
19 The Carpenters 1973 Now and Then
20 Celine Dion 1996 Falling Into You
21 Delta Goodrem 2003 Innocent Eyes
22 Savage Garden 1997 Savage Garden
23 Kylie Minogue 2001 Fever
24 Cat Stevens 1971 Teaser and the Firecat
25 Joe Cocker 1971 Cocker Happy
26 Mariah Carey 1994 Music Box
27 U2 1988 Rattle and Hum
28 INXS 1990 The Swing
29 Creedence Clearwater Revival 1970 Cosmo's Factory
30 Cold Chisel 1984 Twentieth Century
31 Midnight Oil 1983 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1
32 Deep Purple 1970 Deep Purple in Rock
33 Elvis Presley 2003 30 #1 Hits
34 The Seekers 1968 The Best of the Seekers
35 Crowded House 1986 Crowded House
36 Leo Sayer 1974 Just a Boy
37 Eagles 1976 Hotel California
38 Meat Loaf 1978 Bat Out of Hell
39 Split Enz 1980 True Colours
40 Australian Crawl 1981 Sirocco
41 Bette Midler 1980 Beaches
42 Lionel Richie 1983 Can't Slow Down
43 Eminem 2002 The Eminem Show
44 David Bowie 1973 Let's Dance
45 Police 1979 Synchronicity
46 Skyhooks 1975 Living in the 70s
47 Bob Dylan 1976 Desire
48 AC/DC 1976 Back in Black
49 The Bee Gees 1999 Saturday Night Fever
50 Queen 1976 Greatest Hits Collection
51 Van Morrison 1974 Astral Weeks

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. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 12:46 PM
• Comments (1)

Australia's all time favourite TV shows

THIS IS AN OUT OF DATE REPORT. TO SEE THE UPDATED CHARTS AND JOIN THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF AUSTRALIAN POPULAR CULTURE, GO TO http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
This contains charts of the most watched programs of the 20th century, prepared by David Dale and last updated October, 2006.

1. The top shows since 2001
Based on OzTAM's audience estimates for the mainland capitals. Series figures are for the most watched episode of the year.

1 Tennis: Aus Open final - Hewitt v Safin 2005 (7) 4.04 million
2 Rugby World Cup final 2003 (7) 4.01 million
3 Commonwealth Games Opening Ceremony 2006 (9) 3.56m
4 AFL Grand Final 2005 (10) 3.39m
5 Australian Idol Final Verdict 2004 (10) 3.35m

6 Australian Idol final 2003 (10) 3.30 m
7 AFL Grand Final 2006 (10) 3.15m
8 The Block auction 2003 (9) 3.11 m
9 September 11 reportage, September 12, 2001 (9, 7, ABC) 3.10 m
10 Wimbledon day 14 2001 (9) 3.04 m
11 AFL grand final 2003 (10) 2.96 m
12 Big Brother winner announced 2004 (10) 2.86m
13 Australian Idol Live from Opera House 2004 (10) 2.86 m
14 AFL Grand Final 2004 (10) 2.80 m
15 Beaconsfield miners interview 2006 (9) 2.79m
16 Big Brother finale 2001 (10) 2.78 m
17 The National IQ Test 2002 (9) 2.78 m
18 Tennis: Australian Open men's final 2006 (7) 2.75 m
19 Commonwealth Games Closing Ceremony 2006 (9) 2.74m
20 World Cup Soccer final 2002 (9) 2.70 m
21 Australia Unites: Reach out to Asia 2005 (7,9,10) 2.67m
22 Dancing With The Stars 4, finale, 2006 (7) 2.66m
23 AFL grand final 2002 (10) 2.62 m
24 AFL grand final 2001 (7) 2.60 m
25 NRL: Grand Final 2005 (9) 2.57 m
26 Seven news Sunday 2004 (7) 2.56m
27 NRL: Grand Final 2006 (9) 2.56m
28 Friends season finale 2001 (9) 2.54 m
29 World Swimming Championships day 8 2001 (9) 2.51 m
30 Melbourne Cup Race 2005 (7) 2.51m
31 Terri Irwin interview 2006 (9) 2.51m
32 Melbourne Cup race 2002 (7) 2.50 m
32 Rugby World Cup Aus v. Argentina 2003 (7) 2.49 m
33 Rugby World Cup opening ceremony 2003 (7) 2.49 m
34 Desperate Housewives opening 2005 (7) 2.48m
35 Nine Sunday news - Beaconsfield 2006 (9) 2.48m
36 Melbourne Cup race 2004 (7) 2.47m
37 Cricket World Cup final Aus v India 2003 (9) 2.46 m
38 Tennis: Aus Open men's semi-final Hewitt v Roddick 2005 (7) 2.46 m
39 Soccer: Australia beats Uruguay 2005 (SBS) 2.46m
40 Rugby World Cup semi final Aus v NZ 2003 (7) 2.43 m
41 Tennis: Aus Open women's round 4 Molik v Williams 2005 (7) 2.43m
42 Nine News Sunday 2003 (9) 2.42 m
43 Logie Awards 2001 (9) 2.41 m
44 Friends opening 2002 (9) 2.41 m
45 Ten news Sunday -- Bali bombings 2002 (10) 2.40 m
46 World Idol performance show 2003 (10) 2.40 m
47 Steve Irwin memorial service 2006 (ABC, 7, 9, 10) 2.39m
48 Rugby League grand final 2003 (9) 2.35 m
49 60 Minutes 2001 (9) 2.34 m
50 Lost premiere 2005 (7) 2.34 m
51 Dancing With The Stars 2 final 2005 (7) 2.33 m
52 Backyard Blitz 2001 (9) 2.32 m
53 The Biggest Loser finale 2006 (10) 2.31m
54 Big Brother final eviction 2002 (10) 2.30 m
55 World Cup: Aus v Italy 2006 (SBS) 2.30m
56 Athens Olympics Opening Ceremony 2004 (7) 2.29 m
57 The Block II auction 2004 (9) 2.28 m
58 Big Brother winner 2005 (10) 2.28m
59 Friends final 2004 (9) 2.27m
60 Big Brother final eviction 2003 (10) 2.27 m
61 Logie Awards 2004 (9) 2.27 m
62 Logie Arrivals 2006 (9) 2.26m
63 Survivor II: The Australian Outback final 2001 (9) 2.25 m
64 Celebrity Big Brother premiere 2002 (10) 2.25 m
65 Desperate Housewives season 2 opening 2006 (7) 2.25m
66 Melbourne Cup race 2003 (7) 2.24 m
67 Popstars 2001 (7) 2.23 m
68 Dancing With The Stars 3 finale 2005 (7) 2.22m.

Top shows so far in 2006: Commonwealth Games Opening (9) 3.5m; AFL Grand Final (10) 3.2m; Games Closing (9) 2.8m; Beaconsfield miners interview (9) 2.8m; Australian Open tennis men's final (7) 2.8 m; Dancing With The Stars final (7) 2.7 m; Terri Irwin interview (9) 2.5m; Nine Sunday News -- Beaconsfield (9) 2.5 m; Biggest Loser finale (10) 2.3m; Aus v Italy Word Cup match (SBS) 2.3m; Desperate Housewives opening (7) 2.2m; Cricket 20/20 Aus v South Africa 2.2m; Dancing With The Stars opening 2.2m; Aus v Japan World Cup match 2.2m; House final ep 2.1m, Lost opening (7) 2.1m; Border Security (7) 2.1m; State of Origin III 2.0m; Croatia v Australia World Cup match 2.0m; Prison Break premiere (7) 1.9m.

You can find past Tribal Mind columns at www.smh.com.au/tribalmind and continuing TV analysis at www.smh.com.au/sit. David Dale is the author of 'Who We Are -- A miscellany of the new Australia' (Allen and Unwin.

Last century
It is impossible to give precise audience figures for the most watched shows of the 20th century, so what follows is an approximate ranking, compiled by David Dale for The Sydney Morning Herald, using estimates from ACNielsen. The top three would have had audiences above 6 million in the mainland capitals. All would have been seen by at least half of the Australians watching TV at the time.
1. Diana Spencer's funeral 1997 (9, 7, 10, ABC)
2 Olympic opening and closing ceremonies 2000 (7)
3 Wedding of Charles and Diana 1981 (9, 7, 10, ABC)
4 Cathy Freeman's Olympic gold run 2000 (7)
5 Olympic swimming events 2000 (7)
6 Olympic opening ceremony 1984 (10)
7 The Sound of Music 1977 (9)
8 Boxing: Rose v Rudkin 1969 (10)
9 The World Of The Seekers 1968 (9)
10 Roots mini-series 1977 (10)
11 Moon landing 1969 (9, 7, 10, ABC)
12 Royal Charity Concert 1980 (9)
13 AFL Grand Final 1996 (7)
14 Holocaust mini-series, 1978 (7)
15 The Beatles Sing For Shell 1964 (9)
16 Commonwealth Games Day 7 1998 (9)
17 Friends 1998, 1999, 2000 (9)
18 A Town Like Alice 1981 (7)
19 Homicide 1971, 1972 (7)
20 Hey Hey It's Saturday Final 1999 (9)
21 Boxing: Rose v Numata 1971 (7)
22 Seekers Down Under 1967 (7)
23 Moscow Circus 1968 (9)
24 Olympics day 7 1996 (7)
25 Olympic opening 1996 (7)
26 Against The Wind 1978 (7)
27 Moscow Circus 1971 (7)
28 Paul Hogan special 1977 (9)
29 Abba in Europe 1976 (7)
30 Ben Casey 1962 (7)
31 Blue Heelers 1998 (7)
32 Perry Mason 1959 (9)
33 The Untouchables 1960 (7)
34 77 Sunset Strip 1959, 1960 (7)
35 Sale of the Century 1981 (9)
36 Return To Eden miniseries 1983 (10)
37 The Mavis Bramston Show 1965 (7)
38 Bodyline miniseries 1984 (10)
39 Moscow Circus 1965 (9)
40 The Detectives 1962 (9,7)
41 Seachange 1999 (ABC)
42 60 Minutes 1986 (9)
43 Bonanza 1961 (7,9)
44 My Name's McGooley, What's Yours 1966 (7)
45 All The Rivers Run 1983 (7)
46 The Thorn Birds 1983 (10)
47 For The term of His Natural Life miniseries 1983 (9)
48 Number 96 1974 (10)
49 I Love Lucy 1958 (9)

TOP SUNDAY NIGHT MOVIES
The movies Australia loved on TV*
1 The Sound of Music (9) 1977
2 Raiders of the Lost Ark (10) 1985
3 Star Wars (10) 1982
4 Cleopatra (9) 1971
5 Airport (9) 1977
6 Ghost (9) 1992
7 The Fugitive (9) 1995
8 Pretty Woman (7) 1992
9 Every Which Way But Loose (10) 1983
10 Picnic at Hanging Rock (7) 1980
11 The Castle (9) 1999
12 Forrest Gump (9) 1997
13 Superman (10) 1983
14 My Fair Lady (7) 1978
15 The Jolson Story (7,9) 1961

* Films attracting more than 40% of viewers in Sydney and Melbourne since 1965
SOURCE: AC Nielsen

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. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 10:43 AM
• Comments (12)

The 100 highest grossing films in Australia

THIS IS AN OUT OF DATE REPORT. TO SEE THE UPDATED CHARTS AND JOIN THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF AUSTRALIAN POPULAR CULTURE, GO TO http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

List prepared by David Dale, based on figures from the Motion Picture Distributors Association of Australia and last updated September 18, 2006 ...

1. Titanic (1997) $58 million
2. Shrek 2 (2004) $50m
3. The Return of the King (2003) $49m
4. Crocodile Dundee (1986) $48m
5. Fellowship of the Ring (2001) $47m

6. The Two Towers (2002) $46m
7. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001) $42m
8. Star Wars I: The Phantom Menace (1999) $39m
9 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) $37.5 m
10 Babe (1995) $37m
11. Finding Nemo (2003) $37m
12. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002) $37m
13. Star Wars 3: Revenge of the Sith (2005) $35m
14. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2005) $35m
15. The Chronicles of Narnia (2005) $35m
16. Meet The Fockers (2005) $35m
17. Star Wars 2: Attack of the Clones (2002) $34m
18. E.T. (1982) $33m
19. Matrix Reloaded (2003) $34m
20. Jurassic Park (1993) $33m
21. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004) $33m
22. Shrek (2001) $32m
23. Gladiator (2001) $31m
24. Spider-Man (2002) $31m
25. Forrest Gump (1994) $30.5m
26. Star Wars (1977) $30m
27. Independence Day (1996) $29.5m
28. Sixth Sense (1999) $29m
29. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (2002) $28m
30. Moulin Rouge (2001) $28m
31. The Lion King (1994) $27m
32. The Incredibles (2005) $27m
33 The Da Vinci Code (2006) $27m
34 Mrs Doubtfire (1993) $26m
35 Pretty Woman (1990) $26m
36. Monsters Inc (2001) $25.5m
37 Pirates of the Caribbean (2003) $25.5m
38. Madagascar (2005) $25m
39. Crocodile Dundee II (1988) $25m
40. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) $25m
41. Ice Age 2: The Meltdown (2006) $24.5m
42. Saving Private Ryan (1998) $24m
43. Spider-Man 2 (2004) $24m
44. Troy (2004) $23m
45. Twister (1996) $23.5m
46. The Full Monty (1997) $23m
47. The Matrix (1999) $23m
48. Men in Black (1997) $23m
50. Mission Impossible 2 (2000) $22.5m
51. What Women Want (2000) $22.5m
52. Bridget Jones Diary (2001) $22.5m
53. Strictly Ballroom (1992) $22m
54. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me (1999) $22m
55. Ocean's 11 (2002) $22m
56. Four Weddings and a Funeral (1994) $21.5m
57. King Kong (2005) $21.5m
58. Ghost (1990) $21m
59. Meet the Parents (2000) $21m
60. Liar Liar (1997) $21m
61. Notting Hill (1999) $21m
62. War of the Worlds (2005) $21m
63. Sister Act (1992) $20.5m
64. Bruce Almighty (2003) $20.5m
65. Ice Age (2002) $20.5m
66. Toy Story 2 (1999) $20m
67. Cast Away (2000) $20m
68. The Mask (1994) $20m
69. Stuart Little (2000) $20m
70. The Lost World (1997) $20m
71. A Bug's Life (1998) $20m
72. Dances With Wolves (1991) $20m
73. Miss Congeniality (2000) $20m
74. The Day After Tomorrow (2004) $20m
75. There's Something about Mary (1998) $20m
76. Mr and Mrs Smith (2005) $20m
77. A Beautiful Mind (2002) $19.5m
78. Bean (1997) $19m
79. American Beauty (2000) $19m
80. Charlie's Angels (2000) $19m
81. As Good As It Gets (1998) $19m
82. Pearl Harbor (2001) $19m
83. Austin Powers in Goldmember (2002) $19m
84. Charlie's Angels 2: Full Throttle (2003) $19m
85. Terminator 3 (2003) $19m
86. Chicago (2003) $19m
87. Grease (1978) $18.5m
88. Die Another Day (2002) $18.5m
89. Love Actually (2003) $18.5m
90. Matrix Revolutions (2003) $18m
91. The Mummy (1999) $18m
92. Fatal Attraction (1987) $18m
93. Aladdin (1993) $18m
94. The Bodyguard (1993) $18m
95. Speed (1994) $18m
96. Batman Forever (1995) $18m
97. The Dish (2000) $18m
98. The Mummy Returns (2002) $18m
99. Scooby Doo (2002) $18m
100. Bridget Jones 2: The Edge of Reason $18m
101 Cars (2006) 18m
102. Men in Black II (2002) $17.5m
103. Erin Brockovich (2000) $17m
104. Three Men and a Baby (1988) $17m
105. My Best Friend's Wedding (1997) $17m
106. Man From Snowy River (1982) $17m
107. Deep Impact (1998) $17m
108. Casper (1995) $17m
109. The Wedding Singer (1998) 17m
110 X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006) $17m
111. Dr Dolittle (1998) $16.5m
112. Wedding Crashers (2005) $16.5m
113. Cats and Dogs (2001) $16.5m
114. Ghostbusters (1984) $16.5m
115. Priscilla Queen of the Desert (1994) $16.5m
116. Dumb and Dumber (1994) $16.5m
117. X-Men 2 (2003) $16.5m
118. Robin Hood Prince of Thieves (1991) $16.5m
119. 8 Mile (2003) $16.5m

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. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 01:48 AM
• Comments (5)

Australia's favourite DVDs

THIS IS AN OUT OF DATE REPORT. TO SEE THE UPDATED CHARTS AND JOIN THE LATEST DISCUSSION OF AUSTRALIAN POPULAR CULTURE, GO TO http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

Lists of most rented and most purchased DVDs prepared by David Dale, using data from GFK Marketing and Blockbuster, last updated September 20, 2006.

For the latest discussions on Australian entertainment, go to www.smh.com.au/sit

Top selling DVDs of all time
1. Finding Nemo (2004)
2 Shrek 2 (2004)
3 Monsters Inc (2002)
4 The Two Towers (2003)
5 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004)
6 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2003)
7 Fellowship of the Ring (2002)
8 The Fast and the Furious (2005)
9 Pirates of the Caribbean (2004)
10 Return of the King (2004)
11 Ice Age (2002)
12 Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2002)
13 Gladiator (2000)
14 Lion King (2004)
15 Shrek (2001)
16 Spider-Man (2002)
17 Star Wars II: Attack of the Clones (2002)
18 Madagascar (2005)
19 Matrix (1999)
20 The Incredibles (2005)
21 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (2006)
22 Troy (2004)
23 Grease (2002)
24 Matrix Reloaded (2003)
25 Dances With Wolves (2001)
26 Gone in 60 Seconds (2001)
27 Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith (2005)
28 Black Hawk Down (2002)
29 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
30 Braveheart (2000)
31 Star Wars trilogy box set (2004)
32 Four Weddings and a Funeral (2001)
33 XXX (2003)
34 Mixed Wave 2/3 (2005)
35 A Knight's Tale (2002)
36 The Last Samurai (2004)
37 Dirty Dancing (2000)
38 Indiana Jones box set (2003)
39. Star Wars 1: The Phantom Menace (2001)
40. Bridget Jones Diary (2001)
41 The Terminator (2002)
42 Scooby Doo (2002)
43 Moulin Rouge (2001)
44 Matrix Revolutions (2004)
45 The Eagles Hell Freezes Over (2000)
46 Terminator 3 (2003)
47 How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days (2003)
48 The Mummy Returns (2001)
49 Shark Tale (2005)
50 Brother Bear (2004)
51 The Day After Tomorrow (2003)
52 8 Mile (2003)
53 Lilo and Stitch (2003)
54 X-Men 2 (2003)
55 Spider Man 2 (2004)
56 Once Were Warriors (2001)
57 Passion of the Christ (2004)
58 Chicago (2003)
59 Coyote Ugly (2001)
60 Willy Wonka 30th Anniversary edition (2001)
61 Love Actually (2004)
62 Titanic (1999)
63 Batman Begins (2005)
64 Pink Floyd Pulse (2006)
65 The Chronicles of Narnia (2006)
66 Walk The Line (2006)
67 Countdown The Wonder Years (2006)

Most rented DVDs of 2005
1 Dodgeball
2 Ocean's Twelve
3 Meet the Fockers
4 Man on Fire
5 Collateral
6 National Treasure
7 Hitch
8The Notebook
9 The Terminal
10 Suddenly 30
(Blockbuster)

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. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 12:40 PM

Culture: A stocking fillet

Satire is not dead. It's just not on TV. Instead, it's about TV. The CD sales chart for last week, released yesterday by the Australian Record Industry Association, shows that Billy Birmingham's album Boned has already sold 150,000 copies.

Birmingham was the author of the iconic single Australiana (often credited to Austen Tayshus) and of three comedy albums credited to The 12th Man. Now he's back and busily putting the boot into Eddie McGuire, who never uttered the word "bone" in his life. A collection of singles by U2 is No. 2 among the album best sellers, followed by the album of the Australian Idol winner Damien Leith, titled, amazingly, The Winner's Journey.

Male brutality is alive and kicking at the cinema. Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig as James Bond in the sadistic '60s style created by Ian Fleming, sold $6.86 million worth of tickets last weekend. On the usual formula that a blockbuster will end up with four times its opening weekend earnings, this puts Bond slightly ahead of Borat, which has totalled $13.56 million over three weeks. No. 3 at the weekend box office was Charlotte's Web, filmed in Australia with American money, which opened with $1.26 million. In America, the foul-mouthed Mel Gibson found that all was forgiven when his violent slice of ancient Mayan history, Apocalypto, topped the weekend box office ahead of the Kate Winslet/Cameron Diaz chick flick The Holiday.

Australia's DVD sales chart for last week was topped by Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest and Ice Age 2, but No. 6 and No. 7, each with a bullet, are TV shows - Stargate: Atlantis and Thank God You're Here.

And while we're examining how Australians currently spend their cash, you may care to know that the top two selling toys at this pre-Christmas moment are Gym Orangutan Play Set and Sesame Street Elmo, according to the Australian research organisation GfK Marketing. Just don't tell the grown-ups, or they'll all want one.

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. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• in The Tribal Mind at 12:20 AM
• Comments (0)

The Tribal Mind: Week 49

This blog is now a heritage item -- worth studying but no longer current. To join the latest discussion, click here. To test yourself on whether you're fit to be an Australian citizen, click here. Updated 10am, Monday December 10

Along with their usual passion for cricket, Australian viewers are showing an alarming preoccupation with sex, drugs and anatomy. At the end of Week One of the silly season, in which the TV networks try out programs they don't have the nerve to show during the ratings year, Channel Nine finds itself with a hit show it doesn't really want.

Last week it played the first episode of Weeds twice. Weeds is a new American sitcom about a desperate housewife who sells marihuana to her neighbours. The Tuesday showing got 803,000 viewers in the mainland capitals, and the Thursday showing got 630,000, suggesting either that Weeds had great word of mouth or that many of the original viewers came back to make sure they'd heard a woman using the C word in prime time. The audience for tomorrow night's episode will reveal whether Weeds is the Friends of 2007.

Channel Seven may have been similarly embarrassed when 1.1 million viewers watched its Monday night thriller Vanished. This show has been cancelled in the US after 14 episodes, so to prevent Australians forming an attachment which can never be requited, Seven has moved Vanished from an 8.30 timeslot to 9.30. The return of Smallville and Charmed on Ten managed less than 800,000, as did Nip/Tuck on Nine. No risk of them lasting past January.

Nine won the first week of the silly season with 38.0 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 27.3, Ten got 19.9, ABC got 18.7 and SBS got 6.3.

What Australia watched, week ending December 9Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,774,000 484,000 573,000 327,000 274,000 116,000
2 SEVEN NEWS SUNDAY Seven 1,426,000 397,000 407,000 278,000 161,000 182,000
3 SCU: SERIOUS CRASH UNIT Seven 1,394,000 346,000 399,000 287,000 169,000 193,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,378,000 389,000 466,000 276,000 158,000 90,000
5 CHRISTMAS WITH THE WOMEN'S WEEKLY Nine 1,315,000 365,000 432,000 238,000 218,000 62,000
6 DA KATH AND KIM CODE RPT ABC 1,315,000 320,000 418,000 274,000 139,000 164,000
7 20 TO 1 Nine 1,290,000 315,000 411,000 251,000 157,000 157,000
8 BORDER PATROL NZ Seven 1,269,000 292,000 366,000 276,000 154,000 182,000
9 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,252,000 326,000 355,000 218,000 161,000 191,000
10 THE REAL SEACHANGE Seven 1,251,000 353,000 371,000 266,000 111,000 150,000
11 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,188,000 305,000 343,000 219,000 139,000 182,000
12 LIFE BEGINS Seven 1,173,000 341,000 362,000 178,000 142,000 150,000
13 DISORDERLY CONDUCT CAUGHT ON TAPE Seven 1,139,000 303,000 288,000 242,000 140,000 167,000
14 VANISHED Seven 1,127,000 351,000 332,000 163,000 133,000 149,000
15 YOU'VE GOT THE JOB Seven 1,122,000 341,000 357,000 229,000 91,000 103,000
16 THE ASHES: SECOND TEST Nine 1,119,000 329,000 351,000 190,000 144,000 105,000
17 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,104,000 308,000 380,000 197,000 127,000 92,000
18 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,097,000 258,000 413,000 199,000 136,000 91,000
19 CSI: MIAMI RPT Nine 1,095,000 347,000 328,000 185,000 141,000 93,000
20 SEVEN NEWS SAT Seven 1,083,000 292,000 293,000 191,000 144,000 163,000

What Australia watched, Saturday
1 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,097,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,083,000
3 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC 1,001,000
4 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SAT Ten 943,000
5 HOW THE HELL DID WE GET HERE? ABC 913,000 271,000
6 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW SUMMER SERIES -RPT Nine 907,000

What Australia watched, Friday
1 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,173,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,167,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,087,000
4 ABC NEWS ABC 1,048,000
5 AGATHA CHRISTIE'S MISS MARPLE ABC 1,019,000
6 STATELINE ABC 974,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 900,000
8 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS SUMMER Seven 882,000
9 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 881,000
10 GHOST WHISPERER (R) Seven 830,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am, Friday December 8
The debut of Weeds on Tuesday seemed to get 915,000 viewers in the mainland capitals, but that figure was distorted by the over-run of cricket and swimming. The Thursday repeat drew 633,000. If we're entitled to add the Tuesday and the Thursday figures, we could declare it a bigger hit than the top sitcom of the year, My Name Is Earl. But we'd better wait till next week to find out what word of mouth will do.

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,192,000 297,000 349,000 211,000 149,000 185,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,101,000 265,000 317,000 219,000 120,000 180,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,080,000 313,000 346,000 229,000 120,000 73,000
4 ABC NEWS ABC 1,026,000 276,000 300,000 178,000 117,000 155,000
5 THE AMAZING RACE 8 Seven 979,000 289,000 315,000 141,000 121,000 112,000
6 LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT RPT Ten 957,000 222,000 296,000 193,000 125,000 120,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 953,000 283,000 333,000 159,000 99,000 80,000
8 WILL & GRACE Seven 937,000 252,000 303,000 185,000 97,000 99,000
9 7.30 REPORT ABC 915,000 235,000 273,000 171,000 107,000 129,000
10 SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS Nine 903,000 321,000 284,000 225,000 73,000
11 TOP 40 CELEBRITY COUNTDOWN Seven 900,000 259,000 283,000 142,000 107,000 109,000
12 NUMB3RS THURS Ten 878,000 232,000 277,000 158,000 121,000 89,000
13 THE LOOP Seven 868,000 274,000 244,000 161,000 95,000 94,000
14 PSYCHIC INVESTIGATORS ABC 817,000 196,000 232,000 184,000 95,000 111,000
15 THAT '70S SHOW Seven 775,000 215,000 202,000 166,000 89,000 103,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am, Thursday December 7
At 7pm on Tuesday, three million people in the mainland capitals were watching Channel Nine. The cricket finished, and half of them turned off their TV sets and put them away for the summer. Last night was the real beginning of the silly season. This is the time of the year when the ABC can do brilliantly, simply by repeating Kath and Kim. Look at the audiences:

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,318,000 367,000 350,000 233,000 169,000 200,000
2 DA KATH AND KIM CODE ABC 1,304,000 318,000 412,000 274,000 137,000 163,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,243,000 369,000 343,000 198,000 155,000 178,000
4 ABC NEWS ABC 1,163,000 323,000 335,000 231,000 125,000 148,000
5 DISORDERLY CONDUCT CAUGHT ON TAPE Seven 1,139,000 303,000 288,000 242,000 140,000 167,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,123,000 289,000 409,000 222,000 118,000 86,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,112,000 317,000 382,000 218,000 123,000 71,000
8 7.30 REPORT ABC 1,015,000 302,000 293,000 190,000 97,000 132,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 976,000 237,000 355,000 180,000 110,000 95,000
10 MY FAMILY ABC 964,000 255,000 253,000 216,000 105,000 136,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 A CURRENT AFFAIR (or cricket over-run) Nine 2,210,000 734,000 871,000 217,000 321,000 66,000
2 NINE NEWS (or cricket over-run) Nine 2,197,000 608,000 762,000 418,000 293,000 116,000
3 THE KING OF QUEENS (or cricket over-run) Nine 2,109,000 751,000 947,000 124,000 217,000 71,000
4 SCU: SERIOUS CRASH UNIT Seven 1,394,000 346,000 399,000 287,000 169,000 193,000
5 SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS Nine 1,387,000 458,000 528,000 292,000 110,000
6 BORDER PATROL NZ Seven 1,269,000 292,000 366,000 276,000 154,000 182,000
7 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,222,000 304,000 377,000 200,000 130,000 211,000
8 LIFE BEGINS Seven 1,173,000 341,000 362,000 178,000 142,000 150,000
9 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,127,000 267,000 340,000 207,000 96,000 218,000
10 THE ASHES: SECOND TEST Nine 998,000 291,000 321,000 156,000 138,000 92,000
11 WEEDS Nine 915,000 281,000 334,000 128,000 90,000 82,000
12 FUTURAMA Ten 905,000 207,000 319,000 161,000 137,000 81,000
13 ABC NEWS ABC 866,000 182,000 184,000 203,000 119,000 178,000
14 THE O.C. 4 Ten 844,000 215,000 290,000 189,000 88,000 63,000
15 THE SIMPSONS Ten 842,000 207,000 285,000 167,000 95,000 89,000
16 THAT '70S SHOW Seven 834,000 203,000 246,000 184,000 79,000 123,000
17 THE BILL ABC 820,000 247,000 211,000 174,000 72,000 116,000
18 IN JUSTICE Seven 811,000 230,000 260,000 118,000 105,000 99,000
19 THE QUEEN'S CAVALRY ABC 775,000 228,000 191,000 144,000 83,000 129,000
20 CHARMED Ten 772,000 221,000 276,000 128,000 84,000 62,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates)

Updated 10 am, Tuesday December 5

Give this man his own show. Kevin Rudd proved a massive ratings raiser on Monday night for the ABC. Normally The 7.30 Report breaks out the prosecco if it can draw 900,000 viewers. On Monday, its interview with the new Labor leader pulled 1.2 million in the mainland capitals -- the program's best result of the year. The last time the program did better than that (1.3 million) was for its coverage of the Cronulla riots on December 12 last year.

The 7.30 Report outrated Seven's new drama Vanished, Ten's new season of Smallville and Nine's new season of Nip/ Tuck. Will Labor's new slogan be "Faster than Superman, more powerful than plastic surgery, able to leap American thrillers in a single bound"?

Meanwhile, we've been trying to pin down who Rudd reminds us of. It's down to two people, the American schoolkid Butters from South Park and the English writer Alan Bennett. Do you have any other suggestions?

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS Nine 1,573,000 443,000 502,000 348,000 185,000 96,000
2 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,414,000 378,000 458,000 293,000 171,000 114,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,362,000 375,000 363,000 247,000 174,000 203,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,296,000 366,000 338,000 250,000 153,000 189,000
5 ABC NEWS ABC 1,275,000 411,000 349,000 241,000 112,000 162,000
6 20 TO 1 Nine 1,257,000 303,000 400,000 246,000 157,000 151,000
7 7.30 REPORT ABC 1,160,000 353,000 325,000 227,000 116,000 139,000
8 VANISHED Seven 1,127,000 351,000 332,000 163,000 133,000 149,000
9 THE KING OF QUEENS Nine 1,099,000 275,000 332,000 218,000 166,000 109,000
10 CSI: MIAMI -RPT Nine 1,027,000 355,000 340,000 192,000 139,000
11 DYNASTIES ABC 974,000 318,000 241,000 210,000 98,000 107,000
12 THAT '70S SHOW Seven 955,000 298,000 287,000 168,000 75,000 127,000
13 THE GREAT OUTDOORS (R) Seven 906,000 297,000 272,000 153,000 73,000 111,000
14 THE ASHES: SECOND TEST Nine 825,000 248,000 238,000 151,000 116,000 72,000
15 THE SIMPSONS Ten 810,000 180,000 279,000 156,000 108,000 86,000
16 SMALLVILLE MON Ten 780,000 221,000 224,000 148,000 105,000 82,000
17 LAW AND ORDER: SVU MON RPT Ten 761,000 191,000 242,000 142,000 89,000 97,000
18 NIP/TUCK Nine 755,000 227,000 248,000 113,000 88,000 79,000
19 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 749,000 215,000 193,000 121,000 84,000 136,000
20 NEIGHBOURS Ten 737,000 189,000 219,000 178,000 86,000 64,000
21 DEAL OR NO DEAL (R) Seven 735,000 201,000 204,000 155,000 83,000 92,000
22 THE WEST WING ABC 621,000 216,000 209,000 89,000 55,000 53,000
23 THE BIGGEST LOSER 3 Ten 613,000 181,000 207,000 84,000 76,000 65,000
24 MYTHBUSTERS SBS 574,000 174,000 145,000 125,000 54,000 75,000
25 BOSTON LEGAL (R) Seven 573,000 176,000 218,000 72,000 65,000 41,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am, Monday December 4

First day of the silly season, and the diversity of Australian tastes is already apparent. Last night's ratings chart (below) proves we're a nation almost equally interested in cricket, music, swimming, dancing, homemaking, escaping and the history of Egypt.

Eddie McGuire promised yesterday that Nine would not "turn off the lights" this summer (we know what it did last summer) and would take the fight to Seven every day, in order to start next year in a stronger audience position than this year. The test will be how viewers respond to shows judged too challenging to be shown during the ratings year -- like Nip/Tuck and Whose Line Is It Anyway tonight, and Weeds and the Dave Hughes special tomorrow night. If they go well, Nine might be a little bolder in its programming next official ratings year.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,729,000 486,000 574,000 333,000 220,000 116,000
2 SEVEN NEWS SUN Seven 1,422,000 399,000 403,000 275,000 160,000 185,000
3 CHRISTMAS WITH THE AUSTRALIAN WOMEN'S WEEKLY Nine 1,268,000 365,000 436,000 240,000 227,000
4 THE REAL SEACHANGE Seven 1,267,000 353,000 372,000 270,000 118,000 153,000
5 THE ASHES: SECOND TEST Nine 1,230,000 358,000 374,000 214,000 148,000 136,000
6 AUSTRALIAN SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS Nine 1,165,000 404,000 364,000 230,000 167,000
7 YOU'VE GOT THE JOB Seven 1,137,000 344,000 365,000 236,000 90,000 103,000
8 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE Ten 1,043,000 238,000 330,000 228,000 132,000 115,000
9 MY FAVOURITE ALBUM ABC 1,039,000 346,000 286,000 214,000 89,000 104,000
10 THE CRICKET SHOW Nine 1,019,000 277,000 316,000 166,000 132,000 128,000
11 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC 1,009,000 269,000 281,000 227,000 80,000 153,000
12 EGYPT Seven 1,006,000 309,000 269,000 167,000 111,000 151,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10 am Sunday December 3
For those who retain some faith in television as a mental stimulant, Australia is about to enter the most precious period of the year -- ten weeks in which the networks stop enforcing uniformity and start celebrating diversity, when they treat us as individuals instead of a mass market. Suddenly we'll see the shows they thought were too challenging to pull more than a million viewers between February and November. If you're smarter, cooler and more imaginative than the stations' stereotype of their typical consumer, this is your time.

Here is The Tribal Mind's pick of the summer menu ...
Rome (9): All the sex, violence and politics behind Julius Caesar's rise to power -- The Sopranos set in 50 BC.
Weeds (9): A Golden Globe-winning sitcom, in the tradition of My Name Is Earl, about a desperate housewife who sells marijuana to her neighbours.
Vanished (7): A mystery serial with elements of The West Wing, Lost and Without A Trace. There are only 14 episodes, because the US Fox network has cancelled it. But it least it has an ending.
Men in Trees (9): somewhere between Gilmore Girls and Sex and the City (but set in Alaska), it stars Anne Heche as a relationships counseller figuring out male motivations.
Waking The Dead (9): Britain's inspiration for CSI and Cold Case.
Veronica Mars (10): Finally a continuous run for the teenage detective with more than a touch of Buffy.
Life Begins (7): British dramedy about a suddenly separated 39 year old woman.

Plus, of course such guilty pleasures as Nip/Tuck (9), Will and Grace (7), Australian Princess (10), Smallville (10) and the final season of Charmed (10), never as hot after Shannen Doherty left, but still amusing.

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.

To discuss the new programing plans of Channel Seven, the ABC and Channel Ten, click here.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 12:49 AM
• Comments (137)

The Tribal Mind: Hoges's big knife no longer cuts it

THIS may be a first: The little Aussie flick Kenny is released this week on DVD while still showing in cinemas. The producers don't care that selling the DVD will cut the potential cinema audience. They know how comprehensively the silver disc has colonised Australian culture, so if he can hit the shops for the Christmas frenzy, Kenny on disc could more than double the $7.5 million he has already taken at the box office.

Since 1998, Australians have bought 10.9 million DVD players, according to the research organisation GfK Marketing. Allowing for duplication and replacement, this means there's a DVD player in 89 per cent of households. Meanwhile, after 10 years, pay TV has reached only 25 per cent of households. The subscription bosses can blame our disc obsession for putting Australia so far behind the pay penetration in America (88 per cent of homes), Britain (50 per cent) and New Zealand (40 per cent). Australians don't see the point of paying for more television when we barely have time to watch all the movies and TV shows we've bought on DVD.

So how do we use this all-conquering technology? GfK Marketing kindly provided a list of the 50 top-selling DVDs of 2006. They fall into five categories ...

Babysitters: Cars, Over the Hedge, High School Musical, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Madagascar, Polar Express.

Blockbusters: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, The Chronicles of Narnia, Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest, Batman Begins, Mr and Mrs Smith, King Kong.

Classics: Dirty Dancing, The Notebook, Wizard of Oz, Dances with Wolves, Toy Story.

Cult flicks you had trouble finding at the cinema: Napoleon Dynamite, Underworld: Evolution, Serenity, Crash, Reservoir Dogs.

Cult TV shows you had trouble finding on the networks: Family Guy Season 4, Scrubs Seasons 1, 2 and 3, Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story.

Music: Pink Floyd Pulse.

There is one mysterious absence from the list of 50 top-selling DVDs of the year. A month ago Paul Hogan released a 20th-anniversary "special edition'' of his classics Crocodile Dundee and Crocodile Dundee II. Since the first movie is a national icon, which made $48 million in 1986 and contributed the phrase "that's a knife'' to the language, you'd assume it might sell a few copies.

Here's a theory on why it failed to join Dirty Dancing, Reservoir Dogs and Cars in our home entertainment diet: apart from a trailer, it has no extras. For all his financial expertise, Hogan does not understand the concept of "value-added''. Apparently, he could not be bothered providing a thoughtful documentary or voice-over. Some people are still stuck in the age of the VCR.

The best selling DVDs of 2006
1 HARRY POTTER & THE GOBLET OF FIRE
2 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN 2 DEAD MANS CHEST
3 CARS
4 CHRONICLES OF NARNIA THE LION THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE SD
5 OVER THE HEDGE
6 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL
7 ICE AGE 2 SD
8 BATMAN BEGINS
9 DIRTY DANCING 15TH ANNIVERSAY EDITION
10 CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY
11 MADAGASCAR
12 MR & MRS SMITH
13 KING KONG SINGLE DISC LIMITED EDITION
14 POLAR EXPRESS
15 NAPOLEON DYNAMITE
16 KENNY
17 PRIDE & PREJUDICE 2005
18 PINK FLOYD PULSE
19 UNDERWORLD EVOLUTION
20 PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
21 WAR OF THE WORLDS SE
22 WALK THE LINE
23 X-MEN 3 THE LAST STAND
24 NOTEBOOK
25 WALLACE & GROMIT CURSE OF THE WERE RABBIT
26 DUKES OF HAZZARD (2005)
27 HARRY POTTER & THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN
28 FAMILY GUY SEASON 4
29 WIZARD OF OZ SE
30 SCRUBS SEASON 3
31 WEDDING CRASHERS
32 CHICKEN LITTLE
33 SERENITY
34 FINDING NEMO
35 V FOR VENDETTA
36 LITTLE BRITAIN SERIES 3
37 SCRUBS SEASON 1
38 TEAM AMERICA WORLD POLICE SE
39 SCRUBS SEASON 2
40 TOY STORY SE
41 SAW 2
42 RESERVOIR DOGS
43 HARRY POTTER & CHAMBER OF SECRETS
44 DANCES WITH WOLVES
45 TIM BURTON'S CORPSE BRIDE
46 SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION SE
47 INCREDIBLES
48 FAMILY GUY STEWIE GRIFFIN THE UNTOLD STORY
49 TROY 2004
50 THE ISLAND.

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 10:39 AM
• Comments (10)

The tribal mind: Technical knockout

WHAT if they held a TV ratings year and everybody won -- and simultaneously, everybody lost?
That was the story with Australia's commercial networks yesterday, each celebrating a win, but each reflecting on a disappointing year.

Technically, Channel Nine is Still The One, averaging the biggest audience in prime time (6pm to midnight). But it was the worst result in Nine's 50 years. Its average prime time audience of 1.072 million in the mainland capitals was down 1.5 per cent on last year, and that included a big boost from the Commonwealth Games. Nine's advertisers will exclude the Games audience from their calculations and come up with an actual drop of four per cent in Nine's prime time viewing this year, which follows a similar drop the previous year.

Channel Seven enjoyed an audience jump of 2 per cent this year, averaging 1.028 million viewers in prime time. But Seven could have been the winner if it hadn't dropped the ball in the second half, which included an alarming decline for its flagship, Dancing With The Stars. Seven's Director of Programming, Tim Worner, was trying to sound like a winner yesterday: "This year was all about building on our audience gains of the past 18 months and taking Seven to a higher level. We are the one Australians watch for news, public affairs, breakfast television and the highest-rating Australian and international programs in primetime."

Channel Ten is up 1.5 per cent in prime time, to an average of 825,000, and had the best result of any network with viewers aged 18-49. But it suffered a series of programming disasters, having to axe its reality show Yasmin's Getting Married after one week, and failing with Tripping Over an expensive Australian drama aimed at the under 40 audience, which ended last week with just 683,000 viewers. Ten's chief programming officer, David Mott, was positioning his network as the risk-taker, where occasional disappointments were inevitable "We'll continue to develop and secure content that engages and grows our audience'' he said yesterday. "Safe programing has no home on Ten!''

The ABC slipped 3 per cent to a prime time average of 568,000, and SBS, which should have gained from the World Cup soccer matches, dropped 12 per cent to 199,000.

One question was left dangling after yesterday's festivities: was Nine's slump the fault of Eddie McGuire, who became chief executive officer in February? Answer: Only partly. The problem started three years ago when Nine's new boss John Alexander drove Australia's top programmer, John Stephens, and Australia's top news director, Peter Meakin, to seek jobs with Seven. Then Seven found itself, by sheer luck, with the hottest new dramas from America -- Lost and Desperate Housewives.

This year McGuire was required to cut staff and spending, which inhibited his ability to develop new programs. He said yesterday that Seven had been given a head start early this year because "for economic reasons, Nine basically turned the lights off during the summer, and didn't come out of the starting blocks till after Easter." McGuire described as "heartrending" the process of making economies to "create a balance between show and business". "Under the circumstances, I think our programmer Michael Healy did an amazing job to get us to this winning position.''

Most watched series, 2006
1. Dancing with the Stars Seven 2.19m
2. Border Security Seven 2.12m
3. Thank God You're Here Ten 1.77m
4. Medical Emergency Seven 1.76m
5. Desperate Housewives Seven 1.67
6. CSI Nine 1.66m
7. House Ten 1.65m
8. Nine News Sunday Nine 1.63m
9. Grey's Anatomy Seven 1.62
10. Australian Idol Sundays Ten 1.60m

Most watched events
1 Commonwealth Games opening (9) 3.56m
2 AFL Grand Final (10) 3.14m
3 The Great Escape (Beaconsfield) (9) 2.73m
4 Tennis: Aus Open Men's Final (7) 2.75m
5 Commonwealth Games closing (9) 2.74m
6 Dancing With The Stars final (7) 2.66m
7 Rugby League grand final (9) 2.55m
8 Terri Irwin interview (9) 2.52m
9 The Biggest Loser finale (10) 2.31m
10 World Cup Italy v Australia (SBS) 2.30m

ABC hits: Who Killed Dr Bogle and Mrs Chandler? 1.78m; Planet Earth 1.40m; Andrew Denton and Billy Connolly 1.29; Midsomer Murders 1.29m.
SBS hits: World Cup matches, Mythbusters 631,000, Top Gear 609,000.

Prime time audience shares (excluding Commonwealth Games):
2005: Nine 25.0; Seven 23.2; Ten 18.7; ABC 13.5; SBS 5.2; Pay TV 11.7.
2006: Nine 23.7; Seven 23.5; Ten 18.8; ABC 13.0; SBS 4.6; Pay TV: 13.6.

Australia's favourite stations in 2006
Ranked by average audience in the mainland capitals, 6 am to midnight
1 Channel Seven 545,000 (up 4 per cent on 2005)
2 Channel Nine 536,000 (unchanged)
3 Channel Ten 439,000 (down 1 per cent)
4 ABC 282,000 (down 10 per cent)
5 SBS 84,000 (down 6 per cent)
6 Fox8 (and Fox8 +2*) 37,300 (up 25 per cent)
7 TV1 (and TV1 +2) 28,000 (up 15)
8 Lifestyle (and Lifestyle +2) 22,000 (up 12)
9 Fox Sports 1 19,900 (up 11)
10 Fox Sports 2, 18,300 (unchanged)
11 UKTV (and UKTV +2) 17,500 (unchanged)
12 Fox Classics (and Fox Classics +2) 15,000 (unchanged)
13 W 12,200 (up 38 per cent)
14 Disney 12,500 (down 3),
15 Showtime 11,600 (up 6)
16 Fox Sports 3 11,200 (new)
17 Nick Jnr 10,900 (down 4)
18 Crime and Investigation 10,300 (new)
All Pay TV 449,200 (up 20 per cent)
All free to air TV 1,886,000 (down 1 per cent)
*Same programs shown two hours later

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 11:42 AM
• Comments (11)

Culture: Get with the program

Finally Channel Nine has joined the other networks in revealing its programming plans for next year. Below we detail the plans of Ten, Seven and the ABC, but first, here are the novelties promoted in Nine's statement:

1. The Lost Tribes. A "one hour series that follows three suburban families who are sent to live for a month as members of the last primitive tribes on earth" with "gloriously beautiful footage covering African, Asian and South American tribal villages".

2. Jetstar. An hour long series which "goes behind the scenes of Australia's newest international carrier as they deal with every type of Australian under the stressful conditons of airline travel."

3. Code Blue. A "dynamic observational factual series ... from the producer of the award-winning RPA." No further details.

4. The Dame Edna Experience. One hour program in which "'Australia's mega-star will interview celebrities from both here and around the world".

5. Tsunami. "This compelling and powerful miniseries, starring Toni Collette, on the Boxing Day tsunami and its latent events, is a tale of personal loss." Latent events?

6. Monarchy. "A valuable insight into the work of the Queen and her royal family in modern society."

7. Primeval. A six part family drama in which "a zoologist specialising in the investigation of unexplained gaps in the evolutionary record discovers that prehistoric creatures are coming through to the present".

Plus a crime drama called Sea Patrol, starring Lisa McCune, game shows 1 vs 100 and Show Me The Money and a British factual show called The Truth About Food.

Last week this column sought your suggestions as to the storylines implied by the titles of programs announced by the ABC for 2007. Here's your chance to see if you have a career as an ABC programmer -- a multiple choice test in which we mix readers' suggestions with the ABC's own summary of each show's content. Tick the option you think is genuine, and check below to see how you went:

1. The Librarians.
a) Cuthbert Longbottom and Prudence Thistlewaithe re-catalogue the entire British Library in a bold move against the oppressive Dewey system.
b) With Christine in the library, Frances's life slowly starts to unravel and she is forced to face feelings that she has spent years repressing.

2. Bastard Boys.
a) Following Grumpy Old Men and Grumpy Old Women, the younger generation gets its chance to mouth off.
b) It was the fight that stopped a nation -- the 1998 battle for Australia's waterfront.

3. Summer Heights High.
a) Cricket-lovers' program filmed entirely on location at Hawk's Nest for next thirty Januaries.
b) Chris Lilley, creator of We Can Be Heroes, satirises the contemporary realities of Australian school culture.
c) Mayhem as the Science geek synthesizes LSD from Clag paste and Red Bull.

4. Carbon Cops.
a) It's 2050 and Australia is exclusively fuelled by nuclear power, so the Carbon Cops' mission is to track down renegades who hold secret wood and coal burning parties.
b) Who will lead us through the glut of green-friendly information and deliver us realistic, simple ways to make the necessary changes to our homes?

5. Captain Cook.
a) All you need to know to pass the citizenship test.
b) What drove a simple farm boy from Yorkshire to rapidly climb the ranks of the royal navy?
c) Cuisine for the high seas, presented by the only celebrity chef with a wooden leg and a parrot on his shoulder.

6. Stuff
a) Science finally identifies the exact nature of what lies between Nothing and A Real Lot.
b) Biggest Loser goes into reverse as uni students scoff restaurant leftovers to reduce their HECS debts.
c) Wendy Harmer offers a deeply personal and psychological investigation into our relationship with material objects.

7. Fluffy Farmyard
a) A new pre school series set on a mixed Australian farm, run by puppet farmers Kit Pup and Glitch.
b) A lifestyle/cookery show like no other, following the life cycle of cute little animals, from birth and life through the slaughterhouse and oven to the table.

8. Choir of Hard Knocks.
a) Take one top musical director and a group of homeless and disadvantaged people and let them sing.
b) Boxing meets baritone in this exciting new reality game show -- is soprano Anita able to survive ten rounds with heavyweight Barry, and can he reach the high notes before and after?

9. Crude
a) A 'rats in the ranks' look at a TV network board meeting -- Episode One, To Bone or not to Bone, sets the pace for this explosive series.
b) The epic story of oil, from its geological birth millions of years ago to its ascendancy as the indispensable ingredient of modern life.

10. Not All Tea and Scones
a) An affectionate portrait of country life told through the stories of the Country Women's Association.
b) A right royal mini-series that concentrates on the four-legged members of the Windsor dynasty -- Who shot Winston the Corgi and why?
c) Fly-on-the-wall series set in an elite Sydney tea-room, where the cool, calm and collected aura of the dining room stops as soon as you step into the kitchen.

Don't peek at the answers till you've made your guesses ...

Here are the correct answers: 1 (b); 2 (b); 3 (b); 4 (b); 5(b); 6 (c); 7 (a); 8 (a); 9 (b; 10 (a). The winners of our contest to suggest what the titles meant were Peter Scaysbrook and Gavin -- their entries are below. They'll each win a copy of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today.

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.

And here's what we wrote last week about the plans of Seven, Ten and the ABC:

Channel Ten It's official: 50 is the new 40, 35 is the new 22, and 18 is the new 16. That is clearly the view of the bosses of Channel Ten, and they would know. For the past decade they've been targeting Australians in the age band 16 to 39 - cool, hip viewers who love edgy programming such as Big Brother, Australian Idol, The Simpsons and The OC. But as the average age of Australians rises, because we are living longer and having fewer children, Ten has come to the realisation that the people it wants are actually between 18 and 49.

When Ten launched its 2007 program schedule at the State Theatre yesterday, its chief executive, Grant Blackley, revealed that it had gained the biggest share of this age band in 2006, and thus, for next year, had "commissioned its new Australian slate, and pursued new overseas program supply arrangements, with the 18-49 demographic in mind". "Eighteen-to-49 is the benchmark in the United States, and Ten is now the leader of the pack with this demographic," Blackley said.

So what radical transformations of the medium are these trendsetters in for? Celebrity Dog School ("hilarity, the unexpected and a whole new side to Australia's favourite personalites"), Teen Fat Camp ("morbidly obese teenage Australians travel to a US health camp to shed their excess weight and regain control of their lives"), Saving Babies (a hospital documentary), The Con Test (a game show in which contestants bluff), The Joanne Lees Story (a telemovie starring Joanne Frogatt, pictured), Raines (a crime series in which the detective sees dead people) and Three Pounds (a hospital drama about a "a headstrong neurosurgeon").

Poached from Channel Nine via a deal with America's CBS will be Dr Phil, The David Letterman Show and the content of the US version of 60 Minutes. And there'll be new seasons of The Biggest Loser (six days a week, February to May), Big Brother (hosted again by Gretel Killeen, six days a week, May to August), Australian Idol (August to November), Jamie Oliver's cooking, The Wedge, Supernatural, Medium, Rove Live and Bondi Rescue.

Oh brave new world that has such wonders in it!

The ABC A drama series called The Librarians wouldn't be every network's idea of a way to drag back lost viewers, but it is a key ingredient in the ABC's master plan for winning over Australia in 2007, along with shows called Bastard Boys, Summer Heights High, Carbon Cops, Captain Cook, Crude, Stuff, Fluffy Farmyard, Choir of Hard Knocks and Not All Tea and Scones.

Launching the new schedule yesterday, the ABC's Director of Television, Kim Dalton, rejected the accusation that the ABC is failing both in boosting audience and promoting Australian drama. He said next year the ABC would finesse its extra $10 million a year in Federal funding to produce an extra 15 hours of local drama and 25 hours of local documentaries.

Now here's your chance to display your expertise in program pitches. Describe, in one sentence each, the content of the shows whose titles are listed above. Would Carbon Cops, for example, be Australia's answer to CSI, while Summer Heights High is a local version of The OC? Is The Librarians about the secret identities of a legion of superheroes, while Captain Cook is the tale of an oceangoing chef? In Monday's column we'll tell you what the new programs actually are, but in the meantime we're interested in your theories on what might be implied by those titles. The most imaginative single sentence summaries registered below will win a handsome prize in a red cover.

The only new ABC show we're going to reveal at this point is Curtin, which dramatises the life of Australia's wartime Labor leader, played by William McInnes (pictured above).

Channe Seven Here's Channel Seven's counterattack, released Monday morning:
"Seven launches into 2007 with coverage of the Australian Football League and V8 Supercars and the biggest new US series, Heroes, Shark, Ugly Betty and Brothers and Sisters, and What About Brian. Seven today also confirmed that one of the biggest new franchises in international television is coming to the network, as Australia's Got Talent joins new series for the biggest programmes on Australian television: Dancing with the Stars, Border Security, The Force, It Takes Two, Where Are They Now, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Grey's Anatomy, Prison Break, Bones and Criminal Minds.

Heroes is the "buzz" programme of the new American television season -- immediately propelling itself to leadership in total viewers and all key audience demographics, and building its audiences week-on-week. Ugly Betty has delivered an extraordinary performance across its opening months, ranking only behind Heroes as the most-watched new series for 18-49s on American television. Shark is powering in a competitive timeslot against ER in the United States and ranks only behind Heroes as the most-watched new series in total viewers in the new US season. Brothers and Sisters, starring Australia's Rachel Griffiths, is the partner programme for Desperate Housewives in the United States and dominates in all key women demographics. What About Brian, from the creator of Lost, is scoring in key women demographics and has picked up a full-season order in the US. Seven has secured the new BBC series from Michael Palin, Michael Palin's New Europe, and a new retrospective on the life of Diana to be broadcast next year, marking ten years since her death.

Australia's Got Talent is a breakout new series for 2007 based on the successful format which captured stellar audiences in the United States this year and is rolling out across international markets over the coming twelve months. Australia's Got Talent is one of a number of new Australian television projects in development. Seven will unveil its new Australian programmes in the coming weeks. All Saints, the most-watched Australian produced drama series, is back in 07 along with the landmark 20th season of Home and Away which again has dominated its nightly timeslot across 2006.

Seven in 2007 - in a nutshell

New Programmes New Series
Ugly Betty Home and Away Lost
Heroes All Saints Desperate Housewives
What About Brian Dancing with the Stars Grey's Anatomy
Brothers and Sisters It Takes Two Ghost Whisperer
Shark Border Security Prison Break
Michael Palin's New Europe The Force Criminal Minds
Australia's Got Talent Medical Emergency Las Vegas
The Great Outdoors Crossing Jordan
Where Are They Now Boston Legal
The Real Seachange My Name Is Earl
Police Files How I Met Your Mother
Bones
The Amazing Race
Family Guy
American Dad
24
The Unit

Movies and Events
Seven today confirmed the signing of a new agreement with Dreamworks, complementing the network's partnerships with The Walt Disney Company and Touchstone Television, and NBC Universal. Seven has secured a strong portfolio of theatrical movies including the broadcast television premieres for Meet The Fockers, The Day After Tomorrow, I Robot, Dodgeball, Princess Diaries 2, Herby Fully Loaded, Fantastic 4, Madagaskar, Shark Tale, Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Kingdom of Heaven, The Pacifier, Sideways, National Treasure, The Terminal, Ladder 49 and Alien v Predator.

Sports
Seven is acknowledged as the leader in sports television, with an unparalleled portfolio of major sports as the network moves towards its coverage of the XXIX Olympiad in Beijing in 2008. Seven will launch 2007 with the network's all-encompassing coverage of the Australian Open (along with four other major Australian tennis events and the Davis Cup) and delivers a one-two punch as the year unfolds - with the biggest sport in Australia, the Australian Football League, and the fastest-growing: V8 Supercars.

Seven is back in football. The network's new agreement with the Australian Football League re-establishes a 45 year partnership stretching back to the first days of television and dominates Seven's sports commitment over the coming twelve months - with coverage of the pre-season NAB Cup, the AFL Premiership Season and the AFL Finals Series.

Seven is back in V8s. The network's new agreement with V8 Supercars Australia builds on Seven's rich heritage and connection with the sport. Seven's all-encompassing rights will also see the network return to Mount Panorama for coverage of the Bathurst 1000 for the first time in a decade. Seven's year in sports also includes coverage of all major horse racing events including the Melbourne Cup Carnival, major golf events, including The Australian Open, The Australian Masters and the PGA Championship of Australia, and the Sydney-Hobart Yacht Race. Seven will also follow the Wallabies' test campaign in rugby union, including The Bledisloe Cup and The Tri-Nations Series."

• in The Tribal Mind at 12:11 PM
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The tribal mind: New adventures of Mr Ex

It beggars belief, and yet the facts are indisputable: Australia is in the grip of a Steven Seagal revival. You remember him, of course: the paunchy, ponytailed star of Under Seige, in which he played a former Navy Seal who battles terrorists on an ocean liner. That's in the record books as the highest grossing movie never pre-seen by critics. In 1992, it earned him the title "the poor man's Bruce Willis''.

You probably thought he'd vanished from the world stage, but consider this chart of Australia's five top-selling DVDs for last week, as supplied by the research organisation GfK marketing:
1. Wiggles: Racing To The Rainbow.
2. Take The Lead.
3. Foreigner/Into The Sun/Out of Reach.
4. Barbie The 12 Dancing Princesses.
5. High School Musical.

Number three turns out to be a set of three movies, with these plot summaries: "Steven Seagal stars as Jon Cold, a freelance secret agent who's as cunning as he is deadly"; "Action superstar Steven Seagal is back in this nonstop thrill ride! When the governor of Tokyo is murdered, it falls on ex-CIA agent Travis Hunter to track down the responsible terrorists"; "Steven Seagal stars as a former Vietnam vet who begins exchanging letters with an orphan in Eastern Europe.''

Yes, Big Steve is still alive and kicking. A check on Internet Movie Data Base reveals that he has made 20 movies since Under Seige, and is about to release Mercenary For Justice, Attack Force and Shadow Man. He plays a different character in each of them, although the hero is always an ex-something. So rejoice: there's plenty of material to feed Australia's addiction.

Can a Jean-Claude van Damme renaissance be far behind?

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. To join a daily discussion of Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• in The Tribal Mind at 12:33 AM
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The tribal mind: Week 48

Updated 10 am, Monday December 4

A rumour went round the industry last week that the Fox 8 program An Aussie Goes Barmy had attracted 300,000 viewers -- which would have been an astonishing performance for any show on pay TV. It must have been calculated with a special measurement system known only to Foxtel, because the OzTAM audience chart for the whole week, released this morning and published below, shows a rather different result.

Meanwhile, back on mass market television, Seven or Ten would have expected to win the final week of the ratings year, because each had grand finals of its hottest shows, but thanks to cricket and crime, Channel Nine averaged 32.5 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 27.4, Ten got 20.4, ABC got 14.8 and SBS got 4.9 per cent. For the full results of the year, go to www.smh.com.au/tribalmind.

What pay TV subscribers watched last week
1 LIVE: INSIDE CRICKET FOX Sports 1 57,070
2 AN AUSSIE GOES BARMY FOX8 56,159
3 ELOISE AT CHRISTMASTIME Disney Channel 55,104
4 WWE RAW FOX8 51,161
5 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE ADEL V MELB FOX Sports 3 50,107
6 LIVE: CRICKET: DOMESTIC ONE-DAY CUP FOX Sports 2 47,994
7 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE QLD V PERTH FOX Sports 3 47,616
8 LIVE: FOOTBALL: A-LEAGUE MELB V NEWC FOX Sports 3 47,330
9 HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL Disney Channel 45,889
10 FAMILY GUY FOX8 42,257

What Australia watched, week to December 2
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 AUSTRALIAN IDOL WINNER ANNOUNCED Ten 2,189,000 637,000 698,000 342,000 298,000 214,000
2 AUSTRALIAN IDOL FINAL VERDICT Ten 2,108,000 600,000 684,000 342,000 281,000 200,000
3 20 TO 1 SUNDAY Nine 1,844,000 588,000 521,000 369,000 205,000 161,000
4 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,842,000 567,000 640,000 329,000 203,000 103,000
5 60 MINUTES Nine 1,809,000 546,000 503,000 379,000 185,000 196,000
6 DANCING WITH THE STARS 5 GRAND FINAL Seven 1,789,000 545,000 545,000 290,000 192,000 216,000
7 AUSTRALIAN IDOL LIVE FROM THE OPERA HOUSE Ten 1,698,000 436,000 523,000 313,000 239,000 187,000
8 CSI: MIAMI Nine 1,565,000 424,000 483,000 323,000 182,000 153,000
9 NINE NEWS SATURDAY (including last part of cricket) Nine 1,541,000 414,000 502,000 304,000 207,000 113,000
10 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU Nine 1,479,000 431,000 415,000 306,000 158,000 170,000
11 CSI SUNDAY Nine 1,471,000 408,000 456,000 301,000 149,000 158,000
12 MCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS Nine 1,413,000 328,000 435,000 296,000 194,000 160,000
13 POLICE FILES Seven 1,376,000 369,000 427,000 266,000 117,000 197,000
14 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,368,000 388,000 458,000 219,000 137,000 165,000
15 CSI TUESDAY EPISODE 1 Nine 1,348,000 379,000 419,000 261,000 144,000 146,000
16 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,347,000 361,000 396,000 239,000 143,000 208,000
17 SEVEN NEWS weekdays Seven 1,338,000 367,000 370,000 229,000 155,000 217,000
18 20 TO 1 Nine 1,313,000 341,000 392,000 277,000 131,000 171,000
19 SEVEN NEWS SUNDAY Seven 1,310,000 366,000 373,000 224,000 165,000 182,000
20 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,299,000 390,000 377,000 233,000 125,000 175,000

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS SATURDAY (and cricket over-run) Nine 1,541,000 414,000 502,000 304,000 207,000 113,000
2 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Nine 1,216,000 337,000 395,000 213,000 157,000 114,000
3 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,181,000 379,000 332,000 184,000 128,000 158,000
4 Movie: HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN Nine 1,176,000 304,000 392,000 199,000 142,000 139,000
5 THE ASHES: SECOND TEST Nine 1,094,000 349,000 301,000 192,000 145,000 107,000
6 NEW TRICKS ABC 1,064,000 333,000 299,000 193,000 112,000 128,000
7 BEST AND WORST OF RED FACES Seven 984,000 275,000 281,000 176,000 113,000 138,000
8 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC 959,000 301,000 258,000 176,000 102,000 122,000
9 THE CRICKET SHOW Nine 894,000 278,000 249,000 169,000 117,000 81,000
10 Movie: GARFIELD Seven 873,000 230,000 286,000 154,000 86,000 116,000
11 COUNTDOWN SPECTACULAR ABC 746,000 221,000 242,000 144,000 71,000 69,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)
What Australia watched, Friday
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,368,000
2 NINE NEWS Nine 1,291,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,272,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,227,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,220,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,102,000
7 PRIME SUSPECT PART 2 Seven 1,026,000
8 THE CASTLE RPT Nine 1,018,000
9 MOTORWAY PATROL RPT Nine 972,000
10 ABC NEWS ABC 808,000
11 The Ashes: SECOND TEST Nine 805,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
1. My Name Is Earl Seven 1.29m
2. Bones Seven 1.22
3. Seven News Seven 1.22
4. Today Tonight Seven 1.19
5. A Current Affair Nine 1.19
6. RPA Nine 1.18
7. Nine News Nine 1.18
8. Home and Away Seven 1.17
9. Temptation Nine 1.08
10. Look Who's Talking Nine 1.08
11. Getaway Nine 1.06
12. How I Met Your Mother Seven 1.02
13. Ten News Ten 0.83
14. The Amazing Race Seven 0.82
15. ABC News ABC 0.81
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10am Thursday November 30
The Glass House got its biggest ever audience for its last ever episode, all too easily beating the last ever Prime Suspect (which moved far too slowly for viewers conditioned by American crime). The speedy CSI:Miami helped Nine to win the night with 31.1 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 28.9, Ten got 17.5, ABC got 18.4 and SBS got 4.1. Nine will win the final week of the official ratings year. But will it win the year? Watch this space on Sunday.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
1. CSI: Miami Nine 1.57m
2. Today Tonight Seven 1.46
3. Seven News Seven 1.42
4. McLeod's Daughters Nine 1.39
5. Police Files Seven 1.37
6. Home and Away Seven 1.35
7. Nine News Nine 1.29
8. Temptation Nine 1.23
9. A Current Affair Nine 1.17
10. The Glass House ABC 1.15
11. Prime Suspect: Part I Seven 0.99
12. ABC News ABC 0.99
13. The New Inventors ABC 0.98
14. House Ten 0.90
15. ER Episode 1 Nine 0.84
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Updated 10am Wednesday November 29
It was the last of the big TV events for 2006, but it wasn't that big. The finale of Dancing With The Stars, won by the footballer instead of the chess player, drew only 1.8 million viewers in the mainland capitals. That's the smallest final figure DWTS has ever achieved (to see how it compares with Australia's most watched shows of the decade, click here).

Seven won the night with 35.3 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 29.5, Ten got 19.4, ABC got 12.3 and SBS got 3.5. Nine looks like winning the final week of the official ratings year.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 DANCING WITH THE STARS FINALE Seven 1,789,000 545,000 545,000 290,000 192,000 216,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,349,000 351,000 393,000 233,000 145,000 227,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,320,000 356,000 366,000 205,000 162,000 231,000
4 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,301,000 403,000 352,000 225,000 115,000 206,000
5 20 TO 1 Nine 1,301,000 338,000 392,000 275,000 126,000 170,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,259,000 338,000 429,000 235,000 136,000 121,000
7 CSI RPT Nine 1,251,000 351,000 395,000 232,000 141,000 133,000
8 TEMPTATION Nine 1,246,000 341,000 398,000 249,000 146,000 113,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,235,000 323,000 400,000 255,000 143,000 113,000
10 THE SIMPSONS TUES EP 1 Ten 989,000 286,000 294,000 171,000 102,000 136,000

Updated 10am Tuesday November 28
Naomi Robson will gain some cheer from the news that her farewell announcement from Today Tonight attracted 1.5 million viewers in the mainland capitals and was the most watched program of Monday (though this reflects more the fact that few people are watching TV at the moment than any particular surge in TT's audience). But Nine still got a bigger audience share for the night than Seven. See below the ratings chart for Monday, and how the stations performed.

Now we must get through the annual self-promotion orgy, as the networks trumpet their interpretations of who performed best in "prime time", defining that period as either 6pm to midnight or 6pm to 10.30pm, and including or excluding the Commonwealth Games, to suit their spin. This column doesn't want to spoil their prime time thunder, so we'll just summarise the whole day ...

Australia's favourite stations in 2006
Ranked by average audience in the mainland capitals, 6 am to midnight, weeks 7 to 46
1 Channel Seven 545,000 (up 4 per cent on 2005)
2 Channel Nine 536,000 (unchanged)
3 Channel Ten 439,000 (down 1 per cent)
4 ABC 282,000 (down 10 per cent)
5 SBS 84,000 (down 6 per cent)
6 Fox8 (and Fox8 +2*) 37,300 (up 25 per cent)
7 TV1 (and TV1 +2) 28,000 (up 15)
8 Lifestyle (and Lifestyle +2) 22,000 (up 12)
9 Fox Sports 1 19,900 (up 11)
10 Fox Sports 2, 18,300 (unchanged)
11 UKTV (and UKTV +2) 17,500 (unchanged)
12 Fox Classics (and Fox Classics +2) 15,000 (unchanged)
13 W 12,200 (up 38 per cent)
14 Disney 12,500 (down 3),
15 Showtime 11,600 (up 6)
16 Fox Sports 3 11,200 (new)
17 Nick Jnr 10,900 (down 4)
18 Crime and investigation 10,300 (new)
All Pay TV 449,200 (up 20 per cent)
All free to air TV 1,886,000 (down 1 per cent)
*Same programs shown two hours later

What Australia watched, Monday
1. Today Tonight Seven 1.49
2. Home and Away Seven 1.46
3. What's Good For You Nine 1.45
4. Seven News Seven 1.45
5. A Current Affair Nine 1.30
6. Law and Order: SVU Ten 1.29
7. Nine News Nine 1.29
8. What A Year Nine 1.25
9. Temptation Nine 1.21
10. Cold Case Nine 1.13
11. Dynasties ABC 1.07
12. So You Think You Can Dance Ten 1.06
13. ABC News ABC 1.05
14. Ten News Ten 0.89
15. Deal or No Deal Seven 0.84
(OzTAM preliminary figures, mainland capitals)
Nine won Monday with 31.9 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 23.9, Ten got 22.5, ABC got 14.6 and SBS got 7.1 (thanks to its biggest hit of the year, Mythbusters).

Updated 9.30 am, Monday November 27
Just when you thought the age of the huge TV special event was over, along comes the final of Australian Idol to astonish us: a peak of 2.4 million in the mainland capitals at 10.15pm and an average of 2.2 million between 9.30 and 10.30. Even the terribly tedious preliminaries averaged 1.6 million. This was not, however, a record for AI. In 2004, the Final Verdict pulled 3.35 million and in 2003 it pulled 3.30 million, while the World Idol performance show in 2003 pulled 2.40 million.

Surprisingly, that audience did not give the night to Channel Ten. Viewers over 40, obsessed with crime, cricket and nostalgia, gave victory to Channel Nine, which averaged 36.6 per cent of the prime time audience, while Ten got 32.4 per cent, Seven got 15.0, ABC got 12.7 and SBS got 3.3. The last big event of the TV year is tomorrow -- the final of Dancing With The Stars.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 AUSTRALIAN IDOL WINNER ANNOUNCED Ten 2,160,000 624,000 685,000 348,000 295,000 208,000
2 AUSTRALIAN IDOL FINAL VERDICT Ten 2,030,000 567,000 657,000 338,000 272,000 197,000
3 20 TO 1 RPT Nine 1,872,000 564,000 575,000 369,000 203,000 160,000
4 60 MINUTES Nine 1,844,000 576,000 505,000 378,000 188,000 195,000
5 NINE NEWS SUNDAY (and final half hour of cricket) Nine 1,742,000 555,000 554,000 329,000 202,000 102,000
6 AUSTRALIAN IDOL - LIVE FROM THE OPERA HOUSE Ten 1,621,000 407,000 494,000 306,000 230,000 184,000
7 CSI Nine 1,603,000 487,000 504,000 300,000 150,000 161,000
8 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,307,000 364,000 370,000 224,000 167,000 182,000
9 THE ASHES: FIRST TEST Nine 1,271,000 393,000 374,000 206,000 158,000 141,000
10 CSI: NY Nine 1,148,000 342,000 391,000 185,000 127,000 103,000
11 THE CRICKET SHOW Nine 1,073,000 338,000 306,000 174,000 129,000 125,000
12 THE REAL SEACHANGE Seven 1,046,000 304,000 285,000 204,000 109,000 143,000
13 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC 904,000 243,000 288,000 162,000 91,000 120,000
14 YOU'VE GOT THE JOB Seven 872,000 233,000 273,000 190,000 66,000 111,000
15 WILD EUROPE ABC 864,000 271,000 239,000 164,000 86,000 105,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

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.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 10:29 AM
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