The Sun-Herald

WHO WE ARE: The land of big buyers

To discuss Australia's greatest screen heroes, go to The Tribal Mind

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 25/5/2008
You want to be typical, doncha? Unless you want to be exceptional. Either way, you need to know what typical is before you can rejoice in your empathy with the masses or in your elite status far above them. That's where this column and the research organisation ACNielsen come in.

Every two years the Nielsen boffins do a survey of the 100 products most purchased in Australian supermarkets, and every two years this column uses it to generate a portrait of a day in the life of a typical Australian family (lets call them Michael and Julie Jones, their daughter Jessica, 19, and their son Ben, 14). Here's Australia through its shopping habits, 2008:

The Joneses wake up and head for the bathroom, where they wipe with Kleenex Cottonelle, shampoo with Pantene and deodorise with Rexona. Michael shaves with Gillette and Julie and Jessica insert Libra.

In the kitchen, Ben feeds Whiskas to Soxie and Pedigree Pal to Max, and spreads Vegemite on toasted Tip Top for himself. Michael and Julie pour Paul's into their Nescafe Blend 43 and over their Weet-Bix.

Jessica swallows a glass of Golden Circle pineapple and a tub of Yoplait. On the way to her bus, she smokes a Winfield (the first of her four for the day) and chews an Extra so her breath won't smell.

Julie puts on a load with Omo, makes Ben a sandwich with Bega cheese and Hans salami, and drives him to school in their silver Holden Commodore.

For lunch Julie makes herself a can of Campbell's. Jessica has an Uncle Toby's muesli bar and a couple of squares of Cadbury's. When he gets some from school Ben has a packet of Smith's and a glass of Milo. When she gets home from work, Jessica has two Tim Tams and a can of Diet Coke. Julie's afternoon tea is Arnott's Shapes.

For dinner, Julie makes a sauce with Leggo's tomato paste, McCain frozen peas and John West tuna, to put over San Remo rigatoni. Michael drinks a can of VB, Julie has a glass of Jacob's Creek chardonnay. For dessert they eat Goulburn Valley tinned fruit with Peter's icecream.

Julie covers the leftovers with Glad, to avoid attracting cockroaches (although she sprays with Mortein once a week). They wash up with Finish and brush with Colgate. Then they watch TV, using a remote powered by Energiser.

Jessica goes out for a drink with her boyfriend and they end up at his place. If he used a condom, it would be Ansell, but he doesn't, so in ten months time Jessica will be buying Huggies.

Now you know the products that make the most money in Australian supermarkets. Only two of the brands I mentioned are made by Australian companies - and we'll get to that issue next week.

To discuss what all this says about Australians, go to Comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 03:10 PM
• Comments (18)

The Who We Are update: week 23

This week of David Dale's media blog is now history. To join the latest discussion, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
To discuss Agnetha's end and the top-selling CDs of all time, go to The Tribal Mind
To discuss whether Australians are too dumb to function in modern life, go to Who We Are

The ratings race, updated 10 am Sunday
Yesterday this column launched a not-for-proifit competition for the tiny elite of readers who look at this blog at the weekend, predicated on this:

"A stunning performance by Better Homes and Gardens has shattered the complacency of Channel Nine and turned the ratings into a race again. With one night to go in the official week, the prime time audience shares stand at: ABC 17.4%; Seven 28.5%; Nine 28.1%; Ten 20.5%; SBS 5.5%.

I hereby invite readers to predict who will win the week, based on tonight's offerings: Funniest Home Videos and The Cat in the Hat on Nine, and The Vicar of Dibley and Unbreakable (or Just Like Heaven in some cities) on Seven. No prize, only the glory of displaying your understanding of Saturday night psychology. Winners unveiled here tomorrow at 10 am."

OK, now we can reveal how the ratings went. Based on this audience data, which channel do you think won the week? For the answer, go here..

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Network 7 1,291,000 393,000 338,000 261,000 129,000 169,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Network 9 1,193,000 307,000 458,000 207,000 137,000 84,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Network 9 1,156,000 311,000 361,000 222,000 137,000 125,000
4 THE VICAR OF DIBLEY Network 7 958,000 296,000 262,000 192,000 90,000 118,000
5 THE GREAT OUTDOORS Network 7 952,000 291,000 278,000 184,000 94,000 105,000
6 ABC NEWS-SAT Network ABC1 915,000 292,000 249,000 187,000 86,000 101,000
7 BED OF ROSES Network ABC1 854,000 241,000 253,000 186,000 84,000 91,000
8 THE CAT IN THE HAT -RPT Network 9 854,000 275,000 261,000 151,000 80,000 87,000
10 THE BILL Network ABC1 824,000 258,000 207,000 151,000 98,000 110,000
11 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Network TEN 814,000 134,000 356,000 60,000 102,000 161,000
16 M-JUST LIKE HEAVEN Network 7 517,000 269,000 97,000 151,000
18 TOP GEAR RPT Network SBS 462,000 165,000 87,000 106,000 57,000 47,000
24 M-UNBREAKABLE Network 7 392,000 223,000 169,000
40 BIG LOVE Network SBS 211,000 74,000 71,000 32,000 19,000 15,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Network 7 1,430,000 441,000 408,000 248,000 150,000 184,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Network 7 1,428,000 397,000 357,000 304,000 160,000 209,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Network 7 1,304,000 332,000 337,000 266,000 149,000 221,000
4 NINE NEWS Network 9 1,161,000 312,000 332,000 249,000 153,000 116,000
5 A CURRENT AFFAIR Network 9 1,133,000 331,000 313,000 233,000 138,000 117,000
9 SILENT WITNESS Network ABC1 957,000 282,000 288,000 155,000 102,000 131,000
10 BIG BROTHER - FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE Network TEN 941,000 255,000 290,000 153,000 102,000 141,000
15 BIG BROTHER Network TEN 798,000 230,000 248,000 135,000 68,000 118,000
16 SPOOKS Network ABC1 786,000 241,000 234,000 130,000 87,000 94,000
17 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 11: KANGAROOS VS GEELONG Network 7 688,000 14,000 422,000 15,000 113,000 123,000
19 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Network 9 647,000 397,000 250,000
25 ABOUT A BOY RPT Network TEN 456,000 134,000 143,000 76,000 43,000 59,000
32 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Network 9 383,000 268,000 115,000
36 IN SEARCH OF THE PERFECT PENIS RPT Network SBS 348,000 111,000 108,000 59,000 31,000 39,000
77 THE GOLDEN GIRLS Network 7 171,000 56,000 49,000 24,000 18,000 24,000
81 THAT '70S SHOW (R) Network 7 163,000 59,000 50,000 20,000 15,000 20,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,433,000 393,000 344,000 315,000 141,000 239,000
2 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,303,000 395,000 306,000 286,000 126,000 191,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,285,000 394,000 399,000 224,000 134,000 134,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,252,000 367,000 308,000 236,000 131,000 210,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,228,000 344,000 405,000 233,000 126,000 119,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,207,000 404,000 283,000 226,000 117,000 175,000
7 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,155,000 279,000 364,000 230,000 112,000 169,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,150,000 323,000 361,000 236,000 119,000 112,000
9 BONES Seven 1,140,000 293,000 306,000 258,000 128,000 155,000
10 HELL'S KITCHEN Nine 1,113,000 337,000 353,000 139,000 126,000 158,000
19 BIG BROTHER Ten 777,000 229,000 205,000 149,000 91,000 104,000
23 LOST Seven 603,000 188,000 181,000 97,000 80,000 57,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Thursday
Both Channel Ten and the ABC did brilliantly last night, and both took more viewers from Seven than from Nine, so at this point the prime time audience shares stand at: ABC 17.6% Seven 27.7% Nine 28.4% Ten 21.0% and SBS 5.4%. Nine is likely to win the week -- and, it now seems, the year (excluding the Olympics).

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,548,000 397,000 379,000 311,000 193,000 268,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,473,000 425,000 374,000 282,000 160,000 232,000
3 SEARCH & RESCUE Nine 1,431,000 405,000 457,000 237,000 162,000 169,000
4 HOUSE EP 2 Ten 1,387,000 402,000 465,000 215,000 143,000 162,000
5 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,364,000 389,000 420,000 249,000 128,000 178,000
6 FIRE 000 Nine 1,339,000 391,000 416,000 223,000 152,000 157,000
7 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC 1,273,000 386,000 399,000 208,000 110,000 170,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC 1,256,000 324,000 395,000 251,000 123,000 163,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,227,000 346,000 395,000 238,000 144,000 105,000
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,221,000 326,000 361,000 254,000 154,000 126,000
11 HOUSE EP 1 Ten 1,216,000 329,000 410,000 186,000 125,000 166,000
14 COLD CASE Nine 1,109,000 357,000 347,000 192,000 115,000 98,000
15 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,083,000 320,000 333,000 211,000 121,000 98,000
18 UGLY BETTY Seven 955,000 307,000 254,000 177,000 108,000 109,000
19 INSIDE QUEEN MARY 2 Seven 935,000 283,000 267,000 151,000 114,000 121,000
20 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 926,000 265,000 262,000 178,000 108,000 113,000
21 BIG BROTHER Ten 918,000 288,000 253,000 159,000 102,000 116,000
22 MISSING PERSONS UNIT Nine 915,000 304,000 271,000 143,000 110,000 86,000
24 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 896,000 287,000 226,000 142,000 114,000 127,000
25 BACK TO YOU Ten 888,000 245,000 250,000 161,000 106,000 127,000
30 MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL OF FORTUNE Nine 593,000 178,000 196,000 93,000 71,000 54,000
31 THE CATHERINE TATE SHOW ABC 553,000 179,000 159,000 94,000 53,000 68,000
49 CANAL ROAD Nine 308,000 68,000 107,000 53,000 47,000 32,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,608,000 463,000 373,000 335,000 170,000 267,000
2 AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT Seven 1,583,000 448,000 430,000 306,000 184,000 215,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,538,000 461,000 377,000 302,000 163,000 234,000
4 NCIS Ten 1,459,000 414,000 397,000 282,000 162,000 204,000
5 20 TO 1 Nine 1,388,000 442,000 384,000 235,000 142,000 186,000
6 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,339,000 382,000 392,000 259,000 138,000 169,000
7 RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES - REVISITS Nine 1,256,000 339,000 432,000 179,000 136,000 170,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC 1,247,000 318,000 400,000 237,000 99,000 192,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,228,000 383,000 262,000 255,000 134,000 194,000
10 NCIS RPT Ten 1,205,000 336,000 340,000 208,000 145,000 175,000
11 NINE NEWS Nine 1,204,000 347,000 375,000 235,000 140,000 107,000
12 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,192,000 307,000 366,000 230,000 141,000 148,000
13 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,133,000 313,000 352,000 216,000 142,000 111,000
14 BIG BROTHER Ten 964,000 286,000 258,000 180,000 112,000 128,000
15 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 958,000 295,000 231,000 187,000 118,000 127,000
19 LADETTE TO LADY Nine 929,000 268,000 349,000 94,000 114,000 105,000
20 NEIGHBOURS Ten 872,000 216,000 243,000 191,000 97,000 124,000
21 STAR PORTRAITS WITH ROLF HARRIS-EV ABC 855,000 249,000 254,000 152,000 97,000 103,000
26 ANIMAL PHARM ABC 590,000 185,000 173,000 118,000 68,000 46,000
27 MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL OF FORTUNE Nine 577,000 161,000 185,000 113,000 82,000 37,000
39 SUNRISE Seven 357,000 111,000 65,000 104,000 32,000 44,000
45 FIRST TUESDAY BOOK CLUB ABC 317,000 120,000 101,000 35,000 35,000 26,000
48 TODAY Nine 284,000 99,000 88,000 45,000 23,000 29,000
60 THE MAKING OF SEX AND THE CITY Nine 222,000 63,000 87,000 13,000 38,000 20,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Tuesday
Channel Nine looks like winning the week after triumphing on both Sunday and Monday, despite Monday's most watched shows being Seven's news and Today Tonight. Viewers over 55 (and there are a lot of them) were grabbed by Nine's David Attenborough - Tiger and Sea Patrol, while younger viewers were split between Seven's Desperate Housewives and Ten's Big Brother and Good News Week.

The return of Top Gear brought 786,000 to SBS. Nine's new/old game show Million Dollar Wheel of Fortune has slipped further behind Deal or No Deal (603,000 to 943,000).

Seven announced today that the Grey's Anatomy spinoff Private Practice will join the lineup "this month" -- presumably replacing GA on Sunday nights when the season ends. We have illustrated this news with a photo of a redhaired woman who is also relevant to a program mentioned earlier.

What Australia watched, Monday
Description total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,690,000 475,000 404,000 405,000 176,000 229,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,599,000 443,000 426,000 342,000 178,000 211,000
3 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH TIGER-SPY IN THE JUNGLE Nine 1,543,000 431,000 457,000 301,000 165,000 189,000
4 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,514,000 495,000 367,000 269,000 179,000 204,000
5 SEA PATROL Nine 1,473,000 409,000 412,000 304,000 171,000 177,000
6 SURF PATROL Seven 1,377,000 434,000 351,000 249,000 157,000 187,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,316,000 354,000 389,000 266,000 149,000 159,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,306,000 379,000 298,000 281,000 161,000 187,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,289,000 304,000 424,000 289,000 156,000 116,000
10 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,273,000 425,000 381,000 182,000 129,000 156,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,249,000 295,000 397,000 279,000 151,000 127,000
14 BIG BROTHER Ten 957,000 248,000 274,000 189,000 102,000 144,000
15 MORE THAN ENOUGH ROPE-LE ABC1 957,000 258,000 300,000 195,000 88,000 116,000
16 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 957,000 298,000 294,000 152,000 101,000 111,000
17 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 943,000 280,000 254,000 193,000 107,000 110,000
20 BOSTON LEGAL Seven 850,000 292,000 300,000 92,000 95,000 71,000
21 HOW TO LOOK GOOD NAKED Ten 836,000 221,000 270,000 153,000 85,000 107,000
25 TOP GEAR SBS 786,000 207,000 247,000 146,000 101,000 83,000

The Monday update
If further evidence were needed that movies no longer work on television, it came up on Sunday night. There's been huge publicity for Narnia: Prince Caspian, which opens on Thursday, and Channel Seven smartly took advantage of that by showing its predecessor at the child-friendly hour of 7.30pm. Seven may even have expected to win a night which usually gives Nine a strong start for the week.

Look at the Sunday chart below to see if Seven's strategy worked. Nine won the night with 31.8 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven's lion-led recovery could manage only 27.3 per cent.

Last week, advertisements on the ABC were a big hit. The opening episode of The Gruen Transfer, a skeptical analysis of TV commercials, drew 1.29 million in the mainland capitals, making it second only to Spicks and Specks (1.31m) as the ABC's most popular show. SBS, the national broadcaster which takes commercials seriously, could manage only 487,000 for its top show, a repeat of Top Gear, and 427,000 for the Eurovision song contest final.

And while a defamation jury ruled on Thursday that Seven's Today Tonight had less credibility than the sister of Schappelle Corby, 1.4 million people in the mainland capitals still considered it worth watching every night, with another 1.3 million apparently trusting its rival A Current Affair.

Channel Nine won the week, with 27.7 per cent of the prime time audience, closely followed by Seven on 27.5, while Ten got 20.9, ABC 17.8 and SBS 6.0. For the 40 most watched shows of the week, see below.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 60 MINUTES Nine 1,822,000 521,000 560,000 322,000 200,000 219,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,717,000 498,000 403,000 396,000 179,000 241,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,553,000 450,000 556,000 247,000 195,000 106,000
4 DOMESTIC BLITZ Nine 1,514,000 502,000 412,000 265,000 165,000 170,000
5 CSI Nine 1,508,000 428,000 442,000 271,000 194,000 173,000
6 M-THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION ETC Seven 1,242,000 386,000 371,000 220,000 116,000 150,000
7 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC 1,232,000 355,000 373,000 240,000 131,000 133,000
8 GLADIATORS Seven 1,229,000 315,000 377,000 251,000 128,000 157,000
9 WILD CHINA ABC 1,154,000 343,000 334,000 234,000 118,000 124,000
10 WITHOUT A TRACE Nine 1,077,000 292,000 331,000 175,000 151,000 128,000
11 BIG BROTHER LIVE EVICTION Ten 1,012,000 336,000 272,000 196,000 91,000 117,000
14 EMMA ABC 884,000 298,000 294,000 106,000 84,000 102,000
15 ROVE Ten 823,000 259,000 287,000 114,000 81,000 82,000
16 BIG BROTHER SUN Ten 776,000 244,000 220,000 154,000 72,000 87,000
22 FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS Ten 510,000 164,000 169,000 67,000 50,000 60,000
23 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 502,000 297,000 172,000 33,000
24 GILMORE GIRLS Nine 478,000 105,000 198,000 63,000 61,000 51,000
32 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 10: FREMANTLE VS PORT ADELAIDE Seven 303,000 163,000 140,000
37 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 10: ST KILDA VS MELBOURNE Seven 244,000 14,000 209,000 10,000 11,000
49 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 10: SYDNEY VS RICHMOND Seven 207,000 90,000 56,000 61,000
150 JOAN SUTHERLAND: THE RELUCTANT PRIMA DONNA ABC2 14,000 5,000 0 4,000 2,000 2,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals

What Australia watched, week ending May 31
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 60 MINUTES Nine 1,709,000 546,000 484,000 303,000 172,000 203,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUNDAY Seven 1,707,000 448,000 477,000 355,000 178,000 248,000
3 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,657,000 473,000 488,000 286,000 192,000 217,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY Seven 1,518,000 415,000 373,000 325,000 168,000 238,000
5 NINE NEWS - SUNDAY Nine 1,504,000 446,000 453,000 300,000 189,000 116,000
6 SEA PATROL II Nine 1,497,000 427,000 461,000 252,000 163,000 194,000
7 DOMESTIC BLITZ Nine 1,485,000 490,000 389,000 266,000 168,000 173,000
8 SURF PATROL Seven 1,468,000 413,000 422,000 271,000 174,000 188,000
9 20 TO 1 Nine 1,436,000 376,000 417,000 296,000 169,000 177,000
10 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,424,000 424,000 366,000 282,000 150,000 201,000
11 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,415,000 448,000 394,000 257,000 140,000 177,000
12 AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT Seven 1,407,000 440,000 372,000 244,000 155,000 196,000
13 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: TIGER, SPY IN THE JUNGLE Nine 1,394,000 407,000 399,000 263,000 159,000 164,000
14 NCIS Ten 1,372,000 370,000 383,000 255,000 162,000 202,000
15 SEVEN NEWS - SATURDAY Seven 1,369,000 314,000 374,000 325,000 132,000 224,000
16 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,330,000 393,000 413,000 219,000 142,000 163,000
17 CSI Nine 1,322,000 364,000 368,000 245,000 179,000 165,000
18 SEARCH & RESCUE Nine 1,319,000 388,000 372,000 228,000 157,000 174,000
19 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,311,000 387,000 422,000 227,000 115,000 160,000
20 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,307,000 400,000 402,000 204,000 144,000 157,000
21 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC 1,287,000 421,000 402,000 205,000 95,000 164,000
22 GLADIATORS Seven 1,264,000 290,000 415,000 260,000 136,000 163,000
23 FIRE 000 Nine 1,261,000 364,000 356,000 227,000 152,000 162,000
24 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,249,000 382,000 308,000 229,000 137,000 193,000
25 NINE NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY Nine 1,247,000 338,000 420,000 254,000 139,000 96,000
26 WILD CHINA ABC 1,222,000 318,000 364,000 258,000 118,000 165,000
27 HOUSE Ten 1,214,000 360,000 355,000 210,000 124,000 166,000
28 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,213,000 323,000 415,000 233,000 136,000 105,000
29 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,209,000 330,000 324,000 269,000 119,000 167,000
30 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,192,000 312,000 385,000 228,000 137,000 130,000
31 GETAWAY Nine 1,188,000 365,000 346,000 203,000 136,000 139,000
32 ABC NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY ABC 1,150,000 323,000 371,000 215,000 99,000 141,000
33 THAT '70S SHOW Seven 1,143,000 280,000 348,000 235,000 122,000 158,000
34 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,140,000 336,000 346,000 205,000 122,000 131,000
35 NATIONAL NINE NEWS - SATURDAY Nine 1,139,000 303,000 354,000 228,000 143,000 111,000
36 LAW AND ORDER: SVU Ten 1,137,000 349,000 328,000 186,000 105,000 168,000
37 UGLY BETTY Seven 1,136,000 358,000 305,000 195,000 124,000 155,000
38 THE ALL NEW SIMPSONS Ten 1,134,000 337,000 356,000 187,000 110,000 144,000
39 CSI: NY Nine 1,125,000 322,000 327,000 169,000 144,000 163,000
40 SILENT WITNESS ABC 1,111,000 334,000 324,000 194,000 118,000 140,000
41 HELL'S KITCHEN Nine 1,108,000 338,000 329,000 151,000 133,000 157,000
42 BONES Seven 1,103,000 268,000 322,000 247,000 120,000 145,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

The most watched shows on Pay TV were:
1 NRL COWBOYS V PANTHERS Fox Sports 2 324,000
2 RUGBY UNION: S14 FINAL Fox Sports 3 324,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S NEXT TOP MODEL FOX8 273,000
4 NRL BULLDOGS V SHARKS Fox Sports 2 238,000
5 NRL KNIGHTS V WARRIORS Fox Sports 2 222,000
6 AFL W BULLDOGS V N MELB Fox Sports 1 221,000
7 THE SIMPSONS FOX8 209,000
8 LAFL HAWTHORN V WESTERN BULLDOGS Fox Sports 1 184,000
9 FUTURAMA FOX8 180,000
10 SELLING HOUSES AUSTRALIA Lifestyle 176,000
(OzTAM national survey)

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 09:01 AM
• Comments (89)

The Who We Are update: Week 23

This week of David Dale's media blog is now history. For the latest discussion, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
To discuss whether "Australian culture" is an oxymoron, go to Who We Are
To discuss Australia's greatest screen heroes, go to The Tribal Mind

The ratings week ended with these prime time audience shares: ABC 17.8% Seven 27.5% Nine 27.7% Ten 20.9% SBS 6.0% (though Seven points out that it won with viewers under the age of 55).
What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,369,000 314,000 374,000 325,000 132,000 224,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,139,000 303,000 354,000 228,000 143,000 111,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Nine 1,067,000 242,000 302,000 211,000 146,000 167,000
4 BED OF ROSES ABC 1,018,000 288,000 296,000 202,000 104,000 127,000
5 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC 963,000 254,000 324,000 175,000 94,000 117,000
6 THE GREAT OUTDOORS Seven 960,000 256,000 268,000 220,000 95,000 122,000
9 THE BILL ABC 802,000 235,000 229,000 147,000 98,000 93,000
10 SPY KIDS -RPT Nine 797,000 195,000 233,000 145,000 82,000 142,000
11 M-STARSKY & HUTCH Seven 741,000 208,000 167,000 179,000 82,000 105,000
12 GARDENING AUSTRALIA ABC 739,000 155,000 280,000 132,000 82,000 90,000
13 THE RICH LIST Seven 715,000 170,000 171,000 190,000 97,000 87,000
14 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Ten 682,000 363,000 139,000 88,000 92,000
15 MISS CONGENIALITY -RPT Nine 589,000 239,000 141,000 125,000 84,000
16 MIDSOMER MURDERS RPT ABC 583,000 152,000 173,000 112,000 81,000 65,000
17 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFL Ten 568,000 66,000 188,000 64,000 71,000 179,000
20 TOP GEAR RPT SBS 487,000 137,000 119,000 113,000 75,000 44,000

The ratings race, updated 10am Saturday
Up to Wednesday, Channel Nine looked unbeatable for the week. Seven then lost Thursday (without Lost, which returns next Thursday for a two hour season finale). The Star Wars parody didn't help Family Guy (had most of the fans already seen it on DVD?) and the hypnotist did not help Big Brother (not even Carson Kressley can do that any more).

But on Friday a smashing performance by Seven news and Better Homes and Gardens left the prime time audience shares at: Nine 28.2%, Seven 28.1%, Ten 20.7%, ABC 17.1%, SBS 5.8%.

Now everything depends on the viewers who stay home on Saturday night. Would you care to predict how Nine's Spy Kids and Miss Congeniality will go against Seven's The Rich List and Starsky and Hutch? My money's on Nine.

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,508,000 426,000 368,000 343,000 148,000 223,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,415,000 448,000 394,000 257,000 140,000 177,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,340,000 405,000 304,000 286,000 156,000 188,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,191,000 318,000 397,000 272,000 124,000 80,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,152,000 348,000 262,000 226,000 131,000 186,000
6 SILENT WITNESS ABC 1,111,000 334,000 324,000 194,000 118,000 140,000
10 BIG BROTHER - FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE Ten 896,000 258,000 235,000 193,000 105,000 105,000
13 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 815,000 250,000 201,000 178,000 83,000 102,000
15 SPOOKS ABC 794,000 238,000 250,000 134,000 75,000 98,000
16 BIG BROTHER Ten 771,000 235,000 187,000 176,000 75,000 97,0000
18 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 10: ADELAIDE VS ESSENDON Seven 712,000 18,000 387,000 16,000 165,000 126,000
19 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 653,000 368,000 285,000
21 MEAN GIRLS RPT Ten 618,000 211,000 165,000 122,000 49,000 70,000
22 MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL OF FORTUNE Nine 607,000 190,000 212,000 96,000 67,000 42,000
33 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 372,000 241,000 130,000
What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,415,000 353,000 334,000 330,000 162,000 237,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,289,000 392,000 346,000 233,000 137,000 181,000
3 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,241,000 379,000 328,000 234,000 129,000 171,000
4 ABC NEWS ABC 1,210,000 311,000 386,000 219,000 135,000 160,000
5 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,209,000 330,000 324,000 269,000 119,000 167,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,191,000 297,000 449,000 211,000 133,000 100,000
7 GETAWAY Nine 1,188,000 365,000 346,000 203,000 136,000 139,000
8 NINE NEWS Nine 1,176,000 297,000 453,000 204,000 130,000 93,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,152,000 283,000 374,000 234,000 124,000 137,000
10 THAT '70S SHOW Seven 1,143,000 280,000 348,000 235,000 122,000 158,000
11 LAW AND ORDER: SVU Ten 1,137,000 349,000 328,000 186,000 105,000 168,000
12 HELL'S KITCHEN Nine 1,108,000 338,000 329,000 151,000 133,000 157,000
13 BONES Seven 1,103,000 268,000 322,000 247,000 120,000 145,000
17 BIG BROTHER - HOUSEMATES HYPNOTISED Ten 971,000 274,000 250,000 202,000 88,000 158,000
16 THE FOOTY SHOW Nine 973,000 215,000 425,000 97,000 114,000 121,000
18 TRINNY & SUSANNAH UNDRESS THE NATION Seven 899,000 225,000 302,000 145,000 104,000 123,000
20 BIG BROTHER Ten 877,000 251,000 230,000 178,000 87,000 130,000
22 MEDIUM Ten 837,000 254,000 212,000 155,000 95,000 121,00018
23 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 799,000 227,000 200,000 165,000 94,000 114,000
25 GRAND DESIGNS ABROAD RPT ABC 606,000 157,000 160,000 132,000 85,000 71,000
26 MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL OF FORTUNE Nine 542,000 144,000 181,000 106,000 69,000 42,000
27 THE STATE WITHIN ABC 534,000 160,000 152,000 90,000 47,000 85,000
29 Q AND A ABC 460,000 165,000 115,000 84,000 38,000 57,000
31 FAMILY GUY Seven 442,000 125,000 135,000 56,000 60,000 65,000

FRIDAY: OzTAM advises that due to a "technical issue", there will be no ratings report today. Watch this space at 10 am on Saturday May 30, when there will be audience data for Thursday and Friday. Meanwhile I have embiggened the photo of Detective Lily Rush.

The ratings race, updated 11am Thursday
Channel Seven won last night, despite a surge for the ABC with The Gruen Transfer (you can watch it by going to www.abc.net.au/gruentransfer or by clicking here). At this point in the week, the average prime time audience shares stand at ABC 17.2% Seven 27.5% Nine 28.6% Ten 20.8% SBS 6.0%.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,547,000 453,000 383,000 291,000 172,000 249,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,500,000 484,000 380,000 270,000 145,000 221,000
3 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,327,000 355,000 436,000 272,000 134,000 130,000
4 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,311,000 387,000 422,000 227,000 115,000 160,000
5 SEARCH & RESCUE Nine 1,311,000 390,000 369,000 225,000 155,000 173,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,302,000 417,000 312,000 220,000 131,000 222,000
7 FIRE 000 Nine 1,292,000 369,000 363,000 236,000 159,000 165,000
8 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC 1,287,000 421,000 402,000 205,000 95,000 164,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,280,000 327,000 433,000 282,000 127,000 111,000
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,231,000 333,000 383,000 232,000 148,000 134,000
11 HOUSE Ten 1,214,000 360,000 355,000 210,000 124,000 166,000
12 ABC NEWS ABC 1,157,000 327,000 395,000 211,000 89,000 134,000
13 UGLY BETTY Seven 1,136,000 358,000 305,000 195,000 124,000 155,000
14 THE NEW INVENTORS ABC 1,095,000 306,000 361,000 221,000 94,000 113,000
15 COLD CASE Nine 1,017,000 286,000 318,000 175,000 128,000 109,000
16 MY SHOCKING STORY: HALF MAN HALF TREE Seven 985,000 320,000 273,000 137,000 116,000 140,000
17 HOUSE RPT Ten 955,000 269,000 323,000 144,000 110,000 109,000
20 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 890,000 255,000 232,000 176,000 110,000 117,000
21 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 874,000 248,000 237,000 158,000 110,000 121,000
22 BIG BROTHER Ten 870,000 240,000 240,000 164,000 97,000 129,000
23 MISSING PERSONS UNIT Nine 841,000 233,000 285,000 116,000 109,000 98,000
26 OPRAH AND THE SEX AND THE CITY CAST REUNION Ten 706,000 235,000 174,000 126,000 58,000 113,000
28 MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL OF FORTUNE Nine 596,000 157,000 196,000 108,000 74,000 61,000
34 AT THE MOVIES ABC 414,000 126,000 143,000 60,000 34,000 52,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,483,000 374,000 372,000 321,000 177,000 239,000
2 20 TO 1 Nine 1,414,000 370,000 413,000 293,000 165,000 173,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT Seven 1,407,000 440,000 372,000 244,000 155,000 196,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,399,000 394,000 376,000 292,000 140,000 197,000
5 NCIS Ten 1,371,000 370,000 383,000 255,000 162,000 202,000
6 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,330,000 393,000 413,000 219,000 142,000 163,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,257,000 394,000 313,000 232,000 130,000 188,000
8 NINE NEWS Nine 1,232,000 379,000 383,000 244,000 138,000 89,000
9 ABC NEWS ABC 1,172,000 340,000 366,000 227,000 93,000 146,000
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,145,000 297,000 369,000 216,000 142,000 120,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,142,000 337,000 362,000 214,000 140,000 89,000
15 BIG BROTHER Ten 946,000 271,000 271,000 182,000 94,000 129,000
16 KITCHEN NIGHTMARES U.S.A. -RPT Nine 933,000 284,000 345,000 176,000 129,000
17 LADETTE TO LADY Nine 913,000 274,000 311,000 116,000 117,000 95,000
18 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 904,000 272,000 237,000 166,000 108,000 122,000
26 MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL OF FORTUNE Nine 607,000 176,000 197,000 100,000 83,000 51,000
37 SUNRISE Seven 341,000 107,000 68,000 91,000 28,000 48,000
41 TODAY Nine 293,000 105,000 98,000 39,000 23,000 28,000
44 MISTRESSES Seven 276,000 53,000 107,000 39,000 43,000 35,000
77 THE MORNING SHOW Seven 157,000 40,000 35,000 35,000 20,000 26,000
95 MORNINGS WITH KERRI-ANNE Nine 113,000 30,000 44,000 21,000 8,000 10,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,657,000 473,000 488,000 286,000 192,000 217,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,639,000 467,000 407,000 340,000 182,000 244,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,587,000 445,000 421,000 329,000 172,000 219,000
4 SEA PATROL II - THE COUP Nine 1,505,000 427,000 462,000 255,000 166,000 195,000
5 SURF PATROL Seven 1,468,000 413,000 422,000 271,000 174,000 188,000
6 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH TIGER-SPY IN THE JUNGLE Nine 1,377,000 404,000 397,000 260,000 155,000 160,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,344,000 370,000 432,000 268,000 169,000 106,000
8 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,307,000 400,000 402,000 204,000 144,000 157,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,304,000 320,000 435,000 244,000 162,000 143,000
10 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,291,000 373,000 325,000 232,000 166,000 194,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,285,000 351,000 421,000 244,000 160,000 109,000
12 CSI: NY Nine 1,159,000 331,000 336,000 175,000 149,000 168,000
13 ABC NEWS ABC 1,158,000 363,000 350,000 203,000 93,000 149,000
14 BIG BROTHER Ten 976,000 249,000 309,000 191,000 105,000 123,000
15 HOW TO LOOK GOOD NAKED Ten 941,000 227,000 315,000 172,000 108,000 118,000
16 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 940,000 267,000 244,000 198,000 100,000 131,000
18 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC 904,000 275,000 283,000 168,000 58,000 120,000
19 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 862,000 271,000 252,000 139,000 96,000 104,000
20 BOSTON LEGAL Seven 843,000 279,000 312,000 109,000 94,000 48,000
24 MILLION DOLLAR WHEEL OF FORTUNE Nine 718,000 230,000 220,000 130,000 91,000 47,000
26 MORE THAN ENOUGH ROPE ABC 673,000 194,000 232,000 108,000 58,000 81,000
28 BIG BROTHER - BIG MOUTH Ten 563,000 197,000 155,000 90,000 64,000 57,000
35 MYTHBUSTERS RPT SBS 379,000 98,000 93,000 88,000 52,000 49,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
The viewing habits of Australians last week evoked a very traditional stereotype: a nation preoccupied with football, gardening, home renovations and Dannii Minogue. Only a sudden passion for tigers showed any deviation from decades-old norms.

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

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

What Australia watched Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 60 MINUTES Nine 1,712,000 547,000 486,000 304,000 172,000 203,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,706,000 448,000 477,000 355,000 178,000 248,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,503,000 446,000 454,000 300,000 187,000 116,000
4 DOMESTIC BLITZ Nine 1,481,000 488,000 387,000 265,000 168,000 173,000
5 CSI Nine 1,323,000 364,000 368,000 246,000 180,000 165,000
6 GLADIATORS Seven 1,262,000 290,000 415,000 260,000 134,000 163,000
7 WILD CHINA ABC 1,222,000 318,000 364,000 258,000 118,000 165,000
8 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,140,000 336,000 346,000 205,000 122,000 131,000
9 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC 1,092,000 315,000 322,000 207,000 104,000 145,000
10 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 1,046,000 265,000 325,000 203,000 121,000 133,000
11 BIG BROTHER LIVE EVICTION Ten 1,026,000 336,000 235,000 206,000 111,000 138,000
16 BIG BROTHER SUN Ten 906,000 267,000 217,000 186,000 114,000 122,000
17 BROTHERS & SISTERS Seven 874,000 287,000 276,000 118,000 107,000 86,000
18 THE SALLY LOCKHART MYSTERIES: THE SHADOW IN THE NORTH ABC 850,000 247,000 272,000 135,000 79,000 117,000
19 ROVE Ten 775,000 251,000 213,000 128,000 80,000 103,000
24 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 9: MELBOURNE VS HAWTHORN Seven 540,000 10,000 310,000 7,000 115,000 99,000
25 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 503,000 285,000 198,000 19,000
26 FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS Ten 467,000 138,000 151,000 66,000 48,000 64,000
27 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2008: FINAL SBS 427,000 144,000 159,000 47,000 39,000 37,000
28 GILMORE GIRLS Nine 426,000 113,000 139,000 51,000 63,000 60,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Mind you, if Abba: The Movie had been on Pay TV, it would have been acclaimed as one of the most watched shows of the week, which were ...

What Pay TV subscribers watched (non-sport)
1 AUSTRALIA'S NEXT TOP MODEL FOX8 273,000
2 SELLING HOUSES AUSTRALIA Lifestyle 165,000
3 THE SIMPSONS FOX8 163,000
4 FAMILY GUY FOX8 162,000
5 GRAND DESIGNS Lifestyle 145,000
Sport
1 NRL RABBITOHS V STORM Fox Sports 2 237,000
2 AFL FREM V W BULLDOGS Fox Sports 1 214,000
3 NRL RAIDERS V RABBITOHS Fox Sports 2 211,000
4 RUGBY UNION: S14 SF2 TAHS V SHARKS Fox Sports 3 191,000
5 NRL PANTHERS V WARRIORS Fox Sports 2 181,000
(OzTAM national survey)

What Australia watched, week ending May 24
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 STATE OF ORIGIN I - MATCH Nine 2,092,000 897,000 283,000 710,000 84,000 119,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUNDAY Seven 1,658,000 438,000 410,000 368,000 187,000 256,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT Seven 1,603,000 477,000 453,000 251,000 190,000 231,000
4 60 MINUTES Nine 1,570,000 499,000 426,000 279,000 145,000 220,000
5 NINE NEWS - SUNDAY Nine 1,544,000 498,000 452,000 283,000 203,000 109,000
6 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,520,000 455,000 434,000 257,000 157,000 217,000
7 SEVEN NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY Seven 1,502,000 430,000 377,000 283,000 166,000 246,000
8 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH: TIGER, SPY IN THE JUNGLE Nine 1,489,000 418,000 447,000 252,000 177,000 195,000
9 STATE OF ORIGIN I - PRE MATCH Nine 1,470,000 621,000 232,000 497,000 120,000
10 NCIS Ten 1,461,000 390,000 415,000 304,000 176,000 176,000
11 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,457,000 422,000 396,000 275,000 155,000 209,000
12 SEA PATROL II Nine 1,380,000 418,000 361,000 252,000 153,000 196,000
13 GLADIATORS Seven 1,379,000 340,000 401,000 266,000 180,000 191,000
14 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,357,000 393,000 354,000 232,000 153,000 225,000
15 DOMESTIC BLITZ Nine 1,352,000 418,000 362,000 273,000 143,000 156,000
16 SEVEN NEWS - SATURDAY Seven 1,336,000 379,000 443,000 248,000 133,000 132,000
17 CSI Nine 1,318,000 353,000 384,000 245,000 159,000 177,000
18 NINE NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY Nine 1,278,000 340,000 414,000 267,000 138,000 119,000
19 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,268,000 413,000 344,000 185,000 128,000 198,000
20 SURF PATROL Seven 1,267,000 383,000 350,000 249,000 123,000 163,000
21 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,261,000 369,000 425,000 201,000 129,000 137,000
22 WILD CHINA ABC 1,234,000 317,000 397,000 240,000 124,000 157,000
23 RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES Nine 1,222,000 309,000 445,000 165,000 158,000 145,000
24 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,214,000 382,000 281,000 230,000 129,000 192,000
25 ABC NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY ABC 1,193,000 336,000 372,000 211,000 114,000 160,000
26 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,192,000 382,000 385,000 200,000 103,000 123,000
27 GETAWAY Nine 1,185,000 329,000 376,000 209,000 118,000 153,000
28 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,180,000 346,000 298,000 244,000 113,000 179,000
29 ABC NEWS - SUNDAY ABC 1,175,000 296,000 389,000 218,000 94,000 177,000
30 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,168,000 318,000 373,000 251,000 122,000 104,000
31 HELL'S KITCHEN Nine 1,153,000 317,000 390,000 148,000 138,000 161,000
32 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,150,000 320,000 352,000 219,000 127,000 132,000
33 NINE NEWS - SATURDAY Nine 1,145,000 342,000 394,000 182,000 142,000 85,000
34 NCIS (R) Ten 1,140,000 267,000 383,000 215,000 129,000 146,000
35 THE ALL NEW SIMPSONS Ten 1,140,000 267,000 406,000 205,000 129,000 133,000
36 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 1,128,000 322,000 328,000 198,000 134,000 146,000
37 THAT '70S SHOW Seven 1,121,000 330,000 268,000 234,000 109,000 181,000
38 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,101,000 272,000 420,000 156,000 109,000 145,000
39 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Nine 1,101,000 336,000 309,000 214,000 122,000 120,000
40 BIG BROTHER - LIVE EVICTION Ten 1,097,000 336,000 293,000 216,000 107,000 145,000
41 SILENT WITNESS ABC 1,066,000 327,000 315,000 185,000 110,000 129,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)
David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 05:23 AM
• Comments (118)

The Tribal Mind: Free spirits or mini-Yanks

To discuss the most significant moments in the history of Australian television, go to Who We Are.
by David Dale
This is scary. I was going to write a column about how Australians are becoming less like Americans -- how we seem finally to be asserting our cultural independence from the entertaining empire. That trend is obvious on television, where local drama, comedy, variety and reality pull much bigger crowds than the US product. It seemed to be happening also in cinemas, where Australians are responding to the latest blockbuster, Iron Man, with far less enthusiasm than our transpacific cousins.

Over recent decades movie distributors have relied on the formula that a big US movie will make in Australian dollars roughly one tenth of what it makes in US dollars. Our tastes have been that predictable. But in its first two weeks in Australian cinemas, Iron Man, with no serious competition, has made $12.4 million, while in its first two weeks in US cinemas, it made $195 million.

Iron Man is an unfortunate choice of movie on which to display our independence, since it offers a rare combination of wit, special effects and social conscience. And Gwyneth Paltrow. But at least we are no longer marching in lock step with Them Over There. Or so I thought.

To test the trend, I compared the US and local takings for the movies seen by more than a million Australians since May, 2007. Here's the list. Next to each movie, divide the first figure you see by ten and compare that with the second figure you see.

The highest grossing films of the past 12 months:
1 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix $US292m, $A35.5m
2 Shrek The Third $US320m, $A33.7m
3 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $US309m, $A33.1m
4 The Simpsons Movie $US183m, $A31.4m
5 Transformers $US319m, $A27.9m
6 I Am Legend $US256m, $A23m
7 The Bourne Ultimatum $227m, $A21.9m
8 Alvin and the Chipmunks $US217m, $A17.5m
9 Hairspray $US119m, $US16.5m
10 Death At A Funeral $US9m; $A16 m
11 27 Dresses $US77m, $A15.5m
12 Bee Movie $US127m, $A15m
13 The Golden Compass $US70m, $A14.7m
14 Knocked Up $US148m, $A14.5m
15 Ratatouille $US206m $A14.4m
16 Iron Man $US195m $A12.4m (so far)
17 National Treasure: Book of Secrets $US219m $A13 m
18 Enchanted $US128m, $A12.5m
19 Ocean's 13 $US117m $A12.3m
20 Dr Suess Horton Hears a Who $US151m $A12m
21 American Gangster $US130m $A11.5m
22 Juno $US143m $A11.5m
23 Die Hard 4 $US134m, $A11.3m
24 Atonement $US51m $A10.5m
25 Rush Hour 3 $US140m $A10.4.

This is not exactly a landslide of support for my theory about the collapse of coca-colonisation. Half of Australia's favourites were American favourites to the power of ten (give or take $4 million).

We liked Harry Potter, Death at a Funeral, Atonement and The Golden Compass far more than they did (higher tolerance for British accents?). We liked The Simpsons, 27 Dresses and Hairspray more than they did (a quirkier sense of humour? Higher proportion of female cinema-goers?). They liked Alvin and the Chipmunks, Ratatouille, and Iron Man more than we did (more innocent and childlike in their thinking?) After that, we're pretty much twins. Might as well enjoy it.

To offer your explanation for the similarities and differences, go to Comments

David Dale is the author of The Little Book of Australia -- A snapshot of Who We Are (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 10:06 AM
• Comments (6)

WHO WE ARE: Momentous moments

To discuss whether Australians are mini-Americans, go to The Tribal Mind
A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 18/5/2008
We rage and whinge about television programming, but no medium can match it for uniting a nation around emotional events. Over the past few weeks, this column has been seeking your views on the dramas and comedies shown on the box over the past 52 years (click here for that discussion). In the process we failed to see the elephant in the room. No episode of a drama or comedy series has ever attracted more than half the population, but plenty of other things have. Here's an attempt to rank the moments that moved the majority of us.

The most watched events in Australian television history
1 The funeral of Diana Spencer (1997)
2 The Sydney Olympics opening ceremony (2000)
3 Cathy Freeman's gold medal Olympic run (2000)
4 Wedding of Prince Charles and Diana Spencer (1981)
5 The first human to walk on the moon (1969)
6 The first TV showing of The Sound of Music (1977)
7 The Australian Open tennis Men's Final Hewitt v Safin (2005)
8 Twin towers reportage, September 12 (2001)
9 The boxing match between Lionel Rose and Alan Rudkin (1969)
10 The Rugby World Cup final (2003)
11 The World of the Seekers concert documentary (1968)
12 The Beaconsfield miners rescue (2006)
13 Australian Idol final verdict (2003)
14 The Block auction (2003)
15 The AFL grand final (1996).

That's the impression of Australia's priorities we gain from the raw ratings data. Moving from the statistical to the theoretical, I've also attempted a personal judgement on social symbolism, which I'd better put in historical order.

The most significant moments in Australian television history
1 Homicide becomes the first Australian drama to outrate a top US drama (The Fugitive) (1966).
2 Number 96 shows TV's first gay kiss (1974).
3 Graham Kennedy is banned from live television for doing crow imitations that start with an "f" (1975).
4 AC/DC make the first successful Australian music video clip It's A Long Way To The Top (if you want to rock and roll)' (1977).
5 The Governor-General, Sir John Kerr, seems drunk at the Melbourne Cup (1977)
6 Kerry Packer launches World Series Cricket (1978).
7 The Grim Reaper commercials warn about AIDS (1987).
8 Charlene (Kylie Minogue) marries Scott (Jason Donovan) in Neighbours (1987).
9 Bob Hawke admits infidelity and cries, on Clive Robertson's Newsworld (1989).
10 Normie Rowe and Ron Casey fight over republicanism on The Midday Show (1991).
11 Kerry Packer pulls off Doug Mulray's Naughtiest Home Videos halfway through the first episode, apparently because of a display of kangaroo genitals (1997).
12 The Block features gay renovators (2003).
13 Kevin Rudd starts his rise by doing weekly banter sessions with Joe Hockey on Sunrise (2003).
14 Big Brother contestant Merlin protests detention of boat people by olding up a sign "Free th refugees" (2004)
15 Steve Irwin holds his baby while feeding a crocodile (2004).
16 Pauline Hanson moves from politician to celebrity on Dancing With The Stars (2004).
17 Channel Ten expels contestants Ash and John from the Big Brother house for attempting to "turkey slap" contestant Camilla (2006).
18 The Chaser team show their arrest for breaching security at the APEC summit (2007).

What did I miss? If you'd care to suggest more interesting TV moments, or dispute the significance of the ones on the list, go to Comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 08:59 AM
• Comments (15)

The Who We Are update: Week 22

This week of David Dale's media blog is now history. To join the latest discussion, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
To discuss whether Australians are mini-Americans, go to The Tribal Mind
To discuss the most significant moments in the history of Australian television, go to Who We Are

The ratings race, updated 10 am Saturday
Australia's suburban houseprouderie won Friday night for Channel Seven, but it was not enough to give Seven the week. The final prime time audience shares averaged: ABC 18.0% Seven 26.8% Nine 28.3% Ten 21.1% SBS 5.8%. But of course tonight's Eurovision song contest final will give SBS a head start for the new week.

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,336,000 379,000 443,000 248,000 133,000 132,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,145,000 342,000 394,000 182,000 142,000 85,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Nine 1,101,000 336,000 309,000 214,000 122,000 120,000
4 BED OF ROSES ABC 970,000 281,000 323,000 190,000 87,000 89,000
5 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC 946,000 273,000 309,000 205,000 78,000 82,000
6 THE GREAT OUTDOORS Seven 868,000 255,000 274,000 184,000 86,000 69,000
7 BRING IT ON -RPT Nine 825,000 271,000 194,000 158,000 104,000 98,000
8 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Ten 806,000 393,000 62,000 158,000 193,000
9 THE BILL ABC 781,000 223,000 243,000 150,000 80,000 86,000
12 THE RICH LIST Seven 729,000 232,000 218,000 132,000 76,000 71,000
13 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFL Ten 676,000 124,000 204,000 54,000 118,000 177,000
16 MIDSOMER MURDERS RPT ABC 569,000 149,000 170,000 97,000 92,000 62,000
21 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2008: SECOND SEMI FINAL SBS 421,000 127,000 166,000 57,000 33,000 37,000
26 M-MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD Seven 277,000 178,000 100,000
27 ABBA THE MOVIE SBS 262,000 105,000 65,000 34,000 27,000 29,000
Continued here

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,520,000 455,000 434,000 257,000 157,000 217,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,406,000 422,000 320,000 255,000 162,000 247,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,319,000 407,000 309,000 203,000 160,000 241,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,192,000 339,000 370,000 248,000 134,000 101,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,187,000 380,000 274,000 205,000 134,000 194,000
6 SILENT WITNESS ABC 1,066,000 327,000 315,000 185,000 110,000 129,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,057,000 337,000 309,000 215,000 110,000 87,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC 1,032,000 299,000 310,000 184,000 100,000 140,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 973,000 285,000 278,000 203,000 103,000 105,000
10 BIG BROTHER - FRIDAY NIGHT LIVE Ten 937,000 248,000 261,000 192,000 119,000 117,000
11 COLLECTORS ABC 915,000 274,000 293,000 141,000 107,000 100,000
12 SPOOKS ABC 881,000 247,000 275,000 155,000 96,000 107,000
15 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 9: COLLINGWOOD VS GEELONG Seven 782,000 7,000 456,000 20,000 126,000 171,000
16 BIG BROTHER Ten 772,000 201,000 216,000 178,000 84,000 93,000
23 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 514,000 344,000 171,000
43 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2008: FIRST SEMI FINAL SBS 272,000 88,000 107,000 36,000 19,000 21,000

Lost picked up 100,000 viewers in its second week at 10.30pm, so there's hope for the world. The season final (two hours starting at 9.30pm) is on Thursday week.
What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,400,000 393,000 368,000 250,000 149,000 240,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,268,000 345,000 344,000 221,000 140,000 217,000
3 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,209,000 378,000 283,000 241,000 117,000 189,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,197,000 338,000 368,000 265,000 120,000 106,000
5 GETAWAY Nine 1,181,000 329,000 374,000 207,000 117,000 153,000
6 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,180,000 346,000 298,000 244,000 113,000 179,000
7 HELL'S KITCHEN Nine 1,150,000 317,000 389,000 146,000 137,000 161,000
8 THAT '70S SHOW Seven 1,121,000 330,000 268,000 234,000 109,000 181,000
9 ABC NEWS ABC 1,121,000 339,000 309,000 211,000 106,000 157,000
10 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,109,000 323,000 346,000 232,000 114,000 94,000
12 BONES Seven 1,030,000 301,000 276,000 207,000 112,000 133,000
13 LAW AND ORDER: SVU Ten 999,000 307,000 309,000 160,000 92,000 131,000
14 THE FOOTY SHOW Nine 929,000 246,000 380,000 86,000 114,000 103,000
17 TRINNY & SUSANNAH UNDRESS THE NATION Seven 880,000 255,000 258,000 137,000 106,000 123,000
19 MEDIUM Ten 809,000 264,000 221,000 139,000 81,000 104,000
20 BIG BROTHER Ten 792,000 227,000 194,000 160,000 102,000 109,000
22 DON'T FORGET THE LYRICS THURS Ten 769,000 216,000 233,000 148,000 82,000 90,000
28 Q AND A ABC 509,000 206,000 132,000 65,000 49,000 57,000
30 LOST Seven 464,000 133,000 154,000 56,000 63,000 57,000
32 THE STATE WITHIN ABC 462,000 147,000 126,000 86,000 39,000 63,000
42 STOCKINGER SBS 307,000 101,000 97,000 43,000 35,000 30,000
53 FAMILY GUY Seven 250,000 74,000 83,000 21,000 39,000 32,000
54 BLUE WATER HIGH ABC 243,000 70,000 86,000 48,000 15,000 25,000
81 NINE MORNING NEWS Nine 150,000 39,000 49,000 34,000 10,000 19,000
90 SEVEN MORNING NEWS Seven 128,000 36,000 32,000 22,000 13,000 25,000
96 TEN NEWS AT 11.00 Ten 107,000 29,000 41,000 18,000 7,000 13,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 RUGBY LEAGUE: STATE OF OREGON MATCH 1 Nine 2,092,000 897,000 283,000 710,000 84,000 119,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,601,000 424,000 428,000 347,000 157,000 245,000
3 STATE OF OREGON PRE MATCH Nine 1,469,000 621,000 231,000 497,000 120,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,373,000 374,000 368,000 269,000 141,000 221,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,300,000 345,000 413,000 283,000 125,000 133,000
6 ABC NEWS ABC 1,251,000 351,000 394,000 211,000 125,000 171,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,214,000 374,000 292,000 235,000 131,000 182,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,212,000 356,000 340,000 266,000 119,000 130,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,204,000 339,000 362,000 273,000 115,000 113,000
10 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,115,000 275,000 425,000 159,000 111,000 145,000
14 HOUSE EP 1 RPT Ten 983,000 204,000 368,000 126,000 123,000 162,000
15 UGLY BETTY Seven 931,000 233,000 289,000 164,000 117,000 129,000
16 BIG BROTHER - CARSON CRASHES BIG BROTHER'S CLOSET PART 2 Ten 902,000 215,000 294,000 138,000 116,000 138,000
18 HOUSE EP 2 RPT Ten 857,000 198,000 361,000 88,000 96,000 114,000
22 BIG BROTHER Ten 819,000 208,000 247,000 171,000 90,000 104,000
27 THE CATHERINE TATE SHOW ABC 597,000 117,000 261,000 65,000 63,000 91,000
34 SUNRISE Seven 387,000 129,000 79,000 98,000 27,000 54,000
40 SUPER TROUPERS: THIRTY YEARS OF ABBA Seven 323,000 188,000 136,000
46 TODAY Nine 282,000 99,000 71,000 60,000 20,000 32,000
92 TEN NEWS AT 11.00 Ten 124,000 32,000 31,000 21,000 19,000 22,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Wednesday
It's all very well columns like this making fun of Dannii and the two boobs (Red and Tom) but they have pulled Channel Seven out of a hole this week. Can anyone explain why last night's episode of Australia's Got Talent would attract 200,000 more viewers than last week's?

Seven won Tuesday night, and at this point in the week, the prime time average audience shares stand at: ABC 17.4% Seven 27.3% Nine 28.5% Ten 21.3% SBS 5.5%. Tonight (and probably the week) will go to Nine because of the sheer weight of biffophiliacs in Sydney and Brisbane. Will Seven put Dannii on three nights a week and make her the next Gordon Ramsay?

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT Seven 1,603,000 477,000 453,000 251,000 190,000 232,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,491,000 417,000 398,000 258,000 185,000 234,000
3 NCIS Ten 1,459,000 390,000 414,000 304,000 176,000 175,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,350,000 398,000 374,000 205,000 160,000 213,000
5 ABC NEWS ABC 1,317,000 344,000 427,000 243,000 120,000 182,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,272,000 329,000 447,000 245,000 140,000 111,000
7 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,268,000 413,000 344,000 185,000 128,000 198,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,255,000 424,000 288,000 215,000 130,000 199,000
9 RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES Nine 1,223,000 310,000 442,000 166,000 158,000 146,000
10 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,219,000 302,000 410,000 273,000 140,000 94,000
12 NCIS RPT Ten 1,143,000 268,000 383,000 215,000 130,000 147,000
13 THE ALL NEW SIMPSONS Ten 1,140,000 267,000 406,000 205,000 129,000 133,000
15 20 TO 1 Nine 1,053,000 273,000 280,000 216,000 148,000 135,000
19 LADETTE TO LADY Nine 910,000 274,000 306,000 86,000 133,000 112,000
20 BIG BROTHER Ten 873,000 223,000 258,000 174,000 107,000 111,000
22 STAR PORTRAITS WITH ROLF HARRIS ABC 828,000 272,000 219,000 149,000 95,000 92,000
23 CRIMES THAT SHOOK THE WORLD Seven 748,000 207,000 233,000 127,000 80,000 100,000
26 FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT ABC 589,000 184,000 193,000 99,000 51,000 61,000
31 ABC NEWS UPDATE ABC 497,000 156,000 162,000 84,000 48,000 47,000
32 TEN LATE NEWS WITH SPORTS TONIGHT Ten 482,000 132,000 161,000 69,000 59,000 61,000
34 BALLS OF STEEL Nine 460,000 148,000 146,000 45,000 66,000 55,000
35 SUNRISE Seven 391,000 129,000 69,000 102,000 35,000 56,000
46 TODAY Nine 280,000 98,000 76,000 54,000 17,000 35,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,614,000 497,000 373,000 304,000 177,000 264,000
2 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH TIGER-SPY IN THE JUNGLE Nine 1,486,000 418,000 446,000 252,000 176,000 193,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,473,000 442,000 371,000 261,000 164,000 235,000
4 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,457,000 422,000 396,000 275,000 155,000 209,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,421,000 347,000 470,000 296,000 166,000 143,000
6 SEA PATROL II - THE COUP Nine 1,382,000 418,000 362,000 252,000 154,000 196,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,312,000 361,000 430,000 232,000 143,000 146,000
8 SURF PATROL Seven 1,267,000 383,000 350,000 249,000 123,000 163,000
9 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,261,000 369,000 425,000 201,000 129,000 137,000
14 MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL GREAT DEBATE Ten 989,000 277,000 342,000 150,000 98,000 122,000
16 BIG BROTHER Ten 960,000 254,000 301,000 181,000 108,000 115,000
20 HOW TO LOOK GOOD NAKED Ten 875,000 236,000 304,000 132,000 96,000 108,000
22 BOSTON LEGAL Seven 833,000 256,000 307,000 118,000 85,000 67,000
29 BIG BROTHER - BIG MOUTH Ten 617,000 163,000 199,000 97,000 64,000 93,000
33 MYTHBUSTERS RPT SBS 434,000 121,000 114,000 98,000 56,000 45,000

The ratings race, updated 10am Monday
The saddest news of the TV week was how far the once-mighty Lost has fallen. Moved by Channel Seven to 10.30pm, the series that started with nearly two milliion viewers managed just 392,000 in the mainland capitals last Thursday. The mystery that intrigued us and then infuriated us is being solved over the next two episodes, but like the tree that keeps falling in the forest, will there be anybody there to see it?

Big Brother is not quite in Lost's hole yet, but it's getting there. Do we blame the hosts -- limp Jackie and loud Kyle? Or the contestants, none of whom seems to provoke what Ten likes to call "water cooler buzz", like previous inmates (pictured here)? Is it just an idea whose time has gone?

BB stayed steadfastly under a million viewers for most of last week, apart from a brief visit from style guru Carson Kressley, who put the audience back up to 1.2 million on Wednesday, when Ten also scored by bringing back fresh episodes of House.

The most watched shows were 60 Minutes (9) with 1.73m; Border Security (7) 1.57m; and Seven news Sunday 1.47m (see below for full details). On Pay TV, the most watched shows included Australia's Next Top Model on Fox 8 with 255,000 viewers and the Sharks v Broncos rugby league match on Fox Sports 2 with 264,000. Seven won the week with 28.3 per cent of the prime time audience, while Nine got 27.7, Ten got 21.8, ABC got 16.6 (thanks to a resurgent Spicks and Specks on 1.3 million and Silent Witness on 1.1 million) and SBS got 5.3.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,654,000 438,000 410,000 368,000 183,000 256,000
2 60 MINUTES Nine 1,568,000 503,000 423,000 277,000 144,000 220,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,543,000 498,000 453,000 283,000 201,000 109,000
4 GLADIATORS Seven 1,379,000 340,000 401,000 266,000 180,000 191,000
5 DOMESTIC BLITZ Nine 1,351,000 418,000 362,000 273,000 143,000 155,000
6 CSI Nine 1,344,000 362,000 389,000 249,000 161,000 183,000
7 WILD CHINA ABC 1,234,000 317,000 397,000 240,000 124,000 157,000
8 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,192,000 382,000 385,000 200,000 103,000 123,000
9 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC 1,175,000 296,000 389,000 218,000 94,000 177,000
10 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 1,128,000 322,000 328,000 198,000 134,000 146,000
11 BIG BROTHER LIVE EVICTION Ten 1,097,000 336,000 293,000 216,000 107,000 145,000
14 MOST SHOCKING Seven 916,000 289,000 289,000 196,000 143,000
15 THE SALLY LOCKHART MYSTERIES: THE RUBY IN THE SMOKE ABC 916,000 264,000 300,000 129,000 97,000 126,000
17 BIG BROTHER SUN Ten 896,000 279,000 242,000 173,000 101,000 101,000
18 BROTHERS & SISTERS Seven 821,000 253,000 290,000 111,000 78,000 88,000
19 ROVE Ten 802,000 232,000 267,000 118,000 83,000 103,000
22 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 8: SYDNEY VS ESSENDON Seven 560,000 109,000 276,000 61,000 103,000 12,000
25 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 500,000 295,000 Not shown 192,000 Not shown 13,000
26 FLIGHT OF THE CONCHORDS Ten 457,000 158,000 147,000 47,000 47,000 59,000

What Australia watched, week ending May 17
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 60 MINUTES Nine 1,736,000 530,000 461,000 349,000 166,000 230,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,566,000 485,000 456,000 272,000 165,000 189,000
3 SEVEN NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY Seven 1,488,000 425,000 367,000 292,000 162,000 242,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - SUNDAY Seven 1,466,000 392,000 348,000 362,000 134,000 229,000
5 NINE NEWS - SUNDAY Nine 1,455,000 429,000 461,000 291,000 170,000 103,000
6 SURF PATROL Seven 1,454,000 485,000 422,000 228,000 141,000 178,000
7 CSI Nine 1,440,000 410,000 385,000 299,000 170,000 177,000
8 HOUSE Ten 1,432,000 446,000 442,000 215,000 135,000 194,000
9 AUSTRALIA'S GOT TALENT Seven 1,430,000 406,000 431,000 235,000 147,000 212,000
10 SEA PATROL Nine 1,394,000 396,000 405,000 270,000 166,000 157,000
11 NCIS Ten 1,388,000 352,000 435,000 275,000 153,000 173,000
12 SEVEN NEWS - SATURDAY Seven 1,381,000 427,000 382,000 277,000 144,000 151,000
13 DAVID ATTENBOROUGH'S LIFE IN COLD BLOOD Nine 1,370,000 388,000 365,000 268,000 169,000 180,000
14 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,361,000 383,000 418,000 226,000 143,000 191,000
15 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,346,000 372,000 352,000 249,000 154,000 219,000
16 RAMSAY'S KITCHEN NIGHTMARES Nine 1,338,000 360,000 456,000 177,000 155,000 189,000
17 HELL'S KITCHEN Nine 1,315,000 346,000 443,000 204,000 134,000 188,000
18 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,313,000 433,000 429,000 226,000 116,000 109,000
19 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,306,000 374,000 430,000 201,000 123,000 178,000
20 GLADIATORS Seven 1,294,000 319,000 423,000 254,000 115,000 182,000
21 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC 1,273,000 378,000 440,000 189,000 118,000 148,000
22 ANIMAL EMERGENCY Nine 1,266,000 352,000 377,000 245,000 142,000 150,000
23 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEO SHOW Nine 1,263,000 374,000 385,000 229,000 154,000 121,000
24 GETAWAY Nine 1,254,000 363,000 394,000 232,000 108,000 158,000
25 BIG BROTHER - CARSON CRASHES BIG BROTHER'S CLOSET Ten 1,246,000 390,000 350,000 217,000 127,000 162,000
26 NATIONAL NINE NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY Nine 1,237,000 328,000 379,000 270,000 148,000 113,000
27 RFDS: ROYAL FLYING DOCTOR SERVICE Nine 1,234,000 361,000 319,000 249,000 154,000 151,000
28 SEARCH & RESCUE Nine 1,224,000 376,000 342,000 192,000 129,000 185,000
29 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,219,000 407,000 366,000 192,000 107,000 147,000
30 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,198,000 346,000 350,000 253,000 137,000 112,000
31 20 TO 1 Nine 1,198,000 278,000 402,000 237,000 141,000 140,000
32 NATIONAL NINE NEWS - SATURDAY Nine 1,191,000 331,000 392,000 220,000 158,000 91,000
33 ABC NEWS - MONDAY-FRIDAY ABC 1,175,000 324,000 391,000 212,000 102,000 145,000
34 BONDI RESCUE Ten 1,167,000 359,000 373,000 199,000 123,000 112,000
35 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,147,000 323,000 285,000 211,000 147,000 182,000
36 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,141,000 337,000 293,000 208,000 116,000 187,000
37 FIRE 000 Nine 1,112,000 338,000 309,000 187,000 119,000 159,000
38 SILENT WITNESS ABC 1,103,000 290,000 368,000 170,000 136,000 138,000
39 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,100,000 307,000 316,000 213,000 129,000 135,000
40 NCIS (R) Ten 1,092,000 256,000 382,000 182,000 132,000 140,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 11:24 AM
• Comments (111)

The Tribal Mind: Buy chocolate or rent vanilla?

To discuss Australia's greatest TV comedies of all time, go to Who We Are

by David Dale
Dunnobout you, but there are only two reasons why this column buys (as opposed to rents) DVDs:

1) To see a TV show that has been maltreated by the networks -- hence my recent purchase of 30 Rock season 1 (the cleverest sitcom since Arrested Development, shown erratically late at night by Channel Seven), Rome season 2 (from the murder of Caesar to the suicide of Mark Antony, never shown by Channel Nine), and Gilmore Girls season 7 (the saga's conclusion, shown erratically during daylight by Nine).

2) To get extra information about a movie I enjoyed at the cinema, via the director's and writer's commentaries, making-of documentaries, deleted scenes, alternative endings and other extras that appear on a second disc. Hence my quest last week in search of the two-disc edition of The Golden Compass.

It would seem that most buyers operate with the same motivations, judging by the top-sellers during April, as measured by market researchers GfK Australia. These are Australia's most purchased DVDs of the moment: 1. Bee Movie; 2 Stargate: The Ark Of Truth; 3 Dirty Dancing: 20th-anniversary edition; 4 Death At A Funeral; 5 Gilmore Girls: season seven.

But if extras are an incentive to buy a DVD, why do the distributors and the shopkeepers make it so difficult to find them? My interest in owning The Golden Compass began when I read this review by Ty Burr in America's Entertainment Weekly magazine: "Half the drama is in the EXTRAS, specifically reading between the lines of the two-disc set's commentary and 11 featurettes. In the former, writer-director Chris Weitz defends his adaptation of the first novel in Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy. But in a making-of, Weitz looks like a man besieged by producers and his own insecurities. The film splits the difference: It's a visually awe-inspiring otherworld whose story is served up in awkward chunks. The kid (Dakota Blue Richards) is a find and Ian McKellen gives good bear, but this movie actually needed to be longer. B-.''

This led me to hope that screenwriter Weitz might address the controversy over whether the book is "anti-Catholic'' and whether he pandered to fundamentalists in removing Pullman's critique of religious dogma. My two local rental stores offered only the vanilla version (industry term for a DVD with no extras), as did the first two sales stores I approached, and I was beginning to think Australia had not received the full version when I finally discovered the two-disc set in J.B Hi-Fi, Pitt Street Mall.

In the extras, Weitz turns out to be terribly nice, revealing that Magda Szubanski (who appears for less than a minute) is an Australian actress from "a fantastic series called Kath and Kim'" and detailing how they did the fur on Nicole Kidman's monkey alter-ego.

He promises that "the last thing that I would ever want to do is a version that falsified the book", while admitting he held over the last three chapters to make a better beginning for the second film -- which is unlikely ever to be made, given the failure of TGC in America.

His only reference to the religious controversy is observing that The Magisterium (The Vatican) has "a patriarchal nature -- not to get too political''. He's missed the point. Getting political and backbiting and gossipy and vengeful is what we expect from directors when they make DVDs of their work. If Weitz wants to raise enough cash to make part two, he'd better issue a new three-disc set confessing what really went into (and out of) the movie. That would be a DVD worth buying.

What have been the best DVD extras you've experienced lately?

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 05:55 AM
• Comments (7)

WHO WE ARE: Standout comedy

To discuss which DVDs have the best extras, go to The Tribal Mind

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 11/5/2008
Whenever Australians are asked to describe the core characteristics of this nation, two phrases keep coming up: "laidback attitude" and "sense of humour", which together add up to an eagerness to laugh at ourselves. It's no surprise, then, that the most successful locally made programs in the history of television have been comedies.

In recent weeks this column has been trying to bring some order to the chaos that is Australia's taste in entertainment. I've chronicled our favourite movies, most successful actors and most watched TV shows, and sought your votes on whether the most popular were necessarily the most significant. After last week's column, which identified the top dramas of all time as Homicide, Blue Heelers, All Saints and Home and Away, many readers complained that I had left out, in order of importance, Wildside, The Sullivans, Phoenix, Flying Doctors, Bellbird, Matlock, MDA, Love My Way, Cop Shop, Stingers and Blue Murder.

No doubt there will be similar outcries about what's missing from the list below, which is an attempt to rank the comedies which had both high ratings and long life. Once again quantity is not necessarily the same as quality, but this is designed to get the conversation started ...

The most watched Australian comedies of all time:
1 Hey Dad (1984-94)
2 The Paul Hogan Show (1973-1982)
3 Kath and Kim (2002- )
4 The Comedy Company (1988-1991)
5 The Normal Gunston Show (1975-79)
6 The Mavis Bramston Show (1964-68)
7 Fast Forward/ Full Frontal (1989-1998)
8 Mother and Son (1984-1994)
9 Thank God You're Here (2006-)
10 The Chaser team under various titles (2002-)
11 All Aussie Adventures (2001-03)
12 Frontline (1994-97)
13 Summer Heights High (2007)
14 Kingswood Country (1979-1984)
15 The Naked Vicar Show (1977-78)
16 The D Generation (1986-89)
17 My Name's McGooley, What's Yours (1967-69)
18 Acropolis Now (1989-1992)
19 The Aunty Jack Show (1972-75)
20 The Games (1998-2000)

(I sneaked the last one in because I'm hoping John Clarke will do a version for this year, although the Olympics are probably too close now for it to be feasible.)

It's interesting to note from the chart that Australia's favourite form of TV comedy leans more towards sketches than to sitcoms (which we tend to leave to the experts - America). Even series that purport to be sitcoms were mostly born out of sketches and are structured as fast scenes rather than continuous narratives - Kingswood Country grew from The Naked Vicar Show, Kath and Kim from Fast Forward, My Name's McGooley from a Gordon Chater character in The Mavis Bramston Show, Acropolis Now from Wogs Out of Work on stage.

This may lead you to the view that Australians should add a third quality when they are attempting to describe the national character - along with our laid back attitude and our sense of humour, Australians have a terribly short attention span. Which is no bad thing, since it gives us an ability to multi-task and an enthusiasm for new ideas.

If you'd care to discuss that, or nominate other shows that deserve a place in the Australian TV comedy hall of fame, go to Comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind, in Who We Are, in whoweare-index at 02:35 PM
• Comments (62)

The Tribal Mind: Time flies

To nominate the greatest Australian TV drama of all time, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
Psychologists tell us that people are likely to develop mental health problems if they are exposed to contradictory messages throughout their childhood. When dad encourages certain behaviour while mum encourages the opposite, the kid grows up emotionally conflicted.

If this is true, Australians are heading for a national nervous breakdown, because for 50 years we've been been torn apart by these fundamental questions: How are we supposed to feel about Louie The Fly? Do they want us to love him or kill him? And if we do kill him, should we feel guilty? Or can we take comfort in the fact that he keeps being resurrected, which makes him a Christ-like figure? Unless it's a new Louie who reappears each time, which makes him more like Australia's favourite comicbook hero: The Phantom, Ghost who walks, insect who never dies.

Or if we prefer to seek a non-mystical explanation for Louie's durability, could it be that Mortein is not as effective as the advertising suggests? And if we suspect this, should we feel guilty for doubting an icon?

These disturbing echoes from my childhood came crashing back last week when I read the latest ACNielsen report on Australia's favourite brands. Every two years ACNielsen's boffins do a survey of the products most purchased in supermarkets, and this year they announced gleefully that Mortein had re-entered the top 100 chart (which was topped by the likes of Winfield cigarettes, Coca-Cola, Tip Top bread and Cadbury chocolates).

A report on the Nielsen website says Mortein "competes in a cluttered sector against heavyhitters Bagon and Raid. Setting Mortein aside from the competition is the much-loved Louie the Fly character ... Despite being in the market for over five decades, Louie looks better than ever, thanks to new animation technologies. A tactical campaign launched late last year asked consumers to help stop Louie the Fly from celebrating his 50th birthday."

So he's "much loved" and we're expected to kill him? The same moral ambiguity pervades the original jingle: "One spray and Louie The Fly, apple of his poor mother's eye, was Louie, poor dead Louie, a victim of Mortein". How is a kid supposed to react to that? The same way kids reacted to the slaughter of pigs in the movie Babe, one would imagine.

Supposedly the creator of LTF was Bryce Courtenay, who had recently escaped the apartheid regime in South Africa when he wrote the jingle for the Hansen Rubensohn advertising agency in 1957.

It's been argued that LTF fits into the same national mindset that enables us to perceive Ned Kelly as simultaneously a villain and a hero -- an affection for the non-conformist that goes back to convict days.

I can't help wondering if Courtenay, who went on to become the most successful author in Australia's history, had deeper symbolism in mind. Could it be that the way LTF is viewed in this country reflects the ambiguity in our relationship with the continent's original inabitants? Some of the white invaders regarded the Aboriginal people as pests, and set about trying to exterminate them, leaving a residue of guilt that has not been entirely expiated in 200 years.

Few TV commercials -- indeed, few TV programs -- offer so many layers of interpretation. LTF might just be Courtenay's most powerful work.

What do you make of Louie's image as a national icon?

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 10:41 AM
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WHO WE ARE: Dramatic irony

To discuss the psychological damage caused by Louie The Fly, go to The Tribal Mind.

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 4/5/2008
Australians no longer love to see their own stories on the big screen, but on the small screen, they're just besotted with themselves.

Advance orders for the DVD of the series Underbelly suggest it could top the 250,000 copies sold since November by Summer Heights High. Among TV dramas last year, City Homicide and Sea Patrol outrated the US behemoths Desperate Housewives and House.

Among the 100 top selling DVDs of the past three years, there are only two Australian films -- Kenny and Happy Feet (described by its director, George Miller, as an "international movie") -- but four Australian TV series: Summer Heights High, Thank God You're Here, Kath and Kim and McLeod's Daughters.

It's time to celebrate our heritage on the box and seek your view on what were the greatest Australian TV dramas of all time (I'll save the comedies for next week). Recently readers of this column have voted on the greatest Australian movies (Chopper, Lantana, and Breaker Morant) and the greatest Australian actors (Cate Blanchett, Geoffrey Rush, and Hugo Weaving, though some readers scolded me for failing to nominate Judy Davis, Rachel Griffiths, Wendy Hughes, Bryan Brown, Richard Roxburgh, Peter Finch, and Errol Flynn). Now it's the telly's turn.

As I've pointed out already, quantity is not the same as quality. Top rating doesn't always mean most significant. But popularity and longevity give us a basis for discussion. I calculated a "success index" for all the major Australian series of the past 50 years, by multiplying the average audience in the mainland capitals by the number of years the show was broadcast.

Thus Blue Heelers, which varied between 2 million and 1.3 million over its 12 year life, got a success index of 20. Home and Away has averaged just under a million over its 20 years, and scored 19.

Problems only arise when we go back to years when ratings data was less reliable and expressed in terms of percentage of sets in use rather than number of viewers. Homicide, for example, played for 11 years and at its peak was reaching 40 per cent of viewers in Sydney and Melbourne -- a feat which would be the equivalent of rating 2 million these days. So its index was an estimate, and I'm confessing upfront that this chart is more art than science. But it's a start ...

The most successful Australian TV dramas of all time
1 Homicide (1964-1975)
2 Blue Heelers (1994-2006)
3 All Saints (1998-)
4 Home and Away (1988-)
5 McLeod's Daughters (2001-2008)
6 A Country Practice (1981-1993)
7 Water Rats (1996-2001)
8 Prisoner (1979-1987)
9 Division 4 (1969-1974)
10 The Secret Life of Us (2001-2004)
11 Seachange (1998-2000)
12 Number 96 (1972-1976)
13 Neighbours (1986-)
14 A Town Like Alice (1981)
15 Against the Wind (1978)

What did I miss? And which of those make you most proud to be Australian? Click on Comments to join the discussion ...

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). To discuss Australian attitudes, go to http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 02:21 PM
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