The Sun-Herald

The Who We Are Update: Week 22

To distinguish between Boomers, GenXers, and the iGen, go to The Tribal Mind.
To nominate the best books about Australia, go to Who We Are.

The ratings race, updated 11 am Sunday
In theory, Masterchef was the number two most watched program in the mainland capitals last week. In fact, if you add together the three showings of Specks and Specks -- twice on ABC1 and once on ABC2 -- you find that its total audience was 1.81 million. No wonder Channel Ten felt confident in cloning it into Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.

On the same theory, the return of The Chaser's WOE would be the week's number four most watched program in the mainland capitals, with a total audience of 1.66 million. No wonder the ABC ended the week with a handsome 17.5 per cent share of the prime time audience, while Ten came close to knocking Nine off number two spot with its 24.2 per cent (with Seven on 27.5, Nine on 25.7 and SBS on 5.2).

This was Pay TV's account of itself for last week: "Posing with an ice sculpture and a lingerie photo shoot in the desert gave the girls of Australia's Next Top Model contrasting challenges and an audience of 205,000 people for the FOX8 program. NCIS on TV1 was watched by 126,000 people, the second season of Football Superstar premiered on FOX8 with 103,000 viewers and the Wizards of Waverly Place on Disney Channel had its best result of the year, watched by 102,000 people. This week, 100,000 people watched Selling Houses Australia on Lifestyle, Law & Order on W was seen by 93,000 people and Sanctuary premiered on Sci Fi with 73,000 viewers.

"Live coverage of the Monday night National Rugby League game, Live: NRL Cowboys v Knights was watched by 335,000 viewers, the best ever result for FOX Sports' Monday Night Football. Live: AFL Sydney v Port Adelaide was seen by 198,000 people and the NRL's youth competition, Live: Rugby League: Toyota Cup had its best audience of the year so far with 100,000 (all on FOX Sports).

"Subscription TV was the number one source of television across all homes in week 22. STV channels accounted for 22.4% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, was 22.0% of all regional viewing and 58.0% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Australia watched, week ending May 30
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,830,000 474,000 520,000 407,000 177,000 252,000
2 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - CHALLENGE Ten 1,673,000 472,000 499,000 294,000 178,000 230,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,666,000 536,000 497,000 337,000 176,000 120,000
4 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,647,000 489,000 555,000 244,000 151,000 209,000
5 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,640,000 438,000 464,000 333,000 174,000 231,000
6 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,592,000 504,000 488,000 294,000 138,000 168,000
369 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC2 112,000 26,000 28,000 15,000 11,000 32,000
379 SPICKS AND SPECKS RPT ABC1 106,000 42,000 20,000 27,000 11,000 6,000
7 NCIS Ten 1,546,000 406,000 452,000 301,000 173,000 214,000
8 THE CHASER'S WAR ON EVERYTHING ABC1 1,540,000 514,000 478,000 235,000 141,000 172,000
350 THE CHASER'S WAR ON EVERYTHING ABC2 122,000 43,000 31,000 20,000 11,000 17,000
9 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,516,000 412,000 513,000 300,000 130,000 161,000
10 MERLIN Ten 1,500,000 491,000 354,000 246,000 170,000 238,000
11 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,470,000 387,000 413,000 311,000 146,000 213,000
12 THE ZOO Seven 1,465,000 436,000 404,000 268,000 142,000 214,000
13 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,454,000 416,000 419,000 342,000 133,000 143,000
14 SEA PATROL Nine 1,384,000 374,000 425,000 244,000 167,000 175,000
15 BONES Seven 1,384,000 416,000 367,000 262,000 180,000 159,000
Continued here with all the Thursday, Friday and Saturday football ratings I could find

16 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,372,000 365,000 372,000 329,000 148,000 157,000
17 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,361,000 415,000 381,000 221,000 173,000 171,000
18 FIND MY FAMILY Seven 1,345,000 407,000 401,000 231,000 136,000 170,000
19 GETAWAY Nine 1,333,000 395,000 381,000 279,000 112,000 166,000
20 60 MINUTES Nine 1,324,000 408,000 437,000 233,000 121,000 124,000
21 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,318,000 404,000 417,000 201,000 133,000 162,000
22 RPA Nine 1,311,000 390,000 348,000 275,000 152,000 147,000
23 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,307,000 370,000 445,000 270,000 131,000 91,000
24 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,287,000 278,000 503,000 269,000 123,000 114,000
25 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,272,000 399,000 369,000 237,000 118,000 149,000
26 NEW TRICKS-EV ABC1 1,233,000 367,000 385,000 194,000 151,000 135,000
27 NINE NEWS Nine 1,232,000 355,000 391,000 247,000 117,000 122,000
28 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,203,000 331,000 389,000 256,000 109,000 117,000
29 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,197,000 374,000 385,000 164,000 124,000 151,000
30 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,195,000 369,000 307,000 241,000 134,000 143,000
31 ROVE Ten 1,191,000 297,000 437,000 223,000 87,000 147,000
32 20 TO 1 Nine 1,188,000 358,000 337,000 221,000 116,000 156,000
33 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,181,000 355,000 384,000 209,000 100,000 133,000
34 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,169,000 340,000 309,000 253,000 132,000 134,000
35 RECRUITS Ten 1,164,000 392,000 337,000 170,000 124,000 141,000
36 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,148,000 299,000 386,000 231,000 99,000 134,000
37 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,143,000 372,000 309,000 206,000 132,000 123,000
38 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,136,000 328,000 314,000 220,000 132,000 142,000
39 CSI Nine 1,136,000 319,000 387,000 184,000 142,000 104,000
40 LIE TO ME Ten 1,106,000 281,000 369,000 201,000 111,000 143,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,454,000 416,000 419,000 342,000 133,000 143,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,307,000 370,000 445,000 270,000 131,000 91,000
3 NEW TRICKS ABC1 1,233,000 367,000 385,000 194,000 151,000 135,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,143,000 372,000 309,000 206,000 132,000 123,000
5 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SAT Ten 967,000 263,000 267,000 174,000 112,000 151,000
6 THE VICAR OF DIBLEY Seven 965,000 271,000 325,000 178,000 91,000 100,000
9 THE BILL ABC1 879,000 247,000 289,000 132,000 100,000 111,000
12 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Ten 709,000 374,000 58,000 101,000 175,000
17 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFL Ten 558,000 86,000 242,000 104,000 57,000 69,000
25 SEVEN'S V8 SUPERCARS ROUND 4: SYMMONS PLAINS D1 Seven 359,000 106,000 100,000 85,000 44,000 23,000
40 FA CUP FINAL LIVE SBS 233,000 81,000 62,000 23,000 31,000 37,000
83 GIRO D'ITALIA 2009 HIGHLIGHTS SBS 89,000 46,000 21,000 19,000 4,000
94 RUGBY UNION: SHUTE SHIELD (NSW) 2009-PM ABC1 67,000 67,000
112 BOXING: KO TV CLASSIC ONE 48,000 11,000 31,000 0 1,000 4,000
127 VFL FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 36,000 36,000
129 NETBALL: ANZ CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 LIVE ONE 35,000 5,000 19,000 7,000 2,000 3,000
131 2009 AUSTRALIAN RALLY CHAMPIONSHIPS ONE 34,000 8,000 9,000 8,000 3,000 6,000
151 RUGBY LEAGUE: (QLD) 2009-PM ABC1 20,000 20,000
152 Sponsor name AIR RACE WORLD SERIES 2009 - HIGHLIGHTS ONE 20,000 11,000 1,000 2,000 2,000 4,000
154 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE (after 2am Sat) Nine 20,000 14,000 4,000 2,000
156 WAFL LIVE LEAGUE FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 19,000 19,000
157 SATURDAY LATE NIGHT AFL Ten 19,000 19,000
172 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 10: CARLTON VS WEST COAST Seven 15,000 7,000 8,000
173 THE SANFL-PM ABC1 14,000 14,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,550,000 416,000 432,000 319,000 168,000 215,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,361,000 415,000 381,000 221,000 173,000 171,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,339,000 336,000 389,000 288,000 134,000 191,000
4 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,239,000 338,000 453,000 174,000 120,000 155,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,149,000 342,000 375,000 222,000 101,000 109,000
6 SILENT WITNESS ABC1 1,045,000 333,000 304,000 148,000 119,000 141,000
17 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 10: CARLTON VS WEST COAST Seven 745,000 24,000 389,000 7,000 138,000 187,000
20 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 591,000 368,000 223,000
32 LIFE ON MARS FINALE Ten 374,000 101,000 132,000 61,000 44,000 35,000
103 SPICKS AND SPECKS RPT ABC1 106,000 42,000 20,000 27,000 11,000 6,000
127 POKER: CARIBBEAN ADVENTURE ONE 62,000 10,000 22,000 10,000 11,000 9,000
129 BOXING: KO TV CLASSIC ONE 56,000 7,000 21,000 11,000 7,000 11,000
141 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE Nine 41,000 28,000 7,000 6,000
163 GIRO D'ITALIA 2009 HIGHLIGHTS SBS 31,000 1,000 15,000 10,000 4,000 1,000
200 PARLIAMENT QUESTION TIME ABC1 18,000 10,000 3,000 0 2,000 2,000
201 NBA BASKETBALL PLAYOFFS LIVE ONE 18,000 6,000 3,000 4,000 4,000 1,000
203 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ONE 17,000 4,000 4,000 1,000 8,000 1,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,628,000 433,000 495,000 320,000 160,000 220,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,417,000 361,000 418,000 308,000 143,000 187,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,330,000 394,000 381,000 278,000 112,000 165,000
4 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,219,000 375,000 389,000 204,000 111,000 139,000
5 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,201,000 296,000 383,000 287,000 113,000 122,000
6 20 TO 1 Nine 1,188,000 358,000 336,000 222,000 116,000 156,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,184,000 348,000 333,000 260,000 130,000 113,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,140,000 289,000 365,000 235,000 93,000 157,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,106,000 312,000 301,000 235,000 121,000 137,000
10 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 1,102,000 360,000 305,000 191,000 115,000 130,000
11 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,091,000 356,000 328,000 198,000 101,000 109,000
12 THE FOOTY SHOW Nine 1,006,000 208,000 408,000 160,000 118,000 112,000
15 LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT Ten 932,000 268,000 293,000 166,000 100,000 106,000
25 WORST WEEK Ten 620,000 154,000 202,000 117,000 66,000 83,000
26 Q & A ABC1 591,000 199,000 173,000 119,000 39,000 61,000
38 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS 351,000 112,000 119,000 47,000 31,000 41,000
53 MAD MEN SBS 230,000 83,000 59,000 35,000 27,000 26,000

The ratings race, updated 11 am Wednesday
Something odd happened last night. The Chaser returned, and attracted a healthy 1.5 million viewers. But Spicks and Specks beat it, suddenly picking up 200,000 viewers on last week and becoming the ABC's most watched show since September 2007.

Here's theory on what it means, based on the fact that the OzTAM ratings figure is an average over every minute of the half hour: Lots of Chaser enthusiasts (notorious for their short attention-spans) tuned in towards the end of S&S, adding mightily to its average audience while they waited impatiently for the fun to start. Then as The Chaser unfolded, thousands of them dropped away, being disappointed at the only-moderately-funny nature of the episode and anxious to get back to their porno on the web. That lowered The Chaser's final average. Anybody have a better explanation?

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,612,000 419,000 432,000 332,000 179,000 250,000
2 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,607,000 508,000 492,000 298,000 140,000 170,000
3 THE CHASER'S WAR ON EVERYTHING ABC1 1,540,000 514,000 478,000 235,000 141,000 172,000
4 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,516,000 412,000 513,000 300,000 130,000 161,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,473,000 371,000 404,000 328,000 147,000 224,000
6 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,338,000 415,000 398,000 212,000 147,000 167,000
7 RPA Nine 1,290,000 386,000 336,000 272,000 150,000 145,000
8 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,272,000 399,000 369,000 237,000 118,000 149,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,203,000 331,000 404,000 233,000 111,000 123,000
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,182,000 297,000 404,000 234,000 107,000 139,000
11 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,178,000 338,000 344,000 223,000 137,000 135,000
12 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,107,000 339,000 310,000 219,000 122,000 116,000
13 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,091,000 292,000 345,000 232,000 109,000 113,000
21 LAW AND ORDER: SVU WED EP 2 Ten 801,000 198,000 285,000 142,000 92,000 84,000
22 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 797,000 242,000 209,000 157,000 92,000 96,000
27 HOT SEAT Nine 668,000 207,000 226,000 122,000 63,000 51,000
28 FAMILY GUY Seven 649,000 159,000 241,000 105,000 60,000 85,000
30 LAW AND ORDER: SVU WED Ten 616,000 161,000 208,000 98,000 96,000 52,000
38 SUNRISE Seven 373,000 96,000 99,000 89,000 34,000 54,000
41 AT THE MOVIES ABC1 352,000 124,000 105,000 55,000 33,000 0
44 TODAY Nine 300,000 92,000 107,000 50,000 15,000 36,000
49 LOST Seven 266,000 105,000 79,000 44,000 19,000 20,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Tuesday
This column is not particularly pro-Ten, but we are pro-underdog, and we also think Channel Nine has not yet been sufficiently punished for its years of treating viewers with contempt. So we can't help feeling cheered by the news that the prime time audience shares for the week stand at: Ten 27.6 per cent, Seven 27.6 per cent, Nine 25.1 per cent. Ten will sink as the week proceeds, because it has no T''BYG or Merlin to prop it up on Thursday and Friday, but it could still end up ahead of Nine, depending on whether Seven or Ten gets the best of the AFL matches.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,648,000 489,000 555,000 244,000 152,000 209,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,578,000 454,000 441,000 305,000 159,000 219,000
3 NCIS Ten 1,544,000 405,000 452,000 301,000 173,000 214,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,494,000 431,000 401,000 293,000 143,000 226,000
5 THE ZOO Seven 1,465,000 436,000 404,000 268,000 142,000 214,000
6 FIND MY FAMILY Seven 1,345,000 407,000 401,000 231,000 136,000 170,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,293,000 378,000 428,000 268,000 99,000 121,000
8 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,276,000 453,000 375,000 167,000 121,000 160,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,265,000 353,000 434,000 239,000 95,000 145,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 1,253,000 370,000 407,000 237,000 119,000 120,000
11 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,197,000 374,000 385,000 164,000 124,000 151,000
12 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,155,000 352,000 315,000 214,000 132,000 142,000
13 LIE TO ME Ten 1,101,000 280,000 368,000 200,000 110,000 142,000
17 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 974,000 274,000 285,000 179,000 100,000 137,000
18 HOME MADE -ELIMINATION Nine 969,000 296,000 299,000 173,000 82,000 118,000
19 10 YEARS YOUNGER IN 10 DAYS Seven 924,000 292,000 282,000 128,000 128,000 94,000
20 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 880,000 278,000 251,000 181,000 86,000 86,000
26 HOT SEAT Nine 663,000 205,000 209,000 112,000 75,000 63,000 What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,832,000 468,000 521,000 391,000 204,000 249,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,619,000 434,000 453,000 333,000 163,000 236,000
3 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,443,000 445,000 437,000 232,000 151,000 177,000
4 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,405,000 382,000 466,000 284,000 139,000 134,000
5 SEA PATROL Nine 1,385,000 372,000 427,000 243,000 167,000 175,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,364,000 382,000 436,000 281,000 122,000 143,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,291,000 279,000 505,000 268,000 124,000 116,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,233,000 347,000 345,000 225,000 149,000 168,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,227,000 302,000 443,000 238,000 124,000 121,000
10 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,181,000 355,000 384,000 209,000 100,000 133,000
11 RECRUITS Ten 1,162,000 391,000 337,000 170,000 124,000 140,000
12 SCRUBS - MON Seven 1,092,000 279,000 342,000 246,000 95,000 130,000
23 FOUR CORNERS ABC1 830,000 206,000 259,000 177,000 66,000 122,000
27 SPOOKS ABC1 667,000 163,000 214,000 116,000 67,000 108,000
28 SUPERNATURAL Ten 662,000 197,000 187,000 112,000 75,000 91,000
29 HOT SEAT Nine 648,000 198,000 213,000 115,000 72,000 51,000
30 TOP GEAR AUSTRALIA SBS 608,000 224,000 187,000 81,000 52,000 64,000
36 LOUIS THEROUX: KILLADELPHIA Seven 421,000 103,000 166,000 44,000 57,000 51,000
60 30 ROCK Seven 205,000 42,000 92,000 25,000 27,000 18,000
The ratings race, updated 11 am Monday
Swords and forks are the formula that's fixing the fortunes of Channel Ten. Thanks to Merlin and Masterchef, Ten last night captured 29.3 per cent of the prime time audience. Seven scored 28.1 and Nine 24.9, while the ABC, normally strong on Sundays, could only reach a pathetic 13.3 per cent. This should change with the advent of Dr Who next Sunday.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,830,000 474,000 520,000 407,000 177,000 252,000
2 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - CHALLENGE Ten 1,671,000 471,000 499,000 294,000 178,000 230,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,667,000 536,000 498,000 337,000 176,000 120,000
4 MERLIN Ten 1,500,000 491,000 354,000 246,000 170,000 238,000
5 BONES Seven 1,382,000 415,000 366,000 262,000 180,000 159,000
6 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,371,000 364,000 373,000 329,000 148,000 157,000
7 60 MINUTES Nine 1,324,000 408,000 437,000 234,000 121,000 124,000
8 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,197,000 373,000 307,000 241,000 134,000 143,000
9 ROVE Ten 1,183,000 295,000 435,000 221,000 86,000 146,000
10 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,170,000 341,000 310,000 253,000 133,000 134,000
11 CSI Nine 1,140,000 319,000 389,000 184,000 142,000 105,000
12 CASTLE Seven 1,066,000 304,000 318,000 181,000 145,000 117,000
13 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC1 1,050,000 317,000 336,000 167,000 94,000 135,000
14 HOME MADE Nine 975,000 263,000 335,000 195,000 91,000 90,000
15 AROUND THE WORLD IN 20 YEARS ABC1 869,000 276,000 252,000 138,000 83,000 120,000
20 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 9: ST KILDA V BRISBANE Seven 666,000 18,000 335,000 99,000 119,000 94,000
21 DIRT GAME ABC1 574,000 216,000 156,000 94,000 46,000 62,000
22 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 551,000 325,000 217,000 8,000
25 THE BIGGEST LOSER Ten 523,000 141,000 198,000 82,000 42,000 61,000
30 THE SUNDAY FOOTY SHOW Nine 423,000 110,000 174,000 83,000 29,000 27,000
48 AFL GAME DAY Seven 220,000 148,000 44,000 28,000
53 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 ONE 200,000 27,000 76,000 29,000 28,000 40,000
56 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 9: SYDNEY VS PORT ADELAIDE Seven 189,000 85,000 104,000

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 12:26 AM
• Comments (70)

The Tribal Mind: Gen Wars

To nominate the best books about Australia, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
AS ISMS GO, ageism is less unpleasant than sexism or racism. Stereotyping people by their generation is about on the stupidity level of believing in astrology: "Ah, you're Capricorn, so you're proud, ambitious and practical"; "Ah, you're Gen X, so you're a whingeing loner who can't keep a job", etc.

Generational generalisations are all the rage right now. Australia's most watched TV show is Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation (known in the industry as Two Apostrophes and a Laugh Track). And the ratings organisation OzTAM has started selling charts which divide its sample of 3000 households into groups with such labels as Boomers, Xers and Pioneers (a euphemism for "the geriatrics our advertisers don't care about").

The problem is that nobody can agree on a definition of the various groups being stereotyped. On T''BYG last week, Shaun Micallef defined Generation X as born between 1965 and 1979, Gen Y as 1980 to 1995, and Baby Boomers as 1946 to 1964 (to the surprise of contestant Ian "Dicko" Dickson, who said he always thought he was a GenXer).

OzTAM disputes Micalleff. Its definitions are: Pioneers (born before 1946); Boomers (1946-1960); Gen X (1961-1975); Gen Y (76-90); Gen Z (91-05); and Generation Next (2006-present, ie viewers under three, a really useful marketing segment).

Could OzTAM be any more unimaginative? Generation X was a label popularised in the early 90s by the US novelist Douglas Coupland, who said the X symbolised the alienation of an age group who felt overshadowed by the baby boomers. To call their successors Y and Z is just lazy.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics suffers no such shortage of inspiration. It has just issued an analysis of the 2006 census which segments the population by these labels: The Oldest (the 727,000 born before 1926); The Lucky Generation (the 2.9 million born between 1926 and 1946): The Boomers (the 5.5 million born 1946 to 1966): Generation XY (the 5.5 million born 1966 to 1986); and The iGeneration (the 5.3 million born after 1986).

The iGen is a clever label based on the techno-savvy of this age group, and I'm going to save the OzTAM people further embarrassment by applying it to the group they boringly call Generation Z. Lets see if there was any significant difference between the generations in their viewing habits this month.

The Pioneers prefer: New Tricks; Midsomer Murders; Australian Story; Seven News; Australia's Got Talent; ABC news; the Treasurer's Budget Speech.
The Boomers prefer: Underbelly; Seven news; A Lion Called Christian; Better Homes and Gardens; Today Tonight; Find My Family. They are utterly uninterested in Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation.
Gen X prefers: The Biggest Loser; Underbelly; the Logie Awards; Masterchef; T''BYG; So You Think You Can Dance Australia.
Gen Y prefers: The Biggest Loser; T''BYG; Underbelly; SYTYCDA; Masterchef; The Simpsons.
The iGen prefers: The Biggest Loser; Merlin; T''BYG; SYTYCDA; The Simpsons; Bondi Rescue. The younger half of this age group prefer Total Drama Island, Willa's Wildlife, and Iron Man, all on the ABC in the afternoon.

Does this data allow us to make any generational generalisations? At first sight, it would seem baby boomers don't want to know about anything that reminds them how old they are.

Beyond that -- it's up to you. Go to Comments to tell us what it means. Your theories will be next week's column

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 02:17 AM
• Comments (32)

WHO WE ARE: The national must reads

To discuss the differences between Boomers, GenXers, and the IGen, go to The Tribal Mind.

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 24/5/2009
There was a streak of masochism and more than a little myth-making in the suggestions that arrived from this column's readers last week when I sought help in creating a definitive list of Best Books About Australia (go here for that column).

Penelope said "Babette Smith's Australia's Birthstain sources the shame of convict ancestry to homophobia." Dawn Jones said Blood on the Wattle by Bruce Elder "should be compulsory reading in all schools to show how we became such a racist society (though I do believe we are improving), and the wrong that was done to the indigenous peoples of this land."

Stevn thought Leviathan: The Unauthorised Biography of Sydney by John Birmingham gave "a remarkable insight into the grubby politics and sordidly organic subcultural growth of a nation, despite official policies ... a real survey of how the mass of a decidedly self-interested and disobedient proletarian rabble prone to alcoholism and violence grew into a city."

And MIchael Sullivan suggested The Thorn Birds because it "helped to put Australia on a literary map" (as opposed to being good, presumably). Michael said "It appealed (the novel/story) to the masses; and it raised (I suspect) more tourists to visit Australia." Does that make it essential to The Big 20?

In the end, I think we've nailed it -- a formidable list that offers more pleasure than pain, and as much entertainment as insight:

1. 1788, by Watkin Tench: a new edition of his two books A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay (1789) and A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson (1793), edited by Tim Flannery).

2. The Fatal Shore, Robert Hughes: "probably the most readable history of colonial NSW and Tasmania ever written ... let academics argue over its worth, but no one will doubt its value as an introduction to Australian history" (says Peter).

3. A Fortunate Life, Albert Facey: a "down-to-earth, first hand account of the life of a rambler in early twentieth century Australia" (says GC).

4. My Place, Nadia Wheatley: "a beautiful view of the many people who have made this place home" (says Kate). And another book called My Place, by Sally Morgan: "important for understanding the Aboriginal Australian's perspective of their changed homeland and the difficulties they face in trying to keep their self-worth and their families together" (says Jane).

5. Maestro, Peter Goldsworthy: "His beautiful prose makes the city of Darwin as important a character as the main protagonist" (says Beckala).

6. The Magic Pudding, Norman Lindsay: A hilarious tale of mateship and madness and the source of Australia's national metaphor.

7. For the Term of his Natural Life, Marcus Clark: "read it in the Botanical Gardens and be transported back in time" (says Chris Fuller).

8. They're A Weird Mob, Nino Culotta: The first celebration of a diverse Australia as a nation of immigrants.

9. Kangaroo, D. H. Lawrence: "It was written in 1923 but it so fresh and vivid and relates to many events happening today" (says Shirley).

10. Eucalyptus, Murray Bail: "What could be more Australian? Hopefully Rusty Crowe never gets his plans for a film version off the ground" (says Darren).

11. The Last Continent, Terry Pratchett: "a hilarious look at everything we think makes us Australian" (says Brett).

12. Devil's Hill (Nan Chauncy): "contains wonderful chapters filled with Aussie perseverance taming a wild Tasmania - 'There's a leech having a free beer on your leg, son'" (says Dragonfly).

13. The Future Eaters, Tim Flannery: "a somewhat dry but thorough and profound discussion of the ecology of Australia, and goes a long way towards describing how we have tried to adapt to the bush" (says Nathan).

14. Grand Days, Frank Moorhouse: "quite possibly my favourite Australian novel, with a wonderful heroine ... it shows Australia as once being an important and respected part of the world stage, and it really makes me regret the insularity of modern Australia" (says tqd).

15. Cloudstreet, Tim Winton: "voted Australia's favourite book a couple of years ago," says Julie, but adds: " very different but just as good is The Shark Net by Robert Drewe. Both are set in Perth in the time frame of Eric Cooke the serial killer who was the second last man to be hanged in Australia."

Did we get it right? Go to Comments to argue any choices and help build this into a top 20.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 07:19 AM
• Comments (38)

The Who We Are update: Week 21

This week of the blog is a heritage item -- worth studying but no longer current. For the latest media trends in Australia, bookmark blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
To learn why boomers hate GenXers, and vice versa, go to The Tribal Mind.
To nominate the best books about Australia, go to Who We Are.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Channel Ten went so well last Tuesday and Wednesday there was a possibility it could come in as number two station last week. But its programing fell apart on Thursday and Friday, with the result that the prime time audience shares at week's end were: Seven 27.9 per cent, Nine 26.0, Ten 23.4, ABC 16.9, SBS 5.9 (higher than usual thanks to a boost from Eurovision on Sunday). Care to suggest what Ten should show to improve its chances on Thurs and Fri?

This was Pay TV's account of itself for last week: "Live coverage on FOX Sports of the Saturday night National Rugby League game, Live: NRL Bulldogs v Storm gave the code its biggest audience ever on subscription TV with 359,000 viewers. In other sport in week 21, Live: AFL St Kilda v Essendon was watched by 256,000 people, Live: AFL Teams had its biggest audience of 2009 with 83,000 viewers and the live coverage of the MotoGP, Live: Motorsport: MotoGP Round 4, France was watched by 70,000 people (all on FOX Sports).

"215,000 viewers - a record for the fifth season of FOX8's Australia's Next Top Model - watched Mikarla and Eloise eliminated from the competition while the American Idol Grand Final (also on FOX8) drew 143,000 viewers. This week's broadcast of Selling Houses Australia on Lifestyle was viewed by 126,000 people, Numb3rs on TV1 had a year-to-date best of 93,000 viewers, Dalziel and Pascoe on UKTV gathered its biggest audience of 2009 with 81,000 viewers and My Friend the Sex Tourist premiered on Crime and Investigation with 78,000 people.

"Subscription TV was the number one source of television across all homes in week 21. STV channels accounted for 22.2% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, was 22.3% of all regional viewing and 58.1% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Australia watched, week ending May 23
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,703,000 414,000 490,000 397,000 155,000 246,000
2 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,684,000 479,000 491,000 372,000 150,000 192,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,662,000 454,000 448,000 355,000 174,000 232,000
4 NCIS Ten 1,629,000 447,000 453,000 298,000 200,000 232,000
5 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,613,000 483,000 491,000 259,000 160,000 219,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,550,000 460,000 467,000 295,000 201,000 126,000
7 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,535,000 425,000 423,000 315,000 153,000 220,000
8 THE ZOO Seven 1,476,000 426,000 368,000 322,000 181,000 180,000
9 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - CHALLENGE Ten 1,456,000 417,000 413,000 261,000 161,000 205,000
10 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,411,000 434,000 382,000 317,000 129,000 150,000
11 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,402,000 453,000 401,000 265,000 146,000 137,000
12 SEA PATROL Nine 1,399,000 407,000 401,000 238,000 171,000 182,000
13 FIND MY FAMILY Seven 1,397,000 392,000 382,000 282,000 169,000 172,000
14 MERLIN Ten 1,372,000 409,000 331,000 270,000 134,000 228,000
15 GETAWAY Nine 1,368,000 407,000 399,000 282,000 104,000 175,000
16 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,361,000 447,000 417,000 179,000 146,000 173,000
17 60 MINUTES Nine 1,314,000 390,000 364,000 291,000 138,000 131,000
18 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC1 1,312,000 439,000 371,000 234,000 134,000 133,000

19 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,297,000 356,000 397,000 303,000 63,000 178,000
20 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,289,000 314,000 443,000 270,000 114,000 149,000
21 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,286,000 352,000 369,000 270,000 137,000 159,000
22 BONES Seven 1,279,000 404,000 338,000 213,000 148,000 175,000
23 20 TO 1 Nine 1,262,000 363,000 389,000 220,000 109,000 181,000
24 NINE NEWS Nine 1,258,000 364,000 387,000 277,000 116,000 115,000
25 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,248,000 389,000 365,000 214,000 130,000 150,000
26 RECRUITS Ten 1,226,000 371,000 301,000 245,000 134,000 175,000
27 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,215,000 317,000 382,000 253,000 103,000 160,000
28 LIE TO ME Ten 1,194,000 272,000 407,000 217,000 150,000 148,000
29 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,184,000 342,000 406,000 166,000 123,000 146,000
30 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,171,000 308,000 365,000 222,000 101,000 176,000
31 RPA Nine 1,158,000 364,000 323,000 209,000 133,000 130,000
32 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,152,000 346,000 287,000 243,000 128,000 146,000
33 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,144,000 381,000 335,000 244,000 120,000 65,000
34 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,134,000 333,000 352,000 235,000 106,000 108,000
35 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,127,000 348,000 365,000 211,000 85,000 118,000
36 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,120,000 345,000 355,000 210,000 102,000 109,000
37 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,119,000 298,000 376,000 207,000 101,000 137,000
38 COLD CASE Nine 1,101,000 303,000 355,000 186,000 127,000 129,000
39 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,088,000 302,000 345,000 218,000 105,000 118,000
40 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,081,000 338,000 311,000 214,000 110,000 108,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,411,000 434,000 382,000 317,000 129,000 150,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,144,000 381,000 335,000 244,000 120,000 65,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,120,000 345,000 355,000 210,000 102,000 109,000
4 NEW TRICKS RPT ABC1 1,051,000 334,000 285,000 189,000 117,000 125,000
5 CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY -RPT Nine 989,000 380,000 238,000 221,000 72,000 79,000
6 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC1 898,000 297,000 274,000 170,000 74,000 83,000
7 THE VICAR OF DIBLEY Seven 878,000 228,000 293,000 182,000 86,000 90,000
13 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Ten 776,000 411,000 75,000 93,000 197,000
14 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFL Ten 593,000 79,000 214,000 66,000 53,000 182,000
48 ALIEN RESURRECTION Ten 194,000 119,000 75,000
44 AFL - THE FIFTH QUARTER Ten 204,000 204,000
109 THE SANFL-PM ABC1 49,000 13,000 35,000
112 RUGBY UNION: SHUTE SHIELD (NSW) 2009-PM ABC1 45,000 45,000
135 RUGBY LEAGUE: (QLD) 2009-PM ABC1 34,000 34,000
146 VFL FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 29,000 29,000
168 SATURDAY LATE NIGHT AFL Ten 19,000 19,000
172 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE (after 2am Sat) Nine 16,000 10,000 6,000 1,000
192 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 9: GEELONG VS WESTERN BULLDOGS Seven 10,000 0 10,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,594,000 457,000 408,000 331,000 165,000 233,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,455,000 392,000 406,000 299,000 143,000 215,000
3 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,361,000 447,000 417,000 179,000 146,000 173,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,171,000 372,000 359,000 219,000 92,000 128,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,094,000 324,000 259,000 238,000 131,000 142,000
6 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,083,000 374,000 304,000 155,000 104,000 146,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,056,000 321,000 324,000 218,000 85,000 107,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,036,000 302,000 367,000 176,000 80,000 112,000
9 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 960,000 265,000 280,000 180,000 89,000 147,000
10 SILENT WITNESS ABC1 957,000 313,000 252,000 144,000 114,000 135,000
14 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 9: GEELONG VS WESTERN BULLDOGS Seven 791,000 11,000 482,000 16,000 139,000 144,000
16 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 764,000 394,000 369,000
27 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 453,000 312,000 140,000
33 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 9: GEELONG VS WESTERN BULLDOGS - AFTER THE GAME Seven 390,000 239,000 82,000 69,000
37 LIFE ON MARS FRI Ten 356,000 119,000 99,000 60,000 35,000 43,000
51 BOOB TUBE: SEX, TV AND UGLY GEORGE RPT SBS 248,000 68,000 67,000 50,000 32,000 30,000
104 SPICKS AND SPECKS RPT ABC1 97,000 30,000 34,000 19,000 6,000 9,000
122 SCRAPHEAP CHALLENGE: THE SCRAPPY RACES ABC2 66,000 28,000 6,000 8,000 20,000 5,000
130 THE WORST WEEK OF MY LIFE ABC2 50,000 15,000 23,000 4,000 3,000 6,000
131 STARS OF POKER ONE 47,000 8,000 15,000 5,000 11,000 9,000
132 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE Nine 47,000 27,000 9,000 11,000
161 GIRO D'ITALIA 2009 HIGHLIGHTS SBS 34,000 11,000 11,000 5,000 6,000 0
204 THE GLASS HOUSE RPT ABC1 16,000 7,000 1,000 3,000 2,000 3,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,625,000 409,000 470,000 348,000 177,000 221,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,487,000 400,000 426,000 306,000 159,000 196,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,367,000 407,000 399,000 282,000 105,000 175,000
4 20 TO 1 Nine 1,259,000 362,000 389,000 220,000 108,000 181,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,220,000 378,000 371,000 266,000 107,000 99,000
6 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,146,000 375,000 346,000 191,000 104,000 130,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,119,000 328,000 324,000 258,000 100,000 109,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,113,000 331,000 364,000 195,000 95,000 128,000
9 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,088,000 302,000 345,000 217,000 105,000 118,000
11 THE FOOTY SHOW Nine 1,032,000 239,000 411,000 140,000 129,000 112,000
14 LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT Ten 970,000 297,000 321,000 173,000 98,000 80,000
15 PRIVATE PRACTICE Seven 950,000 253,000 304,000 178,000 113,000 102,000
18 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 805,000 226,000 251,000 160,000 79,000 90,000
19 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT Ten 798,000 229,000 236,000 169,000 70,000 95,000
25 WORST WEEK Ten 705,000 194,000 220,000 154,000 61,000 77,000
26 HOT SEAT Nine 669,000 218,000 199,000 120,000 79,000 54,000
35 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS 375,000 106,000 134,000 53,000 31,000 51,000
40 HEROES Seven 347,000 107,000 96,000 76,000 37,000 30,000
47 IRON MAN: ARMORED ADVENTURES-PM ABC1 263,000 80,000 61,000 64,000 24,000 34,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,738,000 447,000 468,000 395,000 184,000 244,000
2 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,685,000 480,000 491,000 372,000 150,000 192,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,516,000 426,000 410,000 301,000 146,000 232,000
4 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,405,000 454,000 401,000 266,000 146,000 137,000
5 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC1 1,312,000 439,000 371,000 234,000 135,000 133,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,296,000 361,000 396,000 318,000 103,000 118,000
7 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,291,000 368,000 400,000 227,000 139,000 158,000
8 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,288,000 352,000 369,000 271,000 137,000 159,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,217,000 376,000 277,000 285,000 132,000 148,000
10 RPA Nine 1,158,000 364,000 323,000 209,000 132,000 131,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,104,000 310,000 359,000 222,000 107,000 106,000
12 COLD CASE Nine 1,101,000 303,000 355,000 186,000 128,000 129,000
13 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,094,000 347,000 281,000 251,000 88,000 128,000
14 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,080,000 338,000 311,000 214,000 109,000 108,000
15 HOUSE Ten 1,076,000 287,000 328,000 195,000 114,000 153,000
26 FAMILY GUY Seven 726,000 156,000 262,000 146,000 90,000 73,000
35 TRAWLERMEN SBS 458,000 131,000 147,000 86,000 36,000 58,000
42 AT THE MOVIES ABC1 368,000 121,000 119,000 51,000 31,000 45,000
46 LOST Seven 296,000 72,000 114,000 66,000 24,000 19,000
47 FOOD INVESTIGATORS SBS 288,000 73,000 102,000 51,000 24,000 39,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Wednesday
Can any reader explain why NCIS suddenly did so well last night? It took such a giant leap that Ten won the night (with 30.2 per cent of the audience to Seven's 28.9 per cent).

At this point in the week, the prime time audience shares stand at: Seven 27.4, Ten 26.0, Nine 24.6, ABC 15.1 and SBS 6.9. Tonight Thank God You're Here will help Seven rebound, unless some nostalgists return to House for the season finale. Nothing will help Nine, which must be hearing the rustle of Yasmin's skirts outside the HomeMade office.

And while we're asking questions, can any reader nominate a finer nose than Julia Zemiro's?

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NCIS Ten 1,626,000 446,000 453,000 297,000 199,000 231,000
2 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,613,000 483,000 491,000 259,000 160,000 219,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,612,000 459,000 411,000 369,000 157,000 216,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,575,000 465,000 413,000 333,000 148,000 217,000
5 THE ZOO Seven 1,476,000 426,000 368,000 322,000 181,000 180,000
6 FIND MY FAMILY Seven 1,397,000 392,000 382,000 282,000 169,000 172,000
7 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,291,000 428,000 357,000 226,000 141,000 139,000
8 NINE NEWS Nine 1,271,000 357,000 389,000 270,000 141,000 113,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,192,000 346,000 357,000 254,000 123,000 111,000
10 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,186,000 383,000 309,000 232,000 120,000 142,000
11 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,184,000 342,000 406,000 166,000 123,000 146,000
12 LIE TO ME Ten 1,170,000 267,000 400,000 212,000 148,000 145,000
15 10 YEARS YOUNGER IN 10 DAYS Seven 1,048,000 322,000 335,000 146,000 110,000 135,000
21 HOME MADE -ELIMINATION Nine 862,000 238,000 287,000 174,000 75,000 88,000
31 MUMBAI CALLING ABC1 464,000 181,000 116,000 72,000 37,000 59,000
38 SUNRISE Seven 374,000 110,000 90,000 94,000 35,000 46,000
43 TODAY Nine 276,000 81,000 88,000 66,000 16,000 26,000
72 LATE SHOW WITH DAVID LETTERMAN Ten 193,000 43,000 63,000 41,000 29,000 16,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,747,000 495,000 481,000 337,000 186,000 249,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,636,000 442,000 456,000 332,000 167,000 239,000
3 SEA PATROL Nine 1,399,000 407,000 402,000 238,000 170,000 181,000
4 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,388,000 409,000 402,000 261,000 153,000 163,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,295,000 352,000 417,000 284,000 130,000 112,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,287,000 312,000 442,000 272,000 111,000 149,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,269,000 363,000 396,000 283,000 118,000 109,000
8 RECRUITS Ten 1,220,000 370,000 298,000 243,000 134,000 175,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,190,000 300,000 403,000 222,000 117,000 149,000
10 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,178,000 367,000 293,000 223,000 122,000 173,000
11 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,127,000 348,000 365,000 211,000 85,000 118,000
12 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 1,079,000 279,000 324,000 228,000 113,000 135,000
13 MISSING PIECES Nine 1,076,000 294,000 360,000 181,000 110,000 131,000
14 FOUR CORNERS ABC1 1,060,000 334,000 289,000 218,000 96,000 122,000
17 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC1 1,031,000 298,000 286,000 225,000 105,000 117,000
18 SCRUBS - MON Seven 1,022,000 267,000 305,000 229,000 92,000 130,000
21 BROTHERS & SISTERS Seven 898,000 277,000 309,000 134,000 94,000 85,000
27 SPOOKS ABC1 657,000 190,000 201,000 108,000 76,000 83,000
28 SUPERNATURAL Ten 656,000 167,000 172,000 159,000 67,000 91,000
30 TOP GEAR AUSTRALIA SBS 628,000 223,000 177,000 105,000 57,000 66,000
57 30 ROCK Seven 200,000 51,000 76,000 13,000 27,000 33,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Normally SBS is happy if it can attract 5 per cent of the prime time audience. Last night, SBS attracted 9.9 per cent, a record for a non-soccer evening. The reason must be four hours of the sight and sound of Julia Zemiro, the woman with the finest nose on television. (The only other candidate for that title would be Georgie Parker, and she's not visible much at the moment.)

We are open to persuasion about this. If you can think of a more magnificent schnoz than the Zemiro, go to Comments with your nasal nominations.

The SBS jump was at the expense of the ABC, which attracted only 12.7 per cent (a Sunday slump that will be remedied by the arrival of this year's first Dr Who special). Seven got 27.6, Nine 25.5 and Ten 24.3.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,700,000 414,000 490,000 397,000 152,000 246,000
2 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,548,000 460,000 468,000 295,000 200,000 126,000
3 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - CHALLENGE Ten 1,456,000 417,000 413,000 261,000 161,000 205,000
4 MERLIN Ten 1,372,000 409,000 331,000 270,000 134,000 228,000
5 60 MINUTES Nine 1,318,000 390,000 367,000 293,000 137,000 131,000
6 BONES Seven 1,278,000 404,000 338,000 214,000 148,000 175,000
7 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,229,000 354,000 395,000 302,000 Not shown because of some sort of football 177,000
8 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,219,000 318,000 383,000 255,000 103,000 161,000
9 THE FORCE Seven 1,172,000 310,000 365,000 220,000 101,000 177,000
10 CSI Nine 1,089,000 306,000 341,000 216,000 142,000 84,000
11 ROVE Ten 1,006,000 218,000 357,000 177,000 113,000 141,000
12 HOME MADE Nine 1,002,000 254,000 339,000 180,000 131,000 98,000
14 CASTLE Seven 939,000 255,000 301,000 138,000 116,000 129,000
20 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 8: COLLINGWOOD VS CARLTON Seven 626,000 84,000 306,000 66,000 96,000 76,000
22 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 542,000 329,000 Not shown 213,000 Not shown Not shown
24 DIRT GAME ABC1 517,000 199,000 123,000 82,000 48,000 66,000
25 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2009 SBS 482,000 135,000 181,000 72,000 43,000 51,000
28 HARPER'S ISLAND Ten 425,000 105,000 156,000 62,000 54,000 48,000
44 24 Seven 216,000 46,000 85,000 28,000 30,000 27,000
49 AFL GAME DAY Seven 210,000 Not shown 148,000 Not shown 27,000 35,000
59 MAGNUM P.I. Seven 167,000 52,000 52,000 41,000 23,000 Not shown
71 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 8: PORT ADELAIDE VS RICHMOND Seven 127,000 Not shown Not shown Not shown 127,000 Not shown
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)
David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 09:07 AM
• Comments (68)

WHO WE ARE: Is it a sheep? Is it a cow? No, it's super pat

To learn why Star Trek is the definitive entertainment of the 21st century, even if you hate sci-fi, go to
The Tribal Mind.

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 17/5/2009

IN OFFERING this little tract to the public it is equally the writer's wish to conduce to their amusement and information.

As opening sentences of great books go, that doesn't quite match up to "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times"; "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there"; "It was a bright cold day in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen"; or "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife."

But it's certainly more important for Australians than any of those classic teasers, because it's the beginning of the first book ever published about this country.

Sailing with the fleet that left Portsmouth in 1787 for a new Wales somewhere in the south were five men who had been commissioned by publishers to write about an adventure that was as fascinating to the British then as the moon landing was to the modern world in 1969.

The first author to get a manuscript back to his publisher in London was a marine lieutenant named Watkin Tench, and his account of the journey and the first few weeks of the settlement appeared in April 1789. A Narrative of the Expedition To Botany Bay was such a hit (quickly translated into French, German, Dutch and Swedish) that the publishers demanded a sequel, and A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson appeared in 1793. It was another bestseller. You could say Tench was Australia's first international superstar.

No doubt copies of both books were clutched in the hands of Australia's first eight free settlers when they stepped off the boat in Sydney in 1793. They were not put off by Tench's warning to potential colonists: "If golden dreams of commerce and wealth flatter their imaginations, disappointment will follow."

Certainly they would have enjoyed the comedy. Tench is initially puzzled when the people he calls "the Indians" gather round a sheep pen and shout "Kangaroo! Kangaroo!" Later his Aboriginal friend Colbee points at a cow and asks "Is that a kangaroo?" When Tench identifies a two legged furry hopper as a kangaroo, Colbee says: "We call that a patagaran."

It would seem the earlier explorer whom Tench calls "Mr Cook" got the Aboriginal name a little wrong. Strangely, we've stuck with this mistake for two centuries.

(If they make a movie of Tench's books, I can see the most memorable line from Australian cinema so far -- "That's not a knife. That's a knife" -- being replaced by this dialogue ...

Tench: "That's not a kangaroo, that's a cow. That's a kangaroo."
Colbee: "That's not a kangaroo. That's a patagaran.")

Perhaps the women among the first free settlers were attracted by this observation in Tench's book: "No climate hitherto known is more generally salubrious. To this cause I attribute the great number of births which happened ... Women who certainly would never have bred in any other climate here produced as fine children as ever were born."

Perhaps the men found comfort in this: "To men of small property, unambitious of trade, and wishing for retirement, I think the continent of New South Wales not without inducements".

Talk about praising with faint damns. But that's the very modest mindset from which this country grew. In his introduction to a new edition of Tench's books, Tim Flannery refers to A Narrative of the Expedition to Botany Bay as "the most elegant, perceptive and engaging" of the five "foundation books" of Australia's colonial history (the other four being tedious technical tomes).

That led this column to seek your help in compiling a definitive list of the ten key books published about Australia in the past 220 years - books that might not be perfect prose but which reveal something about our national character.

Would you want to include The Fatal Shore by Robert Hughes? The Lucky Country by Donald Horne? 4 Ingredients by McCosker and Bermingham? Spotless by Lush and Fleming? Something by Bryce Courtenay, Sara Henderson, Albert Facey, or Hugh MacKay?

Go to Comments to suggest our most significant reading matter.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 10:23 AM
• Comments (42)

The Tribal Mind: Where everyone has gone before

To nominate the best books about Australia, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
APOTHEOSIS is not a word that should be used in a column about popular culture, but there's no other way to say this: the new Star Trek movie is the apotheosis of 21st century storytelling. It exemplifies and exalts everything we love and hate about mass entertainment. It will be the focus of study by anthropologists for decades to come -- even those anthropologists who hate science fiction.

In the 1980s, producers developed The Theory Of The Three Ds to explain what every successful blockbuster needs: Destruction of property, Disrespect for authority, and Dirty jokes.

For Star Trek, the Ds are barely the beginning. There's self-referential irony; shameless product placement; a plot that scrupulously follows the "Hero's Journey" formula (reluctant protagonist called to adventure, mentor, funny friends encountered on the road, symbolic death and resurrection, etc); an Australian villain; inter-species intercourse; very loud explosions; fights in bars; girls in bras; surprise guest stars; hundreds of in-jokes; and special effects that look unfinished, as if the producers were rushing to a deadline determined by when US high school students start their summer break.

In short in matters cultural, creative and commercial, it is the very model of a modern major motion picture.

One reference alone made it worth the price of admission for me. I won't spoil the surprise, but I venture to predict it might join in public memory the most resonant line in 20th century sci-fi -- Darth Vader's revelation to Luke Skywalker towards the end of The Empire Strikes Back. It provoked yelps of delight in the cinema where I joined the half a million Australians who saw Star Trek last week.

Another reason to welcome the success of the new Star Trek is that it might encourage a reprint of one of the most insightful books of the early 90s. Back then there was a fad for little tomes that sought to encapsulate life lessons in brisk pronouncements. The fad started with a book called All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten, which offered such comforts as "Don't Hit people"; "Share everything"; "Play fair"; and "Put things back where you found them". Then came All I Really Need To Know I Learned from My Cat (Get mad when you're stepped on; Be mysterious; Find the sunny places; When all else fails, take a nap).

I lent someone my copy of the next in the series, All I Really Need to Know I Learned From Watching Star Trek, by Dave Marinaccio, so I'm paraphrasing from memory: The unknown is not to be feared, it is to be understood; Always answer a distress signal; Don't interfere in other people's business, unless it's to stop them interfering in other people's business; If you mess something up, it's your responsibility to make it right again; Always question the pronouncements of authority figures, especially when they claim to be god; With a little understanding, enemies can turn into friends.

Marinaccio rates Captain James T. Kirk as an efficient manager (despite a certain impetuousness) because he has spelled out a clear mission statement for his staff (to boldly go, etc) and he always makes it clear who is in charge at any moment ("Mr Spock, you have the bridge").

Not all of this wisdom is displayed in the new Star Trek, but these are early days. By the seventh prequel, the media-savvy teenagers of today will be equipped with all the idealism, enthusiasm and ethical values they need to make the 2020s the greatest decade in human history. Not many movie franchises can make that claim.

What do you reckon?

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 10:01 AM
• Comments (14)

The Who We Are update: Week 20

This week of the blog is a heritage item -- worth studying but no longer current. For the latest media trends in Australia, bookmark blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
To learn why Star Trek is the definitive entertainment of the 21st century, go to The Tribal Mind.
To nominate the best books about Australia, go to Who We Are.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Ten started last week with a big advantage, thanks to Merlin, Masterchef and Two Apostrophes. But then the biffo scandal played into the hands of Channel Nine, boosting numbers for A Current Affair and The Footy Show, and Nine has resumed its traditional ranking as Still The Two. The average prime time audience shares were: Seven 28.3, Nine 25.7, Ten 22.9, ABC 17.4, SBS 5.6.

Sadly, the massively pre-publicised episode of Four Corners that started the week's frenzy got only 1 million viewers in the mainland capitals, which suggests that most football fans don't care, or can't find the ABC on their remotes.

This was Pay TV's account of itself for the week: "124,000 people watched FOXTEL Sport's live coverage of the Manchester United/Arsenal game in which Manchester United took out its third consecutive English Premier League title. It was the highest EPL audience of the year and the third highest ever for EPL on FOX Sports. 289,000 people watched the Melbourne Storm prevail over the Sydney Roosters in Live: NRL Roosters v Storm and 262,000 viewed the Eagles defeat the Demons by four points in Live: AFL West Coast v Melbourne (all on FOX Sports).

"Australia's Next Top Model on FOX8 was watched by 177,000 viewers this week while Selling Houses Australia on Lifestyle had its biggest audience of the year with 129,000 people. NCIS on TV1 was watched by 107,000 people, 100,000 saw Thursday night's episode of M*A*S*H on FOX Classics and Eastenders on UKTV had its best result of 2009 with 88,000 viewers. In children's programming, Hatching Pete premiered on Disney Channel with 82,000 viewers and ICarly on Nickelodeon had its best result of the year with 75,000 viewers.

"Subscription TV was the number one source of television across all homes in week 20. STV channels accounted for 22.5% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, was 21.8% of all regional viewing and 58.6% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Australia watched, week ending May 17
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,599,000 444,000 484,000 279,000 158,000 235,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,572,000 428,000 439,000 320,000 168,000 216,000
3 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,571,000 426,000 369,000 370,000 163,000 242,000
4 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,551,000 461,000 485,000 313,000 120,000 171,000
5 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,490,000 426,000 495,000 276,000 178,000 115,000
6 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - CHALLENGE Ten 1,472,000 422,000 459,000 265,000 141,000 186,000
7 NCIS Ten 1,435,000 376,000 373,000 299,000 178,000 209,000
8 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,434,000 364,000 434,000 327,000 148,000 160,000
9 THE ZOO Seven 1,431,000 376,000 440,000 271,000 153,000 192,000
10 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,418,000 387,000 385,000 296,000 152,000 198,000
11 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,416,000 437,000 405,000 228,000 173,000 172,000
12 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,358,000 501,000 372,000 227,000 136,000 121,000
13 FIND MY FAMILY Seven 1,320,000 363,000 380,000 255,000 126,000 197,000
14 MERLIN Ten 1,306,000 418,000 313,000 243,000 122,000 211,000

15 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,299,000 338,000 344,000 299,000 144,000 175,000
16 BONES Seven 1,271,000 361,000 334,000 235,000 141,000 201,000
17 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,266,000 307,000 365,000 273,000 121,000 199,000
18 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,261,000 318,000 435,000 231,000 115,000 162,000
19 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,258,000 292,000 346,000 282,000 121,000 217,000
20 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC1 1,239,000 439,000 401,000 173,000 115,000 112,000
21 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,231,000 349,000 402,000 266,000 110,000 105,000
22 NINE NEWS Nine 1,227,000 348,000 399,000 251,000 124,000 106,000
23 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP1 Nine 1,218,000 320,000 432,000 239,000 92,000 136,000
24 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,212,000 341,000 345,000 239,000 128,000 159,000
25 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,184,000 298,000 377,000 238,000 166,000 105,000
26 60 MINUTES Nine 1,181,000 359,000 351,000 248,000 113,000 110,000
27 GETAWAY Nine 1,175,000 320,000 398,000 232,000 116,000 109,000
28 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,172,000 338,000 362,000 196,000 131,000 144,000
29 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,163,000 344,000 300,000 238,000 133,000 148,000
30 TRIMBOLE: THE REAL UNDERBELLY Nine 1,154,000 341,000 374,000 186,000 117,000 136,000
41 THE TREASURER'S BUDGET SPEECH 2009 ABC1 1,075,000 391,000 316,000 243,000 93,000 31,000
56 FOUR CORNERS ABC1 1,001,000 402,000 213,000 214,000 75,000 98,000
62 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 955,000 271,000 274,000 164,000 113,000 132,000
71 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 860,000 248,000 264,000 172,000 83,000 94,000
89 BUDGET 2009: THE RIGHT OF REPLY ABC1 735,000 263,000 216,000 172,000 71,000 12,000
94 TOP GEAR AUSTRALIA SBS 689,000 235,000 196,000 119,000 62,000 76,000
102 HOT SEAT Nine 604,000 180,000 202,000 95,000 78,000 49,000
116 HARPER'S ISLAND Ten 560,000 147,000 187,000 105,000 64,000 57,000
134 TRAWLERMEN SBS 460,000 137,000 129,000 89,000 45,000 60,000
286 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 ONE 150,000 31,000 45,000 23,000 25,000 26,000
312 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC2 138,000 49,000 32,000 14,000 15,000 28,000
333 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC2 126,000 50,000 35,000 10,000 11,000 20,000

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,434,000 364,000 434,000 327,000 148,000 160,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,184,000 298,000 377,000 238,000 166,000 105,000
3 BILLY CONNOLLY: JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD Seven 1,104,000 267,000 357,000 250,000 121,000 110,000
4 NEW TRICKS RPT ABC1 1,002,000 326,000 288,000 168,000 94,000 126,000
5 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 999,000 265,000 307,000 201,000 104,000 123,000
6 KATH & KIM (R) Seven 912,000 213,000 309,000 200,000 95,000 96,000
7 THE CASTLE -RPT Nine 909,000 261,000 273,000 205,000 79,000 91,000
8 THE VICAR OF DIBLEY Seven 851,000 207,000 270,000 168,000 92,000 115,000
9 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC1 828,000 279,000 252,000 129,000 70,000 98,000
10 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Ten 796,000 76,000 293,000 97,000 136,000 194,000
11 THE BILL ABC1 789,000 256,000 226,000 101,000 87,000 120,000
20 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFL Ten 443,000 50,000 233,000 58,000 52,000 50,000
21 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2009: SEMI FINAL 2 SBS 414,000 118,000 151,000 57,000 53,000 35,000
30 ABBA THE MOVIE RPT SBS 252,000 77,000 77,000 36,000 33,000 29,000
104 RUGBY LEAGUE: (QLD) 2009-PM ABC1 42,000 42,000
112 RUGBY UNION: SHUTE SHIELD (NSW) 2009-PM ABC1 38,000 38,000
113 VFL FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 38,000 38,000
139 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 8: FREMANTLE VS HAWTHORN Seven 29,000 23,000 6,000
146 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 8: FREMANTLE VS HAWTHORN - AFTER THE GAME Seven 27,000 23,000 4,000
160 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE Nine 21,000 16,000 5,000 1,000
And I swear to god there are no other football matches any further down the chart.

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,480,000 446,000 408,000 258,000 169,000 199,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,416,000 437,000 405,000 228,000 173,000 172,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,294,000 369,000 374,000 236,000 150,000 165,000
4 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,150,000 363,000 339,000 183,000 121,000 145,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,110,000 310,000 349,000 212,000 119,000 120,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,092,000 289,000 313,000 219,000 149,000 122,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,079,000 307,000 367,000 205,000 108,000 92,000
8 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,030,000 334,000 306,000 160,000 111,000 119,000
14 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 8: FREMANTLE VS HAWTHORN Seven 778,000 40,000 422,000 15,000 130,000 171,000
15 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 768,000 448,000 320,000
25 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 454,000 303,000 151,000
33 LIFE ON MARS FRI Ten 354,000 57,000 154,000 59,000 48,000 35,000
42 EUROVISION SONG CONTEST 2009: SEMI FINAL 1 SBS 276,000 64,000 112,000 32,000 43,000 24,000
159 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE Nine 37,000 23,000 11,000 3,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Friday
The chart below contains an interesting revelation: more than 120,000 people in the mainland capitals watch Spicks and Specks and The Gruen Transfer when they are broadcast a second time on ABC2. Presumably these are not the same people who watched on Wednesday. If OzTAM added the Thursday numbers to the Wednesday numbers, S&S and TGT would be in the top five shows most weeks. If you are one of those who watch 24 hours later, please tell us why, below.

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,468,000 398,000 420,000 300,000 158,000 191,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,355,000 368,000 363,000 275,000 175,000 173,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,176,000 319,000 399,000 232,000 116,000 110,000
4 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,161,000 302,000 413,000 243,000 106,000 97,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,150,000 312,000 366,000 253,000 123,000 96,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,147,000 340,000 264,000 229,000 159,000 155,000
7 20 TO 1 Nine 1,141,000 319,000 371,000 190,000 122,000 139,000
8 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 1,128,000 342,000 318,000 210,000 124,000 134,000
9 THE FOOTY SHOW Nine 1,101,000 313,000 378,000 188,000 114,000 107,000
14 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,007,000 275,000 327,000 173,000 101,000 130,000
16 PRIVATE PRACTICE Seven 883,000 230,000 313,000 138,000 105,000 97,000
17 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 867,000 255,000 262,000 179,000 92,000 80,000
21 BUDGET 2009: THE RIGHT OF REPLY ABC1 721,000 262,000 217,000 171,000 71,000
24 HOT SEAT Nine 603,000 169,000 189,000 105,000 89,000 51,000
84 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC2 138,000 49,000 32,000 14,000 15,000 28,000
96 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC2 126,000 50,000 35,000 10,000 11,000 20,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,551,000 461,000 485,000 313,000 120,000 171,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,510,000 385,000 402,000 326,000 168,000 227,000
3 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,373,000 505,000 378,000 229,000 138,000 123,000
4 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,372,000 427,000 390,000 346,000 100,000 108,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,356,000 361,000 345,000 309,000 128,000 213,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,328,000 408,000 417,000 274,000 116,000 112,000
7 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC1 1,239,000 439,000 401,000 172,000 115,000 112,000
8 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,212,000 341,000 345,000 239,000 128,000 159,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,197,000 329,000 386,000 248,000 108,000 126,000
10 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,191,000 346,000 367,000 187,000 140,000 151,000
11 RPA Nine 1,115,000 324,000 331,000 239,000 116,000 105,000
14 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,047,000 344,000 322,000 188,000 106,000 87,000
15 COLD CASE Nine 1,040,000 299,000 365,000 136,000 136,000 105,000
16 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU Nine 1,032,000 325,000 308,000 221,000 88,000 90,000
20 HOUSE Ten 863,000 227,000 243,000 157,000 101,000 136,000
21 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 846,000 226,000 265,000 170,000 79,000 106,000
26 FAMILY GUY Seven 711,000 177,000 237,000 124,000 88,000 85,000
27 HOT SEAT Nine 619,000 180,000 214,000 100,000 75,000 50,000
28 NUMB3RS Ten 599,000 169,000 184,000 101,000 75,000 70,000
34 TRAWLERMEN SBS 466,000 139,000 131,000 90,000 45,000 61,000
53 LOST Seven 235,000 67,000 83,000 37,000 26,000 21,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

The ratings race, updated 10 am Wednesday
This is the week that Channel Ten can begin to dare to hope that it might do the unprecedented and end the year as number two station. That would be the ultimate humiliation for Channel Nine. In the chart below, look at how Nine's expensive renovation game show compares with Ten's expensive cooking game show. At this point in the week, the average prime time audience shares stand at: Seven 29.4 per cent, Ten 25.7 per cent, Nine 24.1, ABC 15.9, SBS 4.9.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,674,000 452,000 482,000 352,000 168,000 220,000
2 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,599,000 444,000 484,000 279,000 158,000 235,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,517,000 415,000 416,000 314,000 151,000 220,000
4 NCIS Ten 1,435,000 376,000 373,000 299,000 178,000 209,000
5 THE ZOO Seven 1,431,000 376,000 440,000 271,000 153,000 192,000
6 FIND MY FAMILY Seven 1,320,000 363,000 380,000 255,000 126,000 197,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,270,000 357,000 423,000 267,000 117,000 106,000
8 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,252,000 368,000 375,000 200,000 132,000 177,000
15 THE TREASURER'S BUDGET SPEECH 2009 ABC1 1,141,000 389,000 313,000 241,000 92,000 106,000
17 BUDGET SPECIAL 2009 ABC1 1,069,000 374,000 295,000 236,000 94,000 70,000
18 LIE TO ME Ten 986,000 251,000 296,000 181,000 117,000 141,000
19 10 YEARS YOUNGER IN 10 DAYS Seven 973,000 288,000 298,000 153,000 109,000 124,000
22 HOME MADE -ELIMINATION Nine 889,000 244,000 307,000 171,000 84,000 83,000
27 MUMBAI CALLING ABC1 576,000 218,000 153,000 73,000 47,000 85,000
78 WHEN BORAT CAME TO TOWN SBS 147,000 32,000 57,000 18,000 22,000 18,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,728,000 460,000 483,000 365,000 176,000 244,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,563,000 418,000 427,000 340,000 158,000 220,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,336,000 343,000 479,000 285,000 125,000 103,000
4 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,331,000 350,000 423,000 248,000 157,000 153,000
5 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,281,000 352,000 419,000 273,000 122,000 115,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,262,000 384,000 330,000 260,000 126,000 162,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,262,000 318,000 435,000 231,000 115,000 162,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,215,000 294,000 404,000 252,000 122,000 143,000
9 TRIMBOLE: THE REAL UNDERBELLY Nine 1,151,000 341,000 373,000 187,000 114,000 135,000
10 RECRUITS Ten 1,116,000 325,000 279,000 243,000 124,000 145,000
14 FOUR CORNERS ABC1 1,013,000 404,000 215,000 218,000 75,000 99,000
21 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 878,000 245,000 283,000 175,000 78,000 96,000
23 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 7: COLLINGWOOD VS ST KILDA Seven 790,000 13,000 530,000 10,000 112,000 126,000
24 SCRUBS - MON Seven 773,000 277,000 Not shown 234,000 99,000 163,000
25 TOP GEAR AUSTRALIA SBS 689,000 235,000 196,000 119,000 62,000 76,000
28 HOT SEAT Nine 608,000 156,000 216,000 106,000 73,000 57,000
29 SUPERNATURAL Ten 600,000 125,000 185,000 121,000 67,000 102,000
30 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 578,000 352,000 Not shown 226,000 Not shown Not shown
45 BOSTON LEGAL Seven 261,000 178,000 Not shown 83,000 Not shown Not shown

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,571,000 426,000 369,000 370,000 163,000 242,000
2 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,491,000 426,000 495,000 276,000 179,000 115,000
3 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - CHALLENGE Ten 1,470,000 422,000 457,000 265,000 140,000 186,000
4 MERLIN Ten 1,305,000 417,000 312,000 243,000 122,000 210,000
5 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,298,000 337,000 343,000 299,000 144,000 175,000
6 BONES Seven 1,269,000 359,000 334,000 235,000 141,000 201,000
7 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,267,000 308,000 365,000 274,000 122,000 198,000
8 THE FORCE Seven 1,256,000 292,000 346,000 281,000 121,000 216,000
9 60 MINUTES Nine 1,181,000 358,000 350,000 248,000 113,000 112,000
10 CSI Nine 1,074,000 304,000 314,000 217,000 134,000 106,000
11 HOME MADE Nine 1,021,000 286,000 329,000 191,000 95,000 119,000
12 ROVE Ten 1,012,000 255,000 368,000 165,000 102,000 122,000
15 CSI: NY Nine 841,000 225,000 280,000 133,000 111,000 91,000
21 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 572,000 321,000 251,000
61 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 7: WEST COAST VS MELBOURNE Seven 153,000 153,000
64 AFL GAME DAY Seven 151,000 93,000 30,000 29,000
83 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 7: ADELAIDE VS WESTERN BULLDOGS Seven 102,000 102,000

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 08:40 AM
• Comments (106)

The Tribal Mind: The Yanks are going

To learn how Australians find love and lose it, go to Who We Are

by David Dale
Coca-colonisation update: if Australians were just cultural clones of Americans, then the movie Wolverine would have sold $8.5 million worth of tickets on its first weekend. In fact, it sold $6.6 million worth. That left a giant question mark hanging over our national identity.

For three decades, film distributors in this country have operated on the assumption that any big budget international movie will make in Australian dollars roughly one tenth of what it made in American dollars. Thus Titanic made $US601 million over there and $58m here, becoming the highest grossing film of all time in both countries. Jurassic Park made $US357m and $33m; The Sixth Sense made $US290m and $29m; Independence Day made $US306m and $29m; Forrest Gump made $330m and $31m; Shrek the Third made $US321m and $34m.

You see the pattern. We were a bit more keen on Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings than they were, and a bit less keen on Star Wars and Spider-Man, but most of the time we've been predictable mini-mes of American moviegoers.

That was until Wolverine, which made $US85.1 million in its first weekend over there, and $6.6 million here - a success in anybody's language, but not the same success in each place.

Everything was in its favour: a star who happens to be Australia's most popular person; huge publicity, both free and paid-for; and no significant competition in the multiplexes. Its local box office should have been much bigger. Has the tall poppy syndrome set in already for Hugh Jackman? Or might other forces be at work?

If there's one thing this column is noted for, it's drawing the longest possible bow and propounding outlandish theories about social change based on flimsy evidence. Plus being unable to count. So three things we're noted for.

We're about to do at least one of them again. Consider these two charts:

America's favorite movies of the past 12 months: 1 The Dark Knight $US533m; 2 Iron Man $US318m;
3 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $US317m; 4 Hancock $US228m; 5 Wall-e $US223m;
6 Kung Fu Panda $US215m; 7 Monsters vs Aliens $US183m; 8 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa $US180m;
9 Quantum of Solace $US168m; 10 Horton Hears a Who $US155m.

Australia's favourite movies of the past 12 months: 1 The Dark Knight $46m; 2 Australia $37m;
3 Mamma Mia! $32m; 4 Quantum of Solace $US31m; 5 Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $29m; 6 Sex and the City $27m; 7 Kung Fu Panda $26m; 8 Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa $22m; 9 Twilight $22m; 10 Slumdog Millionaire $20m.

What do we observe? First, that beyond superficial similarities, the one-tenth-of-America rule no longer applies. We have cast off the cultural colonisers and achieved our own independence day.

Secondly, Australian actors were the drawcard in two of America's top three hits of the past 12 months.

Thirdly, the majority of moviegoers in the United States appear to be boys under the age of 14, or people who think like boys under the age of 14.

And fourthly, Australians are more diverse in their tastes than our cousins across the Pacific. In addition to action adventures and kiddy cartoons, we are open to historic melodramas, musical comedies, epic romances and teenage vampires.

It would be irresponsible to mince words. Australians are simply better human beings than Americans. Be still my patriotic heart.

To debate this theory, go to Comments

David Dale is the author of The Little Book of Australia -- A snapshot of who we are (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 04:03 PM
• Comments (6)

WHO WE ARE: Better to have loved and lost ...

To learn why we're no longer cultural clones of the Americans, go to The Tribal Mind

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 10/5/2009
The seven year itch is a myth. In this country, the theory that marriages are most at risk after seven years is not supported by the facts. It's actually 8 years and 11 months. For marriages that have ended in Australia, that's been the average gap between joining and separating.

But we're getting ahead of ourselves. Today's column is supposed to be about finding love, not losing it. This is part two of a study of the mating habits of the tribe called Australians, based on research by the Bureau of Statistics. Last week's column offered the optimistic revelation that 95 per cent of Australians over the age of 35 have had at least one live-in relationship in their lives. Here's more detail on how they did it (with a bit on how they lost it)...

If you're looking for love, get more education and get a job. Australians mostly bond with people who have the same educational background. But the bureau warns: "Men with a lower level of education were more likely to have never partnered (10.4 per cent of men with no tertiary qualifications compared with 5.0 per cent of those with tertiary qualifications). Men who were not working in 2006-2007 were almost three times as likely to have never had a live-in relationship as those who were employed."

If you can't find an atheist or a Buddhist, a Christian will do. Australians tend to bond with people who share their religion - or lack of it. The bureau says 87 per cent of couplings are between people of the same belief system. These are the exceptions: "Only 34 per cent of couples involving a Buddhist were same faith partnerships. A higher proportion were 'Buddhist- Christian' couples (40 per cent). Of the 26 per cent of couples involving at least one person with no religion, 52 per cent were matches where both partners were non-religious, while most of the remainder (46 per cent) were a no religion-Christian couple."

Men are more annoying than women. That's what we have to conclude from the fact that wives are far more likely to end relationships than are husbands. In 2007, 13,216 divorces were initiated by men, 16,172 were joint projects and 18,571 were initiated by women.

Most marriages end in death. That's another way of saying that around 40 per cent end in divorce. These are the raw numbers: each year there are about 116,000 marriages and about 48,000 divorces. The divorce rate has been declining over this decade, which looks like good news until you realize it's because the marriage rate was declining over the previous decade.

A terminated de facto relationship is likely to last two years, while a terminated marriage is likely to last at least nine years. The bureau looks on the bright side: "In considering the apparently brief duration of de facto relationships, it should be kept in mind that this median is only for those relationships that have ended - a greater number have gone on to become a registered marriage or remain as long term partnerships. In addition, where de facto relationships are being used by couples as a step before marriage, those that end before marriage may reduce the number of marriages that would otherwise end in divorce within a short period."

So there's no reason for pessimism, as long as you're looking for love in all the right places. Give us your theories at Comments

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 11:00 AM
• Comments (25)

The Who We Are update: Week 19

This week of the blog is a heritage item -- worth studying but no longer current. For the latest media trends in Australia, bookmark blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
To get the viewers' verdict on what's worst on the box, go to The Bogie Awards, 2009
To learn how Australians lose love, go to Who We Are

The ratings race, updated 10 am Sunday
Channel Nine started the week with a massive advantage from the Logies and the Underbelly finale and managed to fritter most of it away by Saturday. In the end, Nine averaged 27.9 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven got 27.7, Ten 22.5, ABC 16.7, SBS 5.13. Ten is currently gleeful that Masterchef is performing far better than The Biggest Loser and Big Brother. Seven is gleeful that Underbelly is over.

This was Pay TV's account of itself: "For the sixth week in a row, and for the 14th week in 2009, Subscription TV was the number one source of television across all homes. STV channels accounted for 22.0% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, was 20.8% of all regional viewing and 57.4% of all viewing in subscription TV homes in week 18, 2009.

"In sport, Live: NRL Cowboys v Dragons on FOX Sports was seen by 307,000 people, Live: AFL Western Bulldogs v St Kilda was watched by 275,000 (a record for the code this year) and the FOX Sports' live coverage of the fifth One Day International against Pakistan, Live: Cricket: ODI Pak v Aus 5th ODI S1, was watched by 103,000 viewers. Live: Rugby League: Toyota Cup received its highest audience for the year with 99,000 viewers (all on FOX Sports).

"Australia's Next Top Model continued its great run with 202,000 viewers for Tuesday night's broadcast on FOX8 and 280,000 on the night when the Plus 2 hours audiences are included. NCIS on TV1 had 116,000 viewers, Law & Order on W was watched by 113,000 people and Wednesday night's episode of Selling Houses Australia on Lifestyle was viewed by 112,000 subscribers. The Bucket List, with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman premiered on Movie One with 107,000 people, Sonny with a Chance on Disney Channel had its biggest audience of the year with 99,000 people and Ben 10: Alien Force on Cartoon Network had its best result for 2009 with 74,000 viewers."

What Australia watched, week ending May 9
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 UNDERBELLY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES Nine 2,090,000 639,000 700,000 320,000 199,000 232,000
2 TV WEEK LOGIE AWARDS ARRIVALS Nine 1,698,000 489,000 622,000 276,000 131,000 179,000
3 51ST ANNUAL TV WEEK LOGIE AWARDS Nine 1,652,000 511,000 602,000 238,000 147,000 153,000
4 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,642,000 475,000 529,000 293,000 142,000 204,000
5 A LION CALLED CHRISTIAN Seven 1,587,000 462,000 443,000 290,000 153,000 238,000
6 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,580,000 429,000 429,000 308,000 176,000 238,000
7 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,573,000 435,000 492,000 280,000 153,000 213,000
8 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,543,000 426,000 417,000 325,000 163,000 212,000
9 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,542,000 465,000 519,000 277,000 159,000 121,000
10 NCIS Ten 1,516,000 363,000 426,000 312,000 190,000 224,000
11 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,436,000 348,000 435,000 311,000 168,000 174,000
12 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,436,000 390,000 394,000 308,000 150,000 195,000
13 MERLIN Ten 1,406,000 423,000 354,000 245,000 166,000 218,000

14 60 MINUTES Nine 1,394,000 380,000 468,000 261,000 127,000 158,000
15 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,336,000 367,000 436,000 181,000 181,000 172,000
16 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,276,000 466,000 374,000 208,000 113,000 116,000
17 RECRUITS Ten 1,234,000 387,000 301,000 242,000 138,000 166,000
18 NINE NEWS Nine 1,221,000 348,000 385,000 246,000 127,000 115,000
19 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC1 1,211,000 426,000 377,000 169,000 118,000 120,000
20 20 TO 1 -RPT Nine 1,190,000 297,000 423,000 182,000 137,000 150,000
21 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,183,000 311,000 333,000 221,000 138,000 180,000
22 GETAWAY Nine 1,182,000 330,000 397,000 206,000 106,000 143,000
23 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,180,000 330,000 326,000 237,000 126,000 160,000
24 MIDSOMER MURDERS-EV ABC1 1,169,000 344,000 365,000 142,000 144,000 175,000
25 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 1,162,000 354,000 352,000 213,000 122,000 120,000
26 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,161,000 339,000 285,000 245,000 144,000 149,000
27 BILLY CONNOLLY: JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD Seven 1,156,000 333,000 326,000 255,000 126,000 118,000
28 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,154,000 332,000 353,000 207,000 115,000 146,000
29 BONES Seven 1,152,000 302,000 325,000 230,000 131,000 163,000
30 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,151,000 373,000 329,000 187,000 116,000 146,000
31 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,147,000 306,000 376,000 245,000 110,000 110,000
32 RPA Nine 1,143,000 318,000 340,000 238,000 121,000 127,000
33 MISSING PIECES Nine 1,142,000 307,000 385,000 200,000 118,000 132,000
34 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP1 Nine 1,134,000 329,000 390,000 206,000 94,000 116,000
35 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,114,000 308,000 332,000 239,000 105,000 129,000
36 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,107,000 267,000 362,000 237,000 151,000 90,000
37 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,105,000 326,000 349,000 189,000 96,000 145,000
38 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,103,000 291,000 379,000 215,000 101,000 118,000
39 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - TOP 20 REVEALED Ten 1,098,000 325,000 304,000 160,000 151,000 157,000
40 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP2 Nine 1,072,000 311,000 388,000 171,000 92,000 110,000
52 TOP GEAR BOTSWANA SPECIAL RPT SBS 991,000 280,000 339,000 182,000 91,000 99,000
376 SLAMBALL ONE 94,000 18,000 43,000 12,000 21,000
389 SPICKS AND SPECKS Thursday ABC2 87,000 21,000 34,000 4,000 8,000 19,000

What Australia watched, and barely watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,436,000 348,000 435,000 311,000 168,000 174,000
2 BILLY CONNOLLY: JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD Seven 1,156,000 333,000 326,000 255,000 126,000 118,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,107,000 267,000 362,000 237,000 151,000 90,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,050,000 279,000 315,000 204,000 128,000 124,000
5 NEW TRICKS RPT ABC1 970,000 318,000 268,000 157,000 103,000 123,000
6 KATH & KIM Seven 953,000 280,000 245,000 250,000 78,000 99,000
7 THE VICAR OF DIBLEY Seven 891,000 251,000 263,000 184,000 74,000 117,000
8 THE BILL ABC1 845,000 279,000 225,000 133,000 89,000 119,000
9 SECONDHAND LIONS Nine 827,000 231,000 243,000 171,000 93,000 90,000
11 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Ten 759,000 382,000 53,000 158,000 167,000
16 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFL Ten 582,000 78,000 251,000 79,000 75,000 100,000
83 IPL TWENTY20 CRICKET 2009 LIVE ONE 83,000 23,000 28,000 13,000 13,000 5,000
127 VFL FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 42,000 42,000
131 NETBALL: ANZ CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 LIVE ONE 40,000 2,000 26,000 7,000 3,000 1,000
148 RUGBY LEAGUE: (QLD) 2009-PM ABC1 30,000 30,000
151 RUGBY UNION: SHUTE SHIELD (NSW) 2009-PM ABC1 28,000 28,000
156 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE Nine 25,000 13,000 6,000 6,000
162 SATURDAY LATE NIGHT AFL Ten 21,000 21,000
166 WAFL LIVE LEAGUE FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 19,000 19,000
168 THE SANFL-PM ABC1 18,000 18,000
180 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 7: ESSENDON VS HAWTHORN Seven 12,000 6,000 6,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,400,000 384,000 363,000 291,000 155,000 207,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,336,000 367,000 436,000 181,000 181,000 172,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,195,000 329,000 291,000 261,000 149,000 165,000
4 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,169,000 344,000 365,000 142,000 144,000 175,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,163,000 340,000 364,000 230,000 122,000 108,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,063,000 280,000 348,000 220,000 108,000 107,000
7 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,016,000 278,000 334,000 180,000 112,000 112,000
12 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 892,000 469,000 423,000
14 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 7: ESSENDON VS HAWTHORN Seven 827,000 15,000 518,000 12,000 157,000 125,000
29 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 427,000 249,000 178,000
31 M-THE TERMINAL Seven 396,000 276,000 120,000
32 LIFE ON MARS FRI Ten 393,000 108,000 152,000 56,000 51,000 26,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,499,000 431,000 408,000 306,000 161,000 192,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,418,000 376,000 405,000 298,000 149,000 190,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,183,000 331,000 397,000 206,000 106,000 142,000
4 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,182,000 326,000 299,000 260,000 150,000 146,000
5 20 TO 1 -RPT Nine 1,172,000 294,000 413,000 182,000 136,000 146,000
6 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 1,162,000 354,000 352,000 213,000 122,000 120,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,129,000 317,000 370,000 218,000 111,000 112,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,068,000 332,000 340,000 177,000 84,000 135,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,056,000 292,000 347,000 215,000 101,000 100,000
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,055,000 321,000 337,000 196,000 96,000 105,000
11 THE FOOTY SHOW Nine 1,046,000 207,000 452,000 127,000 137,000 124,000
12 LAW & ORDER: CRIMINAL INTENT Ten 1,038,000 268,000 312,000 209,000 134,000 116,000
13 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 996,000 303,000 303,000 206,000 77,000 108,000
14 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 982,000 300,000 332,000 166,000 75,000 109,000
16 MEDIA WATCH - 20 YEARS: STUFF UPS, BEAT UPS AND BARNEYS ABC1 911,000 320,000 225,000 183,000 86,000 97,000
17 BONDI VET Ten 878,000 220,000 248,000 227,000 85,000 97,000
19 RULES OF ENGAGEMENT Ten 773,000 165,000 272,000 177,000 63,000 96,000
24 PRIVATE PRACTICE Seven 686,000 216,000 191,000 129,000 72,000 77,000
33 HEROES Seven 361,000 132,000 101,000 58,000 32,000 36,000
35 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS 347,000 99,000 104,000 68,000 40,000 35,000
45 THE WOTWOTS-AM ABC1 242,000 96,000 81,000 29,000 25,000 12,000
56 THE MR MEN SHOW-AM ABC1 204,000 56,000 59,000 47,000 15,000 26,000
57 MAD MEN SBS 204,000 87,000 49,000 36,000 19,000 13,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,648,000 417,000 487,000 356,000 167,000 220,000
2 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,572,000 435,000 492,000 280,000 153,000 213,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,550,000 417,000 453,000 342,000 143,000 195,000
4 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,258,000 459,000 368,000 205,000 112,000 114,000
5 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,241,000 356,000 355,000 230,000 128,000 171,000
6 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC1 1,211,000 426,000 377,000 169,000 118,000 120,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,208,000 324,000 402,000 239,000 127,000 116,000
8 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,180,000 330,000 326,000 237,000 126,000 161,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,157,000 324,000 291,000 260,000 136,000 145,000
10 RPA Nine 1,122,000 309,000 324,000 242,000 119,000 128,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,094,000 269,000 374,000 238,000 102,000 111,000
13 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,030,000 313,000 331,000 185,000 106,000 96,000
16 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU Nine 977,000 244,000 312,000 210,000 101,000 110,000
17 HOUSE Ten 955,000 254,000 258,000 180,000 98,000 165,000
18 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 951,000 238,000 303,000 172,000 105,000 133,000
19 COLD CASE Nine 901,000 249,000 298,000 133,000 132,000 88,000
20 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 824,000 231,000 252,000 172,000 85,000 84,000
21 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 803,000 225,000 274,000 129,000 81,000 93,000
26 NUMB3RS Ten 647,000 162,000 225,000 106,000 75,000 78,000
27 HOT SEAT Nine 627,000 175,000 213,000 115,000 80,000 45,000
28 FAMILY GUY Seven 607,000 167,000 213,000 93,000 72,000 61,000
31 MOVING WALLPAPER ABC1 556,000 210,000 121,000 93,000 57,000 75,000
34 TRAWLERMEN SBS 414,000 124,000 98,000 84,000 47,000 60,000
35 RUSSELL BRAND'S PONDERLAND Seven 394,000 103,000 143,000 66,000 43,000 38,000
36 AT THE MOVIES ABC1 391,000 156,000 97,000 52,000 41,000 46,000
61 LOST Seven 228,000 69,000 75,000 40,000 19,000 25,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TALKIN' BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,648,000 475,000 530,000 295,000 143,000 205,000
2 A LION CALLED CHRISTIAN Seven 1,587,000 462,000 443,000 290,000 153,000 238,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,540,000 436,000 392,000 327,000 166,000 219,000
4 NCIS Ten 1,510,000 360,000 425,000 311,000 190,000 224,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,485,000 412,000 386,000 309,000 156,000 223,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,260,000 378,000 380,000 252,000 133,000 118,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,259,000 359,000 391,000 272,000 124,000 112,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,212,000 352,000 299,000 248,000 137,000 176,000
9 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,159,000 341,000 377,000 189,000 108,000 144,000
10 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,151,000 373,000 329,000 187,000 116,000 146,000
15 10 YEARS YOUNGER IN 10 DAYS Seven 991,000 302,000 292,000 151,000 127,000 118,000
18 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 926,000 262,000 270,000 166,000 110,000 118,000
21 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 809,000 234,000 244,000 140,000 93,000 98,000
23 HOT SEAT Nine 634,000 182,000 223,000 101,000 75,000 53,000
32 HELL'S KITCHEN Nine 394,000 113,000 160,000 45,000 41,000 35,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 UNDERBELLY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES Nine 2,078,000 636,000 697,000 317,000 198,000 231,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,626,000 460,000 435,000 344,000 168,000 219,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,516,000 410,000 428,000 325,000 150,000 203,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,332,000 380,000 406,000 291,000 136,000 119,000
5 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,279,000 328,000 427,000 287,000 118,000 119,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,277,000 388,000 315,000 257,000 170,000 147,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,266,000 316,000 460,000 244,000 93,000 153,000
8 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,237,000 352,000 364,000 231,000 129,000 162,000
9 RECRUITS Ten 1,234,000 387,000 301,000 242,000 138,000 166,000
10 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,116,000 349,000 335,000 201,000 98,000 133,000
11 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,114,000 308,000 332,000 239,000 105,000 129,000 12 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,104,000 326,000 349,000 189,000 96,000 145,000
13 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 1,047,000 242,000 311,000 240,000 117,000 137,000
14 MISSING PIECES Nine 1,043,000 286,000 333,000 181,000 117,000 125,000
15 TOP GEAR BOTSWANA SPECIAL RPT SBS 991,000 280,000 339,000 182,000 91,000 99,000
16 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC1 986,000 309,000 305,000 181,000 83,000 108,000
17 SCRUBS - MON Seven 980,000 269,000 287,000 204,000 100,000 121,000
18 ELEVENTH HOUR Nine 971,000 282,000 291,000 174,000 109,000 116,000
19 BROTHERS & SISTERS Seven 941,000 287,000 359,000 116,000 88,000 92,000
20 YOU SAVED MY LIFE Nine 931,000 255,000 292,000 177,000 93,000 114,000
25 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 802,000 279,000 208,000 155,000 74,000 85,000
27 HOT SEAT Nine 647,000 173,000 199,000 118,000 94,000 61,000
28 SUPERNATURAL Ten 632,000 163,000 197,000 108,000 81,000 84,000
30 SPOOKS ABC1 586,000 162,000 182,000 94,000 68,000 80,000
31 BOSTON LEGAL Seven 575,000 148,000 242,000 64,000 63,000 56,000
46 30 ROCK Seven 282,000 79,000 108,000 30,000 28,000 37,000
62 CSI: NY -RPT Nine 185,000 117,000 68,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Despite lame jokes, clunky direction, cliched script and inarticulate speeches, the Logies ceremony enabled Channel Nine to hold 38.2 per cent of the prime time audience last night. Go to The TV We Loved to see how this year's audience compares with past Logie records.

Seven got 24.4 per cent of the audience, thanks only to its news; Ten got 21.7, thanks to Merlin, which won its timeslot; the ABC slumped to a miserable 11.7 (suggesting a need to move Midsomer Murders to Sunday, in the absence of new Poirots or Dr Whos); and SBS slumped to 4.0.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 LOGIE AWARDS ARRIVALS Nine 1,702,000 491,000 621,000 276,000 133,000 181,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,580,000 429,000 429,000 308,000 176,000 238,000
3 51ST LOGIE AWARDS Nine 1,575,000 479,000 572,000 238,000 140,000 146,000
4 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,542,000 465,000 520,000 277,000 159,000 121,000
5 60 MINUTES Nine 1,397,000 379,000 470,000 261,000 128,000 158,000
6 MERLIN Ten 1,384,000 416,000 348,000 242,000 163,000 215,000
7 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,179,000 310,000 331,000 220,000 137,000 180,000
8 BONES Seven 1,153,000 303,000 325,000 230,000 132,000 163,000
9 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - TOP 20 REVEALED Ten 1,094,000 324,000 303,000 159,000 151,000 157,000
11 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,025,000 249,000 284,000 221,000 125,000 146,000
12 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 963,000 279,000 275,000 190,000 95,000 123,000
20 DIRT GAME ABC1 526,000 188,000 141,000 85,000 49,000 63,000
23 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 466,000 291,000 175,000
24 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 6: MELBOURNE VS GEELONG Seven 453,000 17,000 235,000 13,000 109,000 78,000
30 OUT OF THE BLUE SUN Ten 265,000 87,000 70,000 50,000 31,000 26,000
31 24 Seven 257,000 66,000 77,000 66,000 24,000 23,000
36 SECRET FILES OF THE INQUISITION RPT SBS 229,000 73,000 66,000 41,000 23,000 26,000
65 AFL GAME DAY Seven 139,000 117,000 22,000
71 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 6: SYDNEY VS RICHMOND Seven 125,000 80,000 45,000
81 SLAMBALL ONE 93,000 18,000 42,000 12,000 21,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind, in whoweare-index at 09:46 AM
• Comments (62)

The Tribal Mind: The envelopes, please

To learn how Australians find love, go to Who We Are

by David Dale
The voters have spoken. The glittering ceremony begins. Lets skip the red carpet and the comedy routine, and go straight to the results for The Bogie Awards 2009, in which we celebrate all that is egregious on Australian television.

Six weeks ago this column published nominations in a variety of categories, and sought your votes. We were overwhelmed by 226 responses. Our team of accountants has tallied them. Here's what the viewers thought:

Most unnecessary personality: Tom Williams 4 votes; Emazon 8; Giaan Rooney 8; Ricki-Lee Coulter 16; Krystal Forscutt 22; Fifi Box 23. And the winner, with 36 votes, is Lara Bingle.

Most unnecessary program: Sunday Night 5; Guerilla Gardeners 11; Triple Zero Heroes 15; Yum Cha 16; Bondi Vet 17; Sunrise 20. And the winner, with 27 votes, is Celebrity Singing Bee.

Most unnecessary adaptation of an overseas show: Customs 7; Life on Mars (US) 8; Wipeout Australia 17; Aussie Ladette to Lady 17; Kath and Kim (US) 33. And the winner, with 36 votes, is Top Gear Australia.

Most offputting commercial: Valvoline 4; "The one where 'surprise' is every second word" 5; Pepsi max 5; The good guys 6; Funeral insurance 7; It's a beautiful day for cancer 10; The beaver 15; The Ped Egg 27. And the winner, with 35 votes, is "The impotence one with the guys playing the piano".

Best use of breasts to exploit viewers' base instincts: Satisfaction 3; 30 Rock 9; Nigella Express 25. And the winner, with 78 votes, is Overbelly: A Sale of Two Titties.

Worst attempt at an accent from a country not your own: Damien Lewis (in LIfe) 4; Melissa George (in Grey's Anatomy) 10; "The bloke playing Terry Clarke's supposedly Scottish offsider" 17. Winner, with 66 votes: Matthew Newton (in Underbelly 2).

Most Underrated: Review by Miles Barlow 4; Rush 4; Good Game 4; Eli Stone 7; The Einstein Factor 9; ABC2 News Breakfast 16; 30 Rock 24. Winner, with 26: Dexter.

Furthest fallen from former finery: The Footy Show 4; Neighbours 16; Lost 26; Grey's Anatomy 27. Winner, with 37: House.

Most annoying person: Scott Cam 3; Charlie Cox 3; Jason Coleman 6; Georgie Parker 9; Sam Newman 10; Ajay Rochester 14; Andrew O'Keefe 15; Danny Weidler 18. Winner, with 33: David Koch.

Most overhyped: Lie To Me 3; The Footy Show 14; Packed to the Rafters 16; Underbelly 2 30. Winner, with 35: So You Think You Can Dance Australia.

Most repeated: Inspector Rex 3; Love Actually 5; About a Boy 6; Gordon Ramsay 6; MASH 12; Guthy-Renker 13; The Simpsons 23. Winner, with 39: Two and a Half Men.

Most missed: Big Brother 3; Hey Hey It's Saturday 3; Newstopia 3; Mother and Son 4; The Panel Christmas special 5; Deadwood 5; The West Wing 7; The Glasshouse 11; Enough Rope 19. And the winner, with 45 votes, is The Chaser.

Most jerked around by the networks: Cold Case 3; Out of the Blue 5; ER 5; Ugly Betty 6; 24 16. Winner, with 35: Scrubs.

Most wooden presenter: Jennifer Hawkins 16; Sandra Sully 19; Natalie Bassingthwaighte 39. Winner, with 41: Ajay Rochester.

Most embarrassing program (the Naomi Robson Cup): Today on Sunday 5; WWE Afterburn 9; The Biggest Loser 13; A Current Affair 24. Winner, with 43: Today Tonight.

Furthest past use-by date (the Bert Newton Trophy): Australia's Got Talent 5; Kerry Anne Kennerley 9; Paul McDermott 11; Todd McKenney 13; Red Symons 15; Dancing with the Stars 18; Catriona Rowntree 20. Winner, with 33: Richard Wilkins.

The Black Bogie (the Eddie McGuire Chalice): Todd McKenney 4; Ajay Rochester 16; Andrew Okeefe 18. And the winner, with 84 votes, is Kyle Sandilands. May flights of angels sing him to his rest.

Go here to see all the votes. Go to Comments to discuss how TV can be better.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 04:12 PM
• Comments (7)

WHO WE ARE: Love is in the air, except for 5 per cent

To get the viewers' verdict on what's worst on the box, go to The Bogie Awards, 2009

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald 3/5/2009
If you're a bit blue and wondering if you'll ever find love, this column is for you. It's a study of the mating habits of the tribe called Australians and it's packed with reassuring tips and revelations.

A wise man once said that love is like traffic - if you think you are in it, then you are in it. Don't be put off by the fact that the wise man was the NSW Premier, Nathan Rees. And please join me in a second assumption - that if you commit to living with somebody, you must be in love (or you think you are, which is the same thing).

We are now in a position to declare that 95 per cent of Australians find love at some point in their lives, and 25 per cent find love twice. Those excellent odds were calculated by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in the Social Trends report it released earlier this year. The bureau notes that 61 per cent of adult Australians are currently living with a partner, and half of those relationships have lasted 18 years or more. It continues:

"According to the 2006-07 Family Characteristics and Transitions Survey, 84 per cent of adults had had at least one marriage or de facto relationship. For people aged 35 years or over, 95 per cent had had at least one marriage or de facto relationship. This included 18 per cent who had had two relationships and 7 per cent who had three or more."

These are some other conclusions we feel safe in drawing from the Bureau's research:

Australians like to try before they buy. The bureau puts it more politely: "Almost three quarters (74 per cent) of people who married in the 2000s lived together before marrying." And pregnancy no longer summons the shotgun. "In the five years to 2007, close to one third (32 per cent) of all births have been to unmarried mothers, twice the average rate of the 1980s."

Once bitten, twice shy. The romantic boffins at the bureau have found that "People in de facto relationships who had been married before were significantly less likely to expect to marry their new partner than people who had never been married. Around one quarter (26 per cent) of people in a de facto relationship who were separated, divorced or widowed intended to marry their current partner, compared with 50 per cent of people who had never been married."

Men tend to trade in older partners for younger models. In the average heterosexual partnership, the man is 2.6 years older than the woman. But, says the bureau, "for marriages occurring between a male divorcee and a never married bride, the groom was, on average, older by 7.3 years." Divorced women seeking toy boys have not been so lucky: "Where the bride was remarrying after a divorce, she was around a year older than her never married groom."

The bureau has many more encouraging insights into our mating habits and prospects, which this column will discuss next week. Meanwhile, go to Comments to offer your theories.

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in whoweare-index at 06:04 AM
• Comments (30)

The Who We Are update: Week 18

To get the viewers' verdict on what's worst on the box, go to The Bogie Awards, 2009
To learn how Australians find love, go to Who We Are

The ratings race, updated 10am Monday
A week that started so promisingly for Channel Ten, with huge numbers for finales of dancing and losing and reasonable numbers for cooking, ended this way: Seven got 26.7 per cent of the prime time audience, Ten got 25.5, Nine got 25.2, ABC 17.1, SBS 5.5.

The mystery of the week is why Nine has decided to renew Eddie McGuire's faltering comeback vehicle, Hot Seat. Perhaps they have nothing else.

This was Pay TV's account of itself for the week: "Australia's Next Top Model set a subscription TV record for a series premiere when 210,000 viewers (303,000 including the Plus2 broadcast) watched the start of the 2009 series on FOX8 on Tuesday night. This week's episode of Selling Houses Australia on Lifestyle was watched by 107,000 people, The Vicar of Dibley on UKTV had its best audience of the year with 102,000 and Sonny With A Chance premiered on Disney Channel with 98,000 viewers.

"In sport, Live: NRL Knights v Broncos on FOX Sports was seen by 315,000 people, Live: AFL Geelong v Brisbane Lions was watched by 217,000 and the FOX Sports' live coverage of the fourth One Day International against Pakistan, Live: Cricket: ODI Pak v Aus 4th ODI S1, was watched by 112,000 viewers. Finally, as the English football season draws to a close, 72,000 people watched Manchester United edge closer to the Premier League title as they beat Middlesborough 2-0 in Live: Football: EPL M'brough v Man Utd.

"For the fifth week in a row, and for the 10th week in the last 12 weeks, Subscription TV was the number one source of television across all homes. STV channels accounted for 22.3% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, was 22.0% of all regional viewing and 58.5% of all viewing in subscription TV homes in week 18, 2009."

What Australia watched, week ending May 2
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - WINNER ANNOUNCED Ten 2,094,000 672,000 587,000 382,000 195,000 259,000
2 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - FINALE NIGHT Ten 1,798,000 565,000 469,000 342,000 171,000 252,000
3 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,797,000 373,000 614,000 367,000 214,000 228,000
4 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,741,000 557,000 535,000 335,000 130,000 184,000
5 UNDERBELLY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES Nine 1,711,000 471,000 575,000 278,000 184,000 203,000
6 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,601,000 451,000 443,000 302,000 180,000 225,000
7 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,578,000 474,000 505,000 257,000 171,000 172,000
8 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,539,000 476,000 477,000 308,000 176,000 103,000
9 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 1,539,000 453,000 428,000 308,000 145,000 205,000
10 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,509,000 438,000 412,000 282,000 156,000 221,000
11 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - THE FINAL WEIGH-IN Ten 1,488,000 461,000 418,000 302,000 148,000 158,000
12 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,472,000 396,000 424,000 251,000 161,000 241,000
13 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - THE WINNER ANNOUNCED Ten 1,452,000 460,000 476,000 242,000 125,000 150,000
14 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 1 Ten 1,428,000 443,000 412,000 258,000 147,000 168,000
15 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,426,000 423,000 427,000 265,000 127,000 184,000
16 NCIS Ten 1,423,000 399,000 389,000 284,000 163,000 190,000
17 60 MINUTES Nine 1,380,000 379,000 423,000 292,000 141,000 145,000
18 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - FINALE NIGHT Ten 1,355,000 431,000 418,000 250,000 128,000 128,000

19 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,349,000 409,000 363,000 230,000 149,000 198,000
20 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,342,000 429,000 392,000 233,000 135,000 152,000
21 FIND MY FAMILY Seven 1,312,000 391,000 388,000 218,000 143,000 173,000
22 BONDI RESCUE Ten 1,308,000 426,000 326,000 242,000 108,000 205,000
23 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,280,000 453,000 358,000 215,000 111,000 143,000
24 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,257,000 337,000 408,000 250,000 133,000 129,000
25 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,233,000 359,000 373,000 191,000 143,000 167,000
26 10 YEARS YOUNGER IN 10 DAYS Seven 1,224,000 330,000 417,000 193,000 126,000 159,000
27 NINE NEWS Nine 1,222,000 334,000 405,000 252,000 123,000 108,000
28 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC1 1,217,000 420,000 373,000 189,000 103,000 133,000
29 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP1 Nine 1,217,000 325,000 438,000 213,000 105,000 136,000
30 RPA Nine 1,216,000 375,000 342,000 225,000 130,000 144,000
31 20 TO 1 Nine 1,209,000 311,000 425,000 221,000 122,000 130,000
32 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU Nine 1,209,000 359,000 343,000 243,000 108,000 156,000
33 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,193,000 357,000 309,000 223,000 143,000 161,000
34 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,174,000 303,000 371,000 258,000 119,000 123,000
35 LAW AND ORDER: SVU Ten 1,171,000 330,000 330,000 216,000 151,000 145,000
36 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,160,000 309,000 387,000 250,000 110,000 105,000
37 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,157,000 302,000 403,000 213,000 115,000 125,000
38 BONDI VET Ten 1,140,000 355,000 289,000 225,000 124,000 147,000
39 20 TO 1 -RPT Nine 1,130,000 289,000 370,000 211,000 110,000 150,000
40 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP2 Nine 1,126,000 303,000 416,000 198,000 91,000 117,000
41 GETAWAY Nine 1,121,000 303,000 389,000 207,000 99,000 123,000
42 BONES Seven 1,121,000 318,000 335,000 197,000 109,000 160,000
43 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,112,000 312,000 357,000 150,000 121,000 172,000
44 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,102,000 351,000 309,000 209,000 97,000 137,000
45 BILLY CONNOLLY: JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD Seven 1,095,000 289,000 319,000 232,000 108,000 147,000
46 THE ALL NEW SIMPSONS WED Ten 1,095,000 265,000 411,000 178,000 95,000 146,000
47 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,086,000 372,000 251,000 208,000 121,000 134,000
48 MISSING PIECES Nine 1,082,000 282,000 362,000 190,000 120,000 128,000
49 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,072,000 349,000 286,000 232,000 132,000 73,000
50 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - TOP 50 PART 1 Ten 1,068,000 313,000 296,000 203,000 109,000 146,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,472,000 396,000 424,000 251,000 161,000 241,000
2 BILLY CONNOLLY: JOURNEY TO THE EDGE OF THE WORLD Seven 1,095,000 289,000 319,000 232,000 108,000 147,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,086,000 372,000 251,000 208,000 121,000 134,000
4 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,072,000 349,000 286,000 232,000 132,000 73,000
5 NEW TRICKS RPT ABC1 1,024,000 316,000 288,000 177,000 107,000 136,000
6 THE VICAR OF DIBLEY Seven 902,000 236,000 278,000 194,000 78,000 115,000
7 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SAT Ten 875,000 209,000 273,000 143,000 90,000 159,000
8 THE BILL ABC1 872,000 279,000 263,000 109,000 94,000 127,000
9 KATH & KIM (R) Seven 853,000 227,000 251,000 186,000 69,000 120,000
13 SATURDAY AFTERNOON AFL Ten 711,000 54,000 310,000 51,000 89,000 206,000
14 SATURDAY NIGHT AFL Ten 703,000 Not shown 354,000 85,000 175,000 88,000
15 THE DA VINCI CODE -RPT Nine 606,000 179,000 212,000 99,000 56,000 60,000
21 MYTHBUSTERS SBS 403,000 114,000 122,000 87,000 32,000 47,000
22 IRON CHEF SBS 348,000 91,000 143,000 53,000 28,000 32,000
39 M-THE LADYKILLERS Seven 199,000 56,000 59,000 33,000 26,000 25,000
40 MEAN MACHINE Ten 187,000 Not shown 86,000 30,000 46,000 25,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,578,000 474,000 505,000 257,000 171,000 172,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,460,000 434,000 417,000 229,000 173,000 206,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,436,000 397,000 448,000 249,000 135,000 207,000
4 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,233,000 359,000 373,000 191,000 143,000 167,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,119,000 314,000 328,000 205,000 136,000 136,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,037,000 246,000 375,000 210,000 122,000 84,000
7 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,013,000 321,000 286,000 183,000 90,000 133,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 990,000 232,000 343,000 202,000 104,000 108,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 971,000 221,000 321,000 228,000 112,000 89,000
10 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - TOP 50 PART 2 Ten 954,000 288,000 305,000 149,000 95,000 117,000
11 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 931,000 230,000 277,000 187,000 103,000 134,000
17 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 747,000 236,000 210,000 123,000 88,000 90,000
18 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 6: NORTH MELBOURNE VS COLLINGWOOD Seven 718,000 9,000 465,000 10,000 113,000 121,000
22 HOT SEAT Nine 588,000 153,000 228,000 81,000 85,000 41,000
23 NINE'S LIVE FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 552,000 310,000 243,000
27 LIFE ON MARS FRI Ten 429,000 126,000 130,000 78,000 62,000 33,000
35 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL Nine 349,000 212,000 137,000
37 THE SEXUAL LIFE OF US RPT SBS 320,000 103,000 83,000 72,000 34,000 27,000
48 AND BRIGITTE CREATED BARDOT SBS 244,000 69,000 79,000 43,000 22,000 30,000
112 BUFFY: THE VAMPIRE SLAYER Ten 89,000 39,000 20,000 6,000 18,000 6,000
129 NINE'S FRIDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL LATE Nine 52,000 37,000 8,000 7,000
130 SPECTACLE: ELVIS COSTELLO WITH... ABC2 50,000 13,000 19,000 2,000 10,000 5,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,462,000 439,000 358,000 312,000 168,000 186,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,447,000 399,000 379,000 317,000 165,000 186,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,187,000 338,000 390,000 249,000 124,000 86,000
4 LAW AND ORDER: SVU Ten 1,171,000 330,000 330,000 216,000 151,000 145,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,157,000 327,000 293,000 237,000 154,000 146,000
6 BONDI VET Ten 1,140,000 355,000 289,000 225,000 124,000 147,000
7 20 TO 1 -RPT Nine 1,130,000 290,000 370,000 211,000 111,000 149,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,126,000 292,000 399,000 215,000 99,000 121,000
9 GETAWAY Nine 1,120,000 302,000 388,000 206,000 101,000 123,000
10 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,085,000 352,000 308,000 189,000 106,000 130,000
11 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - TOP 50 PART 1 Ten 1,068,000 313,000 296,000 203,000 109,000 146,000
12 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 993,000 317,000 270,000 196,000 97,000 113,000
18 THE FOOTY SHOW Nine 881,000 157,000 380,000 116,000 115,000 114,000
24 HOT SEAT Nine 583,000 181,000 182,000 95,000 74,000 52,000
25 ROCK 'N ROLL NERD: THE TIM MINCHIN STORY-EV ABC1 552,000 152,000 166,000 88,000 49,000 98,000
33 HEROES Seven 361,000 109,000 111,000 65,000 44,000 31,000
38 MAD MEN SBS 311,000 141,000 92,000 33,000 16,000 28,000
120 IPL TWENTY20 CRICKET 2009 ONE 61,000 12,000 24,000 9,000 8,000 7,000
209 HOME SHOPPING (R) Seven 12,000 5,000 2,000 1,000 2,000 2,000
215 PLONSTERS-AM ABC2 8,000 2,000 0 2,000 2,000 1,000
225 VIDEO HITS UP-LATE RPT Ten 5,000 3,000 0 2,000 0 0
228 GOOD MORNING AMERICA Nine 5,000 1,000 2,000 2,000 0 0
235 NETBALL: ANZ CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 REPLAY RPT ONE 2,000 1,000 0 0 0 1,000
236 GREEK NEWS SBS 1,000 1,000 0 0 0 0

The ratings race, updated 10 am Wednesday
What did you make of Thank God You're Here? Are the new big-budget bells and whistles distracting from the core of the show, which is the simple pleasure of watching great minds in panic?

The improvisers did well for Seven, but the dancers and the losers look like winning the week for Ten. Seven pulled the biggest audience last night, but Ten held on gamely, with help from The Simpsons (its sudden improvement possibly being a case of "You don't know what you've got till it's almost gone"). For the week so far, the prime time shares stand at: Ten 27.2 per cent, Seven 26.7, Nine 25.2, ABC 15.4 and SBS 5.3. It would only take a decent bit of AFL to give Ten the week.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE Seven 1,741,000 557,000 535,000 335,000 130,000 184,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,685,000 466,000 469,000 312,000 192,000 245,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,554,000 453,000 421,000 283,000 153,000 244,000
4 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,342,000 429,000 392,000 233,000 135,000 152,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,294,000 382,000 407,000 272,000 120,000 113,000
6 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,282,000 455,000 358,000 215,000 112,000 143,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,282,000 419,000 310,000 240,000 138,000 174,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,274,000 381,000 424,000 196,000 133,000 140,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,249,000 358,000 416,000 248,000 115,000 114,000
10 THE GRUEN TRANSFER ABC1 1,226,000 422,000 375,000 191,000 104,000 134,000
11 RPA Nine 1,220,000 376,000 339,000 229,000 129,000 146,000
12 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU Nine 1,201,000 355,000 344,000 241,000 107,000 154,000
13 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,150,000 379,000 322,000 227,000 92,000 129,000
14 THE ALL NEW SIMPSONS WED Ten 1,095,000 265,000 411,000 178,000 95,000 146,000
15 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 3 Ten 994,000 270,000 343,000 165,000 106,000 110,000
16 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 988,000 292,000 299,000 154,000 117,000 126,000
17 THE MENTALIST Nine 980,000 309,000 288,000 174,000 101,000 108,000
18 COLD CASE Nine 947,000 253,000 319,000 148,000 110,000 117,000
19 HOUSE Ten 910,000 221,000 287,000 164,000 96,000 142,000
20 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 879,000 261,000 263,000 161,000 84,000 110,000
29 FAMILY GUY Seven 615,000 200,000 215,000 81,000 64,000 55,000
30 HOT SEAT Nine 595,000 159,000 235,000 77,000 67,000 58,000
34 RUSSELL BRAND'S PONDERLAND Seven 443,000 132,000 161,000 67,000 44,000 39,000
45 LOST Seven 279,000 94,000 99,000 56,000 17,000 13,000
48 HOT SEAT -LATE Nine 275,000 70,000 119,000 34,000 28,000 23,000
127 IPL TWENTY20 CRICKET 2009 LIVE ONE 51,000 13,000 15,000 7,000 5,000 11,000
130 CAILLOU-AM ABC2 49,000 16,000 11,000 16,000 0 6,000
189 ABC NEWS BREAKFAST-AM ABC2 21,000 6,000 4,000 10,000 1,000 0
198 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL LIVE ONE 16,000 2,000 3,000 2,000 3,000 6,000
212 THIS IS YOUR DAY WITH BENNY HINN Ten 7,000 4,000 0 0 0 2,000
218 NBC TODAY Seven 5,000 1,000 0 2,000 0 2,000
224 WEATHERWATCH OVERNIGHT SBS 3,000 1,000 1,000 0 2,000 0
232 INDONESIAN NEWS SBS 1,000 0 1,000 0 0 0
233 TURKISH NEWS SBS 1,000 0 0 0 0 0
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,594,000 412,000 423,000 347,000 193,000 218,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,439,000 397,000 361,000 292,000 173,000 216,000
3 NCIS Ten 1,421,000 398,000 389,000 283,000 162,000 189,000
4 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,345,000 407,000 363,000 229,000 149,000 197,000
5 FIND MY FAMILY Seven 1,318,000 394,000 387,000 219,000 143,000 175,000
6 BONDI RESCUE Ten 1,311,000 427,000 327,000 243,000 109,000 205,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,257,000 362,000 440,000 286,000 59,000 110,000
10 10 YEARS YOUNGER IN 10 DAYS Seven 1,226,000 330,000 417,000 193,000 126,000 160,000
16 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,112,000 313,000 356,000 150,000 121,000 172,000
17 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 2 Ten 1,056,000 317,000 318,000 186,000 87,000 148,000
18 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 1,000,000 266,000 308,000 180,000 126,000 120,000
20 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 862,000 242,000 273,000 154,000 103,000 90,000
22 LIE TO ME Ten 843,000 214,000 278,000 148,000 97,000 105,000
26 UNDERBELLY UNCUT -RPT Nine 733,000 185,000 290,000 101,000 76,000 81,000
27 HOT SEAT Nine 583,000 179,000 185,000 100,000 65,000 54,000
40 HOT SEAT -LATE Nine 278,000 62,000 135,000 47,000 34,000
164 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 RPT ONE 31,000 7,000 9,000 12,000 2,000 2,000
212 ARABIC NEWS SBS 10,000 3,000 4,000 3,000 0 0
213 ITALIAN NEWS SBS 9,000 2,000 4,000 0 0 3,000
218 TURKISH NEWS SBS 8,000 3,000 5,000 0 0 0
224 GERMAN NEWS SBS 6,000 6,000 0 0 0 0
232 WEATHERWATCH & MUSIC SBS 3,000 2,000 0 0 0 0
233 SPANISH NEWS SBS 2,000 1,000 1,000 0 0 1,000
234 JAPANESE NEWS SBS 2,000 2,000 0 0 0 0
235 GREEK NEWS SBS 1,000 0 0 0 0 0

The ratings race, updated 10 am Tuesday
Here's a situation you won't see again this year: At this point in the week, Channel Ten is averaging 31.1 per cent of the prime time audience to Nine's 25.0 and Seven's 23.9.

Ten managed this by saturating Sunday night with So You Think You Can Dance Australia, and by saturating Monday night with The Biggest Loser. Look at how that demolished the Despos and Underbelly. Plus Ten's 5pm News is easily beating both Andrew's Deal or No Deal and Eddie's Hot Seat, and a rumour that The Simpsons was about to disappear boosted that audience by 200,000. There is much to be learned about the state of TV today from close study of this chart:

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - THE WINNER ANNOUNCED Ten 2,097,000 671,000 587,000 384,000 195,000 259,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,821,000 541,000 528,000 304,000 176,000 272,000
3 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - FINALE NIGHT Ten 1,798,000 565,000 469,000 342,000 171,000 252,000
4 UNDERBELLY: A TALE OF TWO CITIES Nine 1,705,000 469,000 571,000 278,000 184,000 203,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,649,000 499,000 474,000 273,000 151,000 252,000
6 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 1,538,000 453,000 428,000 308,000 145,000 205,000
7 MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 1 Ten 1,426,000 442,000 412,000 258,000 147,000 167,000
8 NINE NEWS Nine 1,358,000 366,000 452,000 266,000 130,000 144,000
12 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 1,105,000 294,000 357,000 183,000 130,000 141,000
13 MISSING PIECES Nine 1,080,000 282,000 362,000 190,000 120,000 126,000
17 YOU SAVED MY LIFE Nine 1,004,000 260,000 328,000 186,000 111,000 119,000
18 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC1 1,002,000 291,000 298,000 202,000 76,000 135,000
19 THE SIMPSONS Ten 973,000 242,000 355,000 149,000 113,000 114,000
20 TOP GEAR SBS 972,000 301,000 295,000 166,000 87,000 123,000
21 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 963,000 290,000 299,000 165,000 102,000 108,000
24 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 831,000 256,000 268,000 134,000 77,000 96,000
29 HOT SEAT Nine 651,000 163,000 241,000 97,000 82,000 68,000
30 BROTHERS & SISTERS Seven 635,000 199,000 209,000 102,000 66,000 59,000
31 SPOOKS ABC1 566,000 148,000 194,000 88,000 59,000 77,000
40 SUNRISE Seven 373,000 113,000 97,000 87,000 29,000 47,000
45 TODAY Nine 300,000 81,000 112,000 72,000 10,000 25,000
51 30 ROCK Seven 267,000 83,000 93,000 25,000 30,000 37,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,795,000 373,000 614,000 367,000 212,000 228,000
2 NINE NEWS SUN Nine 1,540,000 476,000 479,000 308,000 175,000 103,000
3 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - THE FINAL WEIGH-IN Ten 1,487,000 461,000 417,000 302,000 148,000 158,000
4 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - THE WINNER ANNOUNCED Ten 1,432,000 452,000 468,000 243,000 123,000 145,000
5 THE FORCE Seven 1,418,000 422,000 425,000 264,000 127,000 181,000
6 60 MINUTES Nine 1,379,000 378,000 422,000 293,000 140,000 145,000
7 SYTYCDA - FINALE NIGHT Ten 1,342,000 430,000 406,000 250,000 130,000 127,000
8 BORDER SECURITY USA Seven 1,257,000 337,000 409,000 250,000 132,000 129,000
9 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,173,000 303,000 370,000 258,000 119,000 123,000
10 BONES Seven 1,126,000 320,000 337,000 199,000 110,000 162,000
11 CSI Nine 1,073,000 276,000 340,000 209,000 137,000 111,000
12 ROVE Ten 1,071,000 293,000 376,000 192,000 81,000 129,000
21 DIRT GAME ABC1 606,000 219,000 153,000 97,000 60,000 77,000
23 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 5: WESTERN BULLDOGS VS CARLTON Seven 514,000 60,000 357,000 6,000 90,000
25 NINE'S SUNDAY FOOTBALL Nine 492,000 308,000 184,000
41 AFL GAME DAY Seven 221,000 150,000 32,000 40,000
50 ABC2 LIVE PRESENTS KEATING! ABC1 206,000 70,000 72,000 25,000 19,000 20,000 56 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 5: MELBOURNE VS ADELAIDE Seven 185,000 185,000
73 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 ONE 127,000 21,000 60,000 9,000 21,000 14,000
74 SEVEN'S AFL: RND 5: GEELONG VS BRISBANE Seven 124,000 48,000 76,000
98 SUPER LEAGUE Nine 66,000 42,000 24,000
100 VFL FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 63,000 63,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

David Dale is the author of Who We Are -- A snapshot of Australia today (Allen and Unwin). For daily updates on Australian attitudes, bookmark http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

• by David Dale in The Tribal Mind, in whoweare-index at 07:13 PM
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