The Who We Are update: What women watch (Week 38)

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Who We Are

This week's forum is now a heritage item - worth studying but no longer current. For the latest on Australian attitudes and media trends, go to blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.

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The ratings race, updated 10am Monday
These were the prime time audience shares for the week: Nine and GO 28.9 per cent, Seven 27.5 per cent, Ten and ONE 20.7, ABC1&2 17.7, SBS1&2 5.2. This was Pay TV's account of itself: "Melbourne designer Anthony Capon defeated William Lazootin and Lauren Vieyra in the finale of the designer competition, Project Runway Australia: Finale. The Wednesday night broadcast on Arena achieved a season high 191,000 viewers for the second series of the program. America's Next Top Model on FOX8 was watched by 157,000 people, NCIS on TV1 was seen by 143,000 subscribers, The Simpsons on Fox 8 133,000 and the Disney Channel premiere of Wizards of Waverly Place: The Movie was watched by 119,000 people. Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel had a year-to-date biggest audience of 118,000 people, Property Ladder on Lifestyle was viewed by 101,000 people and Summer Heights High on Comedy Channel was seen by 60,000 people.

"Live: Rugby Union: Bledisloe Cup on FOX Sports was seen by 132,000 viewers, AFL: On the Couch was watched by 112,000 people and the AFL: All Australian team was announced on Monday night to 95,000 viewers (all on FOX Sports). Sky Racing's coverage of the spring racing carnival on Saturday, Sky Raceday, was seen by 87,000 viewers.

"In week 38, STV channels represented 21.3% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 20.4% of all regional viewing and 55.2% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

Just for a change, what women aged 25-54 watched, week ending September 19
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 546,000 188,000 147,000 83,000 55,000 74,000
2 THE FARMER WANTS A WIFE -FINALE Nine 534,000 140,000 185,000 109,000 40,000 60,000
3 THE FARMER WANTS A WIFE Nine 452,000 115,000 155,000 98,000 33,000 51,000
4 WORLD'S STRICTEST PARENTS-UK Seven 426,000 130,000 122,000 70,000 54,000 49,000
5 20 TO 1 -RPT Nine 363,000 116,000 119,000 57,000 28,000 43,000
6 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 354,000 113,000 99,000 72,000 31,000 40,000
7 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 349,000 99,000 113,000 72,000 36,000 29,000
8 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 347,000 116,000 95,000 64,000 30,000 42,000
9 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 347,000 131,000 104,000 66,000 29,000 16,000
10 60 MINUTES Nine 346,000 100,000 114,000 67,000 34,000 30,000
11 ALL SAINTS Seven 342,000 124,000 103,000 46,000 31,000 38,000
12 AFL: PRELIMINARY FINAL 1: ST KILDA V WESTERN BULLDOG Seven 341,000 26,000 211,000 18,000 51,000 33,000

13 BORDER SECURITY Seven 340,000 101,000 86,000 74,000 28,000 51,000
14 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 339,000 102,000 80,000 72,000 30,000 55,000
15 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT Seven 335,000 95,000 102,000 52,000 33,000 53,000
16 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 332,000 91,000 109,000 68,000 32,000 32,000
17 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 331,000 81,000 121,000 63,000 32,000 34,000
18 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 329,000 107,000 82,000 64,000 41,000 35,000
19 DOMESTIC BLITZ Nine 327,000 100,000 111,000 64,000 27,000 25,000
20 20 TO 1 Nine 313,000 86,000 85,000 73,000 32,000 37,000
21 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 312,000 87,000 96,000 69,000 26,000 35,000
22 RUSH Ten 310,000 85,000 105,000 49,000 29,000 41,000
23 THE AMAZING RACE-EP 2 Seven 310,000 90,000 110,000 45,000 36,000 30,000
24 RPA Nine 308,000 111,000 95,000 53,000 21,000 28,000
25 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 308,000 76,000 98,000 63,000 30,000 41,000
26 HOME AND AWAY Seven 308,000 95,000 79,000 60,000 30,000 45,000
27 MONEY FOR JAM Nine 308,000 94,000 109,000 56,000 22,000 27,000
28 THE GIFT Nine 307,000 104,000 98,000 51,000 23,000 33,000
29 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 303,000 86,000 81,000 62,000 38,000 36,000
30 ROVE Ten 292,000 87,000 83,000 62,000 26,000 34,000
31 CITY HOMICIDE-MON Seven 291,000 82,000 101,000 41,000 32,000 34,000
32 SEVEN NEWS Seven 289,000 79,000 72,000 62,000 28,000 48,000
33 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 288,000 79,000 102,000 53,000 26,000 28,000
34 AFL FINALS 2009: 2ND PRELIM. FINAL GEE V COL Ten 287,000 33,000 173,000 8,000 37,000 36,000
35 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 287,000 60,000 76,000 72,000 36,000 44,000
36 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 285,000 63,000 109,000 75,000 39,000
37 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 284,000 74,000 86,000 63,000 22,000 38,000
38 GLEE THURS ENCORE Ten 279,000 76,000 86,000 48,000 33,000 36,000
39 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 278,000 95,000 87,000 52,000 23,000 21,000
40 THE AMAZING RACE Seven 275,000 86,000 102,000 38,000 31,000 18,000
65 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 201,000 67,000 54,000 39,000 23,000 19,000
179 WIPEOUT GO! 60,000 5,000 15,000 16,000 12,000 11,000
231 THE GIRL WITH EIGHT LIMBS-LE ABC2 41,000 15,000 13,000 7,000 4,000 2,000
246 THE BIG BANG THEORY -RPT GO! 37,000 5,000 11,000 10,000 5,000 5,000
251 MOONLIGHT GO! 35,000 4,000 10,000 10,000 5,000 6,000
258 TORCHWOOD ABC2 34,000 9,000 10,000 9,000 2,000 5,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 AFL FINALS 2009: 2ND PRELIM. FINAL GEE V COL Ten 1,449,000 125,000 792,000 64,000 226,000 242,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,254,000 429,000 298,000 342,000 110,000 75,000
3 RUGBY LEAGUE FINAL SERIES SF2 Nine 1,037,000 555,000 36,000 408,000 23,000 15,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 1,036,000 348,000 246,000 256,000 72,000 114,000
5 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 901,000 179,000 373,000 96,000 141,000 112,000
6 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC1 866,000 265,000 263,000 190,000 57,000 90,000
7 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SAT Ten 762,000 178,000 239,000 121,000 70,000 153,000
8 THE BILL ABC1 729,000 223,000 197,000 116,000 65,000 128,000
9 HEART AND SOUL ABC1 676,000 214,000 182,000 107,000 76,000 97,000
15 DIRTY DANCING Nine 390,000 Not shown 204,000 Not shown 90,000 97,000
20 SEVEN'S R.U: BLEDISLOE CUP: N Z V AUS Seven 289,000 146,000 23,000 85,000 8,000 27,000
34 JAMIE'S RETURN TO SCHOOL DINNERS Ten 197,000 71,000 82,000 44,000
48 ROCKWIZ RPT SBS ONE 155,000 47,000 40,000 15,000 19,000 34,000
72 VFL FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 103,000 103,000
73 ADVENTURES OF BOTTLE TOP BILL AND HIS BEST FRIEND-AM ABC2 95,000 51,000 12,000 20,000 12,000
92 SEINFELD GO! 69,000 16,000 22,000 9,000 15,000 6,000
110 UFC COUNTDOWN RPT ONE 56,000 5,000 16,000 11,000 10,000 15,000
116 RUGBY UNION: SHUTE SHIELD (NSW) 2009-PM ABC1 49,000 49,000
141 RUGBY LEAGUE FINAL SERIES SF1 Nine 38,000 20,000 13,000 5,000
156 IRON CHEF RPT SBS TWO 30,000 12,000 9,000 4,000 2,000 4,000
158 MARX & VENUS RPT SBS TWO 29,000 10,000 9,000 1,000 2,000 7,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 AFL: PRELIM FINAL 1: ST KILDA V WESTERN BULLDOG Seven 1,458,000 106,000 808,000 102,000 231,000 209,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,320,000 338,000 372,000 279,000 151,000 180,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,106,000 335,000 365,000 269,000 137,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,024,000 278,000 346,000 210,000 84,000 106,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,010,000 276,000 300,000 202,000 118,000 114,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 990,000 262,000 301,000 201,000 106,000 119,000
7 GEORGE GENTLY ABC1 981,000 325,000 226,000 181,000 113,000 136,000
8 RUGBY LEAGUE FINAL SERIES SF1 Nine 937,000 556,000 22,000 320,000 25,000 15,000
9 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 932,000 347,000 372,000 213,000
10 ABC NEWS ABC1 811,000 276,000 215,000 150,000 69,000 101,000
11 AFL: PRELIM FINAL 1: ST KILDA V WESTERN BULLDOG-AF Seven 715,000 38,000 388,000 53,000 128,000 108,000
81 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 121,000 38,000 21,000 14,000 25,000 22,000
84 THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE TWO TOWERS GO! 116,000 35,000 33,000 25,000 14,000 9,000
88 TORCHWOOD-EV ABC2 109,000 36,000 15,000 32,000 7,000 19,000
136 UFC COUNTDOWN ONE 43,000 1,000 13,000 15,000 7,000 7,000
143 THE FLINTSTONES -RPT GO! 38,000 5,000 9,000 14,000 2,000 8,000
194 THE JETSONS -RPT GO! 23,000 0 7,000 12,000 0 3,000
196 THE PARTRIDGE FAMILY GO! 22,000 1,000 3,000 10,000 4,000 4,000
227 THE MIRACLE OF BERN RPT SBS TWO 14,000 5,000 3,000 3,000 1,000 2,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,363,000 332,000 394,000 268,000 150,000 219,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,332,000 355,000 345,000 283,000 133,000 215,000
3 20 TO 1 Nine 1,133,000 308,000 319,000 233,000 126,000 147,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,117,000 328,000 355,000 196,000 130,000 107,000
5 GETAWAY Nine 1,091,000 327,000 353,000 200,000 110,000 103,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,055,000 299,000 346,000 218,000 109,000 83,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,053,000 284,000 283,000 233,000 121,000 132,000
8 RUSH Ten 1,050,000 290,000 342,000 168,000 122,000 128,000
12 SKIPPY: AUSTRALIA'S FIRST SUPERSTAR ABC1 892,000 317,000 223,000 146,000 78,000 129,000
13 GLEE THURS ENCORE Ten 871,000 250,000 246,000 155,000 94,000 126,000
15 THE AMAZING RACE-EP 2 Seven 816,000 277,000 260,000 119,000 87,000 73,000
17 GARY UNMARRIED Seven 800,000 205,000 244,000 179,000 78,000 94,000
18 THE AMAZING RACE Seven 792,000 258,000 267,000 123,000 82,000 63,000
20 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 680,000 189,000 189,000 127,000 79,000 96,000
30 DOUBLE TAKE Seven 433,000 149,000 140,000 50,000 48,000 44,000
44 COSTA'S GARDEN ODYSSEY SBS ONE 301,000 93,000 86,000 58,000 23,000 41,000
81 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 129,000 50,000 26,000 12,000 20,000 21,000
107 MOONLIGHT GO! 76,000 11,000 24,000 17,000 14,000 10,000
114 DROP DEAD DIVA GO! 64,000 16,000 18,000 10,000 16,000 4,000
117 UFC WIRED ONE 62,000 10,000 20,000 4,000 11,000 18,000
132 GOSSIP GIRL GO! 52,000 7,000 12,000 19,000 8,000 6,000
149 PARLIAMENT QUESTION TIME-PM ABC1 45,000 10,000 11,000 16,000 5,000 4,000
191 XTREME PAINTBALL: BEYOND THE PAINT ONE 27,000 2,000 13,000 0 7,000 6,000
192 HONOLULU RPT SBS TWO 27,000 6,000 8,000 5,000 5,000 3,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Thursday
Oh the power of the readers of this forum. They complained about the way Channel Ten has suddenly started behaving like Channel Nine in its arrogant heyday, moving programs around the schedule before they've had a chance to find an audience. We just got a call from a spokesperson for Ten, offering something that Nine would never have given: An Explanation.

It seems the abrupt movement of Nurse Jackie, Little Britain USA and Dexter can all be blamed on Australian Idol. Idol was not working in its 6.30 pm Sunday slot, so Ten decided to move it to 7.30pm, where it was last year. That would have pushed Nurse Jackie and Little Britain USA back to times when the only available audience would be insomniacs. So Ten decided to move them to 10pm and 10.30pm Monday (except for next week because the Emmies are on). Having moved them to Monday, Ten needed to find a space for Dexter, and Saturdays after the footy proved to be the only available slot for a series they feel has been "underperforming". It's the domino theory.

The publicist added that there are no plans to move The Spearman Experiment, currently approaching the borders of Yasminland. She also pointed out that the musical dramedy Glee begins tonight (a repeat of the pilot episode shown in July), and that Glee will remain consistent, both in quality and in timeslot.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,457,000 394,000 419,000 274,000 178,000 192,000
2 WORLD'S STRICTEST PARENTS-UK Seven 1,407,000 404,000 437,000 242,000 163,000 162,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,233,000 348,000 343,000 236,000 137,000 170,000
4 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,214,000 407,000 338,000 233,000 108,000 128,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,206,000 361,000 305,000 261,000 144,000 135,000
6 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,175,000 311,000 385,000 192,000 113,000 174,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,135,000 317,000 326,000 261,000 106,000 125,000
11 RPA Nine 1,074,000 337,000 324,000 197,000 105,000 111,000
13 MONEY FOR JAM Nine 1,018,000 290,000 330,000 212,000 86,000 99,000
14 THE GIFT Nine 1,018,000 307,000 321,000 185,000 106,000 99,000
15 7.30 REPORT ABC1 949,000 312,000 242,000 203,000 85,000 108,000
24 UNITED STATES OF TARA ABC1 715,000 234,000 227,000 140,000 57,000 58,000
25 STAR STORIES ABC1 712,000 260,000 195,000 128,000 66,000 63,000
26 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 671,000 183,000 203,000 111,000 93,000 81,000
43 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS ONE 277,000 63,000 96,000 42,000 34,000 41,000
80 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 144,000 40,000 27,000 33,000 19,000 26,000
87 FRINGE GO! 121,000 35,000 42,000 14,000 18,000 11,000
93 TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES GO! 112,000 20,000 45,000 17,000 19,000 11,000
95 MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 108,000 35,000 18,000 24,000 13,000 19,000
124 POKER: LATIN AMERICAN TOUR ONE 56,000 6,000 27,000 10,000 5,000 8,000
173 SPORTS SOUP ONE 30,000 12,000 7,000 2,000 9,000 2,000
203 UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE DELAYED 2 SBS TWO 21,000 11,000 5,000 0 1,000 4,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

The ratings race, updated 4pm Wednesday
Seven will need to move fast to launch its new digital channel, to counterbalance the effect of GO for Nine. Let your imagination run riot -- what should Seven do with its new toy?

You may find inspiration in this press release, issued Wednesday afternoon by Channel Nine (the bold capitals are theirs): "Coming in October, GO! will present all new Australian premiere episodes of some of the world's most anticipated television series including THE WIRE (series 5), CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM (series 6), WEEDS (series 3) and the premiere of the hottest new series direct form the United States this Fall TV season - THE VAMPIRE DIARIES (Monday September 28 at 8.30pm). Adding to this already must-watch line up are hit series from Comedy Central, the breathtakingly irreverent and ruthlessly funny SOUTH PARK and the hilarious uncripted adventure and high octane thriller RENO 911, which were secured as part of a new content partnership between GO! and MTV Networks International."

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,806,000 571,000 532,000 293,000 187,000 223,000
2 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,493,000 423,000 446,000 293,000 157,000 174,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,417,000 393,000 349,000 284,000 169,000 222,000
4 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,403,000 426,000 398,000 273,000 142,000 164,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,374,000 384,000 339,000 280,000 156,000 216,000
6 20 TO 1 -RPT Nine 1,258,000 372,000 409,000 214,000 111,000 152,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,205,000 325,000 381,000 229,000 117,000 153,000
8 NINE NEWS Nine 1,199,000 328,000 381,000 251,000 115,000 124,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,194,000 379,000 306,000 215,000 136,000 158,000
10 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,158,000 334,000 355,000 243,000 113,000 113,000
11 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,055,000 354,000 312,000 141,000 129,000 119,000
17 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 780,000 226,000 235,000 152,000 79,000 88,000
21 THE SPEARMAN EXPERIMENT Ten 699,000 223,000 201,000 108,000 91,000 77,000
22 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 672,000 198,000 188,000 117,000 89,000 79,000
25 HOT SEAT Nine 603,000 173,000 173,000 136,000 65,000 56,000
33 FEAR, STRESS AND ANGER ABC1 411,000 136,000 131,000 51,000 39,000 54,000
79 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 146,000 32,000 35,000 25,000 33,000 21,000
83 SURVIVOR: GABON GO! 129,000 24,000 37,000 33,000 13,000 22,000
94 MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 110,000 24,000 25,000 12,000 26,000 24,000
107 THE WIRE ABC2 75,000 29,000 23,000 9,000 8,000 6,000
123 THE BEAST ABC2 54,000 16,000 13,000 2,000 7,000 16,000
150 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 RPT ONE 39,000 13,000 10,000 9,000 4,000 4,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,513,000 400,000 395,000 300,000 202,000 215,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,455,000 406,000 387,000 303,000 173,000 187,000
3 THE FARMER WANTS A WIFE -FINALE Nine 1,422,000 411,000 455,000 280,000 119,000 156,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,265,000 322,000 432,000 267,000 122,000 122,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,263,000 327,000 454,000 249,000 113,000 121,000
6 THE FARMER WANTS A WIFE Nine 1,263,000 330,000 408,000 271,000 105,000 148,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,236,000 365,000 407,000 229,000 108,000 126,000
8 CITY HOMICIDE-MON Seven 1,189,000 327,000 391,000 173,000 142,000 156,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,150,000 359,000 320,000 199,000 134,000 138,000
10 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,146,000 328,000 385,000 205,000 103,000 125,000
11 10 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LOSING WEIGHT Seven 1,090,000 324,000 322,000 175,000 117,000 151,000
13 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,018,000 265,000 407,000 235,000 109,000
14 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 978,000 316,000 262,000 187,000 112,000 100,000
15 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 944,000 302,000 245,000 196,000 98,000 103,000
20 ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? Ten 801,000 258,000 203,000 130,000 103,000 106,000
24 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 681,000 188,000 197,000 132,000 77,000 88,000
34 DEXTER Ten 393,000 112,000 120,000 55,000 52,000 54,000
69 SOUTH PARK SBS ONE 179,000 46,000 70,000 33,000 13,000 17,800
JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 136,000 47,000 23,000 20,000 26,000 19,000
97 ONE WEEK AT A TIME ONE 97,000 14,000 54,000 9,000 15,000 5,000
99 DOG THE BOUNTY HUNTER GO! 95,000 23,000 34,000 17,000 12,000 8,000
198 LEMMING SBS TWO 22,000 12,000 3,000 1,000 2,000 5,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,568,000 575,000 447,000 312,000 156,000 79,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,543,000 468,000 417,000 320,000 144,000 195,000
3 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,529,000 440,000 424,000 308,000 147,000 210,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,464,000 303,000 440,000 327,000 168,000 226,000
5 MIDSOMER MURDERS-SU ABC1 1,366,000 407,000 412,000 216,000 158,000 174,000
6 ABC NEWS UP-DATE ABC1 1,324,000 420,000 379,000 232,000 133,000 160,000
7 DOMESTIC BLITZ Nine 1,244,000 387,000 395,000 213,000 141,000 108,000
8 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,241,000 321,000 384,000 257,000 107,000 173,000
9 60 MINUTES Nine 1,230,000 335,000 425,000 215,000 137,000 118,000
10 STEPHEN FRY IN AMERICA ABC1 1,110,000 333,000 334,000 203,000 109,000 131,000
11 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 1,017,000 294,000 319,000 198,000 98,000 109,000
12 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 990,000 318,000 248,000 196,000 112,000 115,000
14 M-THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM Seven 965,000 297,000 258,000 184,000 102,000 125,000
15 ROVE Ten 816,000 227,000 247,000 170,000 76,000 95,000
16 RUGBY LEAGUE FINAL SERIES QF4 Nine 759,000 469,000 19,000 233,000 15,000 22,000
18 CSI: MIAMI Nine 631,000 157,000 210,000 107,000 77,000 80,000
20 LITTLE BRITAIN USA Ten 537,000 133,000 193,000 75,000 65,000 71,000
23 DON'T FORGET THE LYRICS Ten 396,000 95,000 136,000 50,000 57,000 57,000
24 NURSE JACKIE Ten 396,000 109,000 137,000 41,000 53,000 56,000
32 WIPEOUT GO! 248,000 42,000 65,000 60,000 52,000 29,000
34 THE BIG BANG THEORY -RPT GO! 231,000 37,000 66,000 66,000 23,000 39,000
36 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 219,000 60,000 79,000 33,000 18,000 29,000
44 AFL GAME DAY Seven 190,000 133,000 24,000 33,000
66 THE NANNY GO! 114,000 28,000 29,000 27,000 20,000 10,000
74 THE FLINTSTONES -RPT GO! 100,000 17,000 37,000 16,000 17,000 13,000
80 SUPER LEAGUE Nine 94,000 62,000 32,000
85 VFL FOOTBALL 2009-PM ABC1 86,000 86,000
93 THE JETSONS -RPT GO! 68,000 18,000 17,000 5,000 12,000 16,000
98 HORNBLOWER ABC2 62,000 30,000 9,000 4,000 9,000 10,000
111 I FISH ONE 44,000 3,000 19,000 11,000 5,000 6,000
129 RUGBY LEAGUE FINAL SERIES QF3 Nine 32,000 not shown not shown not shown 18,000 13,000
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 blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare.
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COMMENTS

Don't know why CSI Miami's ratings were so woeful. It was the best episode in months - starting with a body being plonked off an airport carousel, being serious without being too serious, and largely staying away from the cheese.

by arthur on September 14, 2009 at 09:17 AM

Question for the Producers of 'Australian Idol' and Channel Ten from your target demographic: Who the hell is Suzie Quatro?

by darren on September 14, 2009 at 09:34 AM

Poor old Idol! Someone put it down. I hate to see it suffer so! It's also infecting Rove. How much longer can they both survive?

by em on September 14, 2009 at 10:33 AM

CSI Miami - until they actually kill of Horatio, I'm not watching again. The pain of his acting is killing me.

by Tempest on September 14, 2009 at 12:24 PM

Channel surfing last night caught glimpses of Idol. Can anyone on the program actually sing? The couple of times I flicked on and heard someone singing, it struck me that they could not hold a tune. For one, I stayed to listen to the judges comments and they were all positive! No wonder it has no viewers.
Arthur the reason that CSI's ratings are down is that it is difficult to tell any episode apart.
Re The Spearman Experiment and 20 to 1, I could probably cope with a countdown style show, just no celebrities comments. Well maybe if it was a show on great rugby league tries you could have a couple of rugby league players etc. but I really do not understand why we have to have Neville Nobody and Nellie No Friends' opinions.

by Louise on September 14, 2009 at 12:49 PM

Louise - I tortured myself through the entire duration of Australian Idol last night. And to answer your question, no, none of them can sing. None of them can hold a tune! None of them were in the correct key. They spent too much time thinking they were too cool for school, high-fiving audience members to remember that they were meant to be focusing on the singing. Appalling viewing. The only singer that was actually any good was the girl who got eliminated - ironically her performance was the best of the night, by a LOT!! Well done, teeny bopper voters. Channel ten should just give up on Oz Idol and pay the extra to get American Idol back, especially with the inclusion of Ellen Degeneres on the judging panel.

by Beckala on September 14, 2009 at 01:30 PM

I don't watch Idol. Mainly because of Shrieky-Lee, but also now because of the distinct lack of BugEyes Matheson.
And yes I did watch Police Academy III. The scissors were out for that one as well, including the part where Hightower tells the police dogs to sit and all of the recruits do instead.
Why must the gibbons hack into shows?

by Bereft Skerrick on September 14, 2009 at 02:00 PM

I thought 'Who Do You Think You Are?' did really well for SBS for the first couple of runs they screened. Maybe people don't know it's back. I missed the first episode myself because I haven't been watching much SBS lately.

by J Bar on September 14, 2009 at 02:29 PM

I can't quite come to grips with what arthur and Tempest are trying to say about CSI Miami. Here we have a programme which displays the cutting edge in forensic science and invents new methodology such as, as was once shown in the show, the enlarging of eye retina of what was being looked at by a victim to get a clear reflection of the perpetrator, cutting edge stuff this. The investigators playing very much second fiddle to the forensic people, a fact of life as we all know. The acting, who else could model with hands on hips and think himself a star like Horatio.
We had the occasion, this is true rather than the CSI Miami version, last year, when someone died under (very much) suspicious circumstances in the cul-de-sac in which I live I witnessed first hand how the forensic people do their jobs and to be truthful, I was not impressed.
Imagine the following scenario;
The Police attend to a dead body having being found in the front yard of the house across from my house.
Within an hour about fifteen Police cars clog up my end of the street. The street is still open, in other words, we can still take out our vehicles and come home in them through the "scene of the incident".
That afternoon the Forensic team shows up with another six or seven vehicles and the street is cordoned off and our movement is restricted. (Note, there are now over 20 police and police support vehicles parked in a cordoned off area).
The body is finally taken away from the scene late that day. A hot day, the blowflies could be seen buzzing over the scene attracted by the dead body which was for the most part left unattended.
With over twenty police cars in the Cul-de-sac, uniformed police did a close search of the street. Like in comedy capers, they plodded along, in a line with their canes, cramped between the parked police cars which were parked on both sides of the street, looking for clues.
By late that afternoon tents had been erected which were to be the support base for the inquiry.
The next day satellite triangulation equipment was used over the course of several hours occupying three forensic cops full time. (Google Earth could have given them the same results, so could any in car navigation device but that would have been too easy).
It was not until the third day that they started trying to work out where the bloke (victim?) came from and they worked out that he had jumped the fence across to my next door neighbour's property, what gave that away was the fact that there was a lot of blood on both sides of the fence, so clearly, his injuries were sustained elsewhere. Later that day I heard (from police) that the bloke had probably been caught attempting to break in to a house by a home owner. He was also know to them as a drug pusher and burglar.
The start of the blood trail was lost somewhere along the way and no-one in the area would acknowledge as to which house may have been targeted by the victim.
After five days of major inconvenience, having to park our cars at the other side of the police cordon so as not to contaminate the crime scene (somehow police cars coming and going all day do not contaminate crime scenes) the death has gone in to the too hard pile and is no longer being actively investigated.
A report in the local paper stated that Police thought that the victim, who died from wounds which may have been inflicted by a knife or cutting implement, had been the recipient of some type of vigilante justice and all investigations had come to a dead end.
The street was closed off for four days. Residents movements were very much restricted, we were all put to a lot of inconvenience and at the end of it all we had the inevitable usual result.
Unless someone confesses, they rarely catch the perpetrator. (Although this is not necessarily so here in WA as history show, when all else fails, that if they can't get the actual doer , they will get someone they want and fix him up for it).
That is forensics here in the wild west and its most likely the same elsewhere!

by Zjonn on September 14, 2009 at 03:33 PM

Idol has turned into a cheez-fest. All three judges need to harden up and tell it how it is.
One girl last night absolutely murdered a Linkin Park song and all three judges fell over themselves to giver her props !
The girl was totally woeful.

by Sebastien on September 14, 2009 at 03:53 PM

Who's Suzi Quatro? Just THE original rock queen. According to 20 to 1 that title goes to Joan Jet but take no notice of them.

by bobmar28 on September 15, 2009 at 05:04 AM

Bobmar28, thanks for that re Suzie Quatro. I actually am familiar with Suzie Quatro (althogh I think she turned into Leather Tuscadero 30 years ago and never made it back to reality). My badly made point was that the people in the demographic Ten are aiming at would have no idea, I imagine, although they could Google it or arks their grandparents. To them she's just some old chick dressed age-inappropriately. When the camera swings to the judge's panel on 'Australian Idol' it's like Bingo Night at an Old People's Home for Music Industry Has-beens. Suzie Quatro is as relevant to today's kids as Vera Lynne is to my age group (30 - 40) (and yes, I'm aware of the Irony). Whyn't get some people under 30 to coach the kiddies how to be pop-stars or whatever it is they're supposed to be? Who's next, Andre Rie-uggghhh?
Agree with everyone's comments about the singing too. Especially that tiny girl. I have always been a little bit afraid of tiny girls and she's just plain scary. The Tiny Girl to beat all Tiny Girls. I think she could out-screech Screechy-Lee Coulter though.

by darren on September 15, 2009 at 05:58 AM

darren: worse is to come. Apparently they're going to drag Mika into all of this, because they probably want to turn all of the Idols into poor Freddie Mercury impersonators and have them murder Queen songs.

by Bereft Skerrick on September 15, 2009 at 08:53 AM

Actually Zjonn I would agree that CSI Miami deserves much higher ratings than 632k, only for different reasons.
I actually skip those forensic schemes, but I can see its appeal to some viewers.

by arthur on September 15, 2009 at 09:57 AM

Why does the world have to lose Patrick Swayze and keep asshats like Kanye West? The world has a screwy logic chip.

by Bereft Skerrick on September 15, 2009 at 09:58 AM

GNW was quite funny last night. Who knew that Andrew G was so clever? And he is standing in for Vyle on radio. If the management of the station had any sense they would sack Vyle and leave G there.
And it's sad to lose both Patrick Swazye and Mike Leyland over the past few days. Both gave us great entertainment albeit very different. Swazye for his movies and Mike for his adventures. I can remember watching all those Leyland Bros adventures and the 'Ask the Leyland Bros" shows. Good times.
RIP to both.

by em on September 15, 2009 at 10:33 AM

Thanks Ch7 for putting up some good movies on Sundays. Last week was 'The Queen'. Last Sunday they had 'the Bourne Ultimatum'. I had to put Hornblower on hold to watch that one. I'll catch up with Hornblower on iView tonight.

by merciless on September 15, 2009 at 10:40 AM

merciless: as opposed to Ch Shirl/Teen who have gone back to putting on tripe. Back into their large bucket of reruns. Except for fresh excrement this week under the guise of "Spectacular" which apparently, apart from attempting to be a High School Musical clone, was also a spectacular failure. Look for the wooden performance from Tammin Sucksalot, former bimbo du jour from Home & Away who is currently repulsing audiences in The Young and The Restless in the US.

by Bereft Skerrick on September 15, 2009 at 11:09 AM

Is it too much to ask that we just pretend Patrick Swayze is still alive and residing somewhere in California doing nothing and having zero impact on all our lives and skip the next few weeks of Public Mourning that will inevitably follow this Tradgedy of Global Significance beginning.....now!?
I'm all backed up with me Public Displays of Grief. Michael Jackson's still on my mind when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed at night. My Farrah Fawcett Tribute Grotto still has a lit candle and the flowers aren't even dead. And I'm yet to lay to rest the woman who played Perry Mason's secretary in several episodes who died of old age four or five years ago. Now I've gotta fit in Patrick and Mike Leyland??? Might have to take some time off work.
Mika: the perfect argument for Involuntary Euthanasia.

by darren on September 15, 2009 at 11:23 AM

I'm with you Bereft - Patrick Swayze was a down to earth, humble and dignified human being and as for Kanye West - ugh! Wonder how long it will take for the first Swayze movie to come on...? My guess is for Channel 7 to do it - they already cut into regular coverage of the Morning Show to cover it, with Kate Cebrano comparing him to "her friend Tom"... I wonder if Tom Cruise actually knows her name?

by Beckala on September 15, 2009 at 11:26 AM

So,Darren, by your logic, only artists under 30 would be known to today's teenagers? That's a bit too general. I wasn't born into the Beatles or Woodstock generation either but even as a youg kid I knew who they were. Even today I still find pleasure in discovering music that was around either before my time or that I was too young for.

I think we assume that today's teenagers/20 somethings are too caught up in texting and Facebook to do or learn anything else and I think that is very presumptive.

Yes, many would not know who Suzi Quatro (even those of us who do wonder how she's managed to keep a career going on two or three songs), but her input on Idol was very good and professional, aside from the actual performances.

I'm still surprised that Idol has never dumped these stupid theme nights. Make it contestant's choice every week and let them die by their own sword.

Case history:

Ricki-Lee - Beatles night

Lisa Mitchell - Rebel Yell

Damien Leith - Disco night (Celebration)

by Gen Xer on September 15, 2009 at 11:52 AM

What should Ch7 do with their new digital channel?!? I would hope they would have given that some thought themselves, since they've been sitting on their hands about digital television for god knows how many years. Like Nine, they banked on having the Fed Govt in their pockets to protect their oligopoly. This worked for a while at the expense of customers (viewers). Hopefully a karmic bite in the 4R5E is coming to them.

Closer on topic: Ch7.1 should try to give us a channel with some differentiation from the rest of the FTA scene. A bit of original thinking and some fresh product. There is enough tv produced in the English speaking world to give us a whole lot of fresh and interesting viewing.

Bet they won't though...

by Wendell on September 15, 2009 at 12:04 PM

Well well well, Vile, you can't escape the consequences of your actions forever. According to the latest radio ratings report, Vile and Tacky's audience dropped by 18% - from a 12% share down to 9.8%, with an overall drop for the station too. Suck it Vile!

by Beckala on September 15, 2009 at 12:23 PM

And the winner is Channel 9! Less than three hours after his death was announced, 9 announced that Dirty Dancing would now be played on Saturday night in Melbourne. (Thanks to TV Tonight for the information).

by Beckala on September 15, 2009 at 01:06 PM

I would have thought it is a bit too soon to celebrate a downturn in 2day figures, considering the regular breakfast people were on a 'voluntary break' for some of the survey. What if the figures went down because Kyle was away? Assuming Kyle returns, lets wait for a full survey with him back so we can compare apples with apples.

by Jill on September 15, 2009 at 01:10 PM

GenXer, I was expecting a scolding from The Society for The Prevention of Ridicule of Tiny Women Who Like to Wear Animal Print, not accusations of using logic in my comments. There's a first time for everything. I take your point but let me suggest, if they do know who Suzie Quatro is, they DON'T CARE!!! 'Australian Idol' is a mechanism by which the judges of 'Australian Idol' can live out their Middle-aged Fantasies. Nothing to do with Music as far as I can tell.
Okay, now I'll sit back and wait for a reaction from The National Association of Stirring Up Limitless Amounts of Woe for Recently Deceased Semi-Relevant Famous Strangers.

Tribal Mind replies: Never mind all that. How do you respond to the challenge to devise the perfect TV station for Seven2 ?

by darren on September 15, 2009 at 01:43 PM

Hey TM, how did South Park go last night on SBS? It was the premiere of Season 13 and a great one at that. Who would have thought this crude cartoon would have made 13 years?

Tribal Mind replies: In the chart now, and not good.

by Samuel on September 15, 2009 at 02:51 PM

How will Ch 7's evil twin programme? If GO!111!1OMGWTF11!1 can bring back I Dream of Jeannie & Bewitched, then I suggest that POW!111!1OMGWTF11!1 (which is what I will call the evil twin for this instance) will drag up some golden oldies as well. There'll be Classics like Welcome Back Kotter, Good Times, Golden Girls etc. Endless repeats of Scrubs (not that I'll mind).

Rinse. Lather. Repeat. Whatever GO! does, POW! will do as well.

by Bereft Skerrick on September 15, 2009 at 07:36 PM

What should 7 do with its new toy ?
Run Twilight and Harry Potter Movies 24/7 ?
But more realistic,
Disney Movies and cartoons for the kids ?
And at night, classic shows like MacGyver, Mission Impossible, Qantam Leap and MASH ...
But if i had it my way, id have a 24/7 movie channel ... but that wont happen because it might cost too much to get the movie rights.
Speaking of which, how much does it cost each channel to get the rights to screen a movie each week ? Im interested to know.

by Matt on September 16, 2009 at 01:39 AM

Seven HD should be a movie only channel.

by bobmar28 on September 16, 2009 at 05:20 AM

Re the perfect TV station for Seven2, TM, you said "let your imagination run riot", so, after making a new connection in my synapses between the words 'imagination' and Seven', how about News that reports the news and doesn't wallow in Celebrity minutae as if it matters at all, and doesn't sensationalise every little thing that happens making people afraid to cross the road in case they're picked up for jay walking or fill their jerry cans at service stations in case they're suddenly incinerated or to have a notorious invalid paedophile living in their neighbourhood as if they have some sort of magical sinister power over kids that can't be combatted simply by teaching your kids to not talk to strangers? How about that?
How about interesting movies that don't star the following individuals: Reese Witherspoon (except 'Walk the Line'), Sandra Bullock, Ashton Kutcher, Hugh Grant.... actually anyone called Hugh, Meg Ryan....I could go on but how about just show good movies not 'Feel-good' shit catered to signed-up and glassy-eyed 'Sunrise' fans?
How about showing a series (any series) through an entire season in a single timeslot without skipping an episode or doubling up (a 'movie-length special event') or fast-tracking? Just show a goddamn series and f##king leave it alone?
I think I've entered the realm of total improbability and I don't think this is what you meant as an answer to your question but I'm royally peeved and if I see one more story about Patrick Swayze showing scenes from 'Ghost' and with 'She's Like The Wind' as a soundtarck I think I'll go up to the clocktower with a....one of those shooty things...what're they called?
The perfect TV station for Seven2 would be one run by the ABC.

by darren on September 16, 2009 at 05:59 AM

I now have three hours of "The Wire" to catch up on. *sigh* (Thank all the gods however that ABC only screened one episode last night, not two.)
In the meantime, I caught the recording of "Nurse Jackie". Rather fabulous stuff, I did like.
Kudos for darren for giving Channel 7.1 to the ABC! :) I am going with the general idea of most posters, however: repeats. But of all the shows *I* liked, thanks. Heroes, Lost, Buffy, Boston Legal, etc. In watchable consistent timeslots. (Hey, I can dream...)

Tribal Mind asks: Why don't you just buy or rent The Wire on DVD? Once you become addicted, it's unbearable to have to wait week after week.

by tqd on September 16, 2009 at 11:36 AM

Enough about Patrick Swayze - the real tragedy this week is that Keith Floyd died.

by Wendell on September 16, 2009 at 12:33 PM

One of the Foxtel movie channels had Roadhouse on last night - and I don't know if it was coincidence or Swayze oriented programming. The bio channel also ran a Swayze doco. Now that's quick.
I think Channel 7.1 will go "lets use up the archives" and have theme days. Lets see - Mondays could be cops so they can dust off Homicide, Cop Shop and perhaps even CHiPS and Starsky and Hutch. From this century there will be Border Security marathons. They will leave the Bill to Channel 2.
Tuesday will be Crime (not Cops), so you have Inspector Morse, Inspector Wexford, Inspector Frost and, for the kiddies, Inspector Gadget.
Wednesday will be Kath and Kim's Full Fast Frontal Forward Degeneration
Thursday will be "So we screwed your viewing day" so they will program Lost, Heroes, Boston Legal, Scrubs, Stargate and Prison Break on a Thursday, but you need to check your EPG to know what time.
Friday will be the Medicos so A Country Practice followed by All Saints followed by Greys Anatomy followed by Marcus Welby MD and Dr Kildare.
Saturday will be Nature stuff - so hopefully a Leyland Brothers tribute and a rehash of all the docos that used to be on "The World Around Us"
Sundays - Celebrity guest programmer days. Starts with Kochie telling jokes and looping "The Sound of Music"
Actually, Darren said it best first. Give it to the ABC

by Ozpuck on September 16, 2009 at 12:39 PM

Queried Mr Dale: "Why don't you just buy or rent The Wire on DVD? Once you become addicted, it's unbearable to have to wait week after week."
Yes, in a perfect world where I had time to watch copious amounts of TV and money to buy the boxed sets! (I'm in another perfect world where all my spare cash goes on books and most of my spare time goes on reading. Oh, darren, I shall be starting "A Confederacy of Dunces" sometime soonish - that was one of your recommendations, was it not?)
I have a large collection of boxed sets & movies already, some of which just haven't made it out of their shrinkwrapping yet, even though I've owned them for some months/years. So I no longer "waste" my money on buying DVDs. (I hope that one day I will sit down and watch Deadwood etc, so it's not a complete waste of money, but it's definitely a temporary waste of money while the boxed sets sit there, unwatched.)
I dread to think what would happen to my already meagre spare time if I binged on a DVD boxed set! I'd have no more time for my reading or online addictions! And I get *grumpy* if I don't read at least 50 pages a day...
So I will stick with my TV miserliness, making do with recording off FTA and catching up when I have a spare moment... And reading this blog to see what I'm missing out on. Not much, most days, as far as I can tell. :)

by tqd on September 16, 2009 at 01:47 PM

No Ozpuck, you said it very well. That's a pretty good channel. Mentioning the World Around Us reminded me that this was on Saturday at 6:30pm and was boring as anything to the 10 year old I was in 1984. So about 25 years later the two leading channels show similar style documentaries at 7:30 on a weeknight!
Channel 10 has won. Moving Dexter to Saturday nights at 11:30pm. At least I know, so I can track down the DVD now...

by Tim on September 16, 2009 at 02:08 PM

My suggestion for 7beta is that they should screen heaps of the old Aussie shows that 7alpha screened in the past to fill up the daytime and late night slots. There's not enough Aussie content on Go! 7beta has so much to choose from with Skyways, Cop Shop, Sons and Daughters, Glenview High, Young Ramsay, A Country Practice, Blue Heelers, All Saints, Home and Away, Rafferty's Rules, Homicide, Hey Dad!, Acropolis Now, Daily at Dawn, Kingswood Country. Don't forget HeadLand which 7alpha never actually completed. Here's a chance to run the whole series as an afternoon soapie.

Tribal Mind replies: J Bar, I am moving all comments about 7beta over to the forum devoted to that topic (go to The Tribal Mind) so you can be eligible for the fabulous prizes.

by J Bar on September 16, 2009 at 02:16 PM

Re tqd - Nurse Jackie. Have not yet seen the first ep, but it is on the pvr, but not sure if I will bother. It has been bumped already by the programming gibbons at Shirl (along with Dexter) It is not being screened this week and ep 2 is now scheduled for Monday week (28th). Dexter has been given the flick to 11.45 on a Saturday night. What can you say to that, other than these are an insult to gibbons everywhere.

by ozinoz on September 16, 2009 at 02:34 PM

Thought I'd check out The Beast last night after I heard the news of the sad passing of Patrick Swayze and, although it's a bit dark, it's not a bad little show. How did it rate last night, TM?

Tribal Mind replies In the chart now, and not good.

by Elizabeth on September 16, 2009 at 03:17 PM

See the programs to be on GO! does not include ER (not happy Jan). Have not seen my recording of Nurse jackie yet - may do so tonight. 28 Sept at 8.30 looks insane - FlashForward, supernatural, Vampire Diaries and who knows what else. Did anyone say multiple recordings or what. Spent the last few nights (in between my normal TV viewing) watching series 3 of Robin Hood (my boss has a copy from overseas). Tissues anyone?

TM I know this not the right post but how is Harry matching up to Transformers - have we redeemed ourselves yet?

by Cathy on September 16, 2009 at 04:59 PM

ozinoz, I'm like you - I too have Nurse Jackie on the PVR waiting for me, and like you, i'm not sure whether to bother. One episode and it's already on the move. Why can't channel teen just let Oz Idol die? Or just replace it with US Idol and Ellen - now THAT I would watch! This group of no-hopers really makes me cringe - the karaoke night I used to go to (before all of the surgery) has MUCH better talent thatn this year's Idol crop. That is really depressing.
I suspect channel 7 may just turn it's B channel into a pseudo TMZ. That's the way they are heading - I watched the 6pm news on there the other night and it's almost like watching Entertainment Tonight, mixed with a few angry mobs and moral outrage. Maybe they can just create the "ones we've lost" channel - recycle the movies/filmclips/tv shows of all of the stars we tragically lose each year - a festival of Patrick Swayze's "classics" (who can forget Black Dog, the action movie about semi-trailer trucks?!), Michael Jackson filmclips, Heath Ledger's back catalogue will get a look in i'm sure... (sorry, all this time locked in the house with daytime tv has turned me extra cynical today!)
Finally, can't wait til Tara tonight - the mystery deepens!!

by Beckala on September 16, 2009 at 06:15 PM

Undear Ch Shirl.
You have truly regained your annointed Tribal Mind nickname. Shirley you can't be serious! Moving Dexter to late Saturday PM? Hate hate hate. There will be a Ch Shirl boycott in the Skerrick household and I'll be acquiring the rest of the season by other means.
You destroyed all of the good work you've done this year to regain some credibility. Masterchef was great. TBYG was a surprise. But do you truly believe that your viewers have the attention span of Master 5? And the intelligence of a house brick?
Spearman Experiment? Just call it 75% of 20 to 1 with Z grade Ch Shirl "stars" (and I used the term advisedly). And repeating TBYG on a Sunday night? Run out of Simpsons episodes have you?
We were all rooting for you when you hit the dizzing heights of ratings success. But now you're approaching the disgusting depths of suck.
No Likey, Bereft Skerrick.

by Bereft Skerrick on September 16, 2009 at 07:53 PM

ozinoz, bad news about Nurse Jackie. Oh well, one less show to follow, 30 more minutes in my life to spend elsewhere...

by tqd on September 16, 2009 at 09:01 PM

Re 'Nurse Jackie', I've read some pretty lukewarm reviews. I pay attention to reviews, I does.
Re 'Glee', I've read some glowing reviews and didn't catch the Preview episode earlier in the year so am lookin forward to it tonight. Although the promo where Ten has gotten one of the stars to say "Seriousglee" has me feelin a bit wary.
Bereft Skerrick, is Ten repeating T''BYG at 6:30 on Sunday night to replace 'Aus Idol' which has (according to Dicko on 'The 7PM Project' last night) listened to its "fans" (hahaha) and moved back to its old timeslot of 7:30? Nothing to do with crap ratings and desperation. It's just for the "fans" (heehee).
And by the way, 'The 7PM Project' keeps getting better I think although the ratings are all over the place. Just wondering when they're going to stop dressing Charlie Pickering like a puppet? One day he hopes to be a REAL boy.
Tqd, I did recommend 'Confederacy of Dunces' (as did PJ453) and still waiting for you to read 'Infinite Jest'.....come on, it's only 1100 pages! What's yer verdict on the latest Dan Br...hahahah...Dan Brow.....heeheeheeh....Dan Brown (sorry)? Sure it's Top Kwality as usual. Mercy.
Luverlee episode of 'The Cook and The Chef' last night.

by darren on September 17, 2009 at 05:59 AM

darren, I too am liking 7pm Project - it's settled down into a pretty good show, they cover the stories well, have some good regular contributers. Wish the ratings were better.
Can't wait for Glee to start - hooray! I was a musical theatre geek at school, so this show is right up my alley. Hoping the ratings will do well, fingers crossed.
New levels of journalistic integrity on Sunrise this morning. Firstly, Manic Mel practically had a temper tantrum because the guy she was interviewing didn't support her opinion - I'm surprised she didn't start thumping the desk. THEN, in a classic Kochie line - the story - a cat (I think it's name was Clive?!) who had run away from Tasmania and was found in Mt Isa. One of Kochie's first statments: "What a tale he's going to be able to tell". No, Kochie, it's a cat. Cats can't talk. Then the last line "I guess you'll be meeting with managers ready to sign him up". Yep, Oprah is just praying she'll get that cat interview! Seriously, what kind of drugs to they put those people on? I know it must be hard to be cheery in the mornings, but dear god, new levels of stupidity!

by Beckala on September 17, 2009 at 08:03 AM

Looks like Seven sets the agenda these days with Nine moving the Hey Hey Its Saturday reunion special from Tuesday to Wednesday because they're worried that the popularity of Packed to the Rafters will keep viewers away but now Molly's appearance there directly clashes with his guest appearance on Spicks and Specks that day. Here's an idea for the Nine carpet strollers. Why not show the Hey Hey It's Saturday reunion on Saturday like it always was?

by J Bar on September 17, 2009 at 08:05 AM

More Nurse Jackie - you would think Shirl would be a tad embarrased by now, but then again, given the light of some of the programming decisions, evidently not. The Adelaide Advertiser (and possibly some of the other Murdoch cocky cage lining papers) has a full page colour photo of Edie Falco as NJ and an additional 3/4 page review of the series and promo push, only to be advertising a program that is not on! If that wasnt bad enough, the reviewers "pick of the week to watch" (or record) with a full double column review etc is Little Britain USA, which has also been dragged. I'd call them a bunch of tools, but at least tools do have a use.

Tribal MInd replies: On your behalf, I sent this email to TEN's publicity department: "Numbers of readers of the smh daily ratings blog are asking, in somewhat angry terms, why Nurse Jackie was only shown for one week and why Little Britain USA now seems to have disappeared (to read these readers, go here: http://blogs.sunherald.com.au/whoweare/archives/2009/09/the_who_we_are_52.html?page=fullpage#comments ). Can you offer these readers an explanation and any hope of consistent programming in future?"
Channel Ten responded quickly, and the result appears in the column above.

by ozinoz on September 17, 2009 at 08:12 AM

Quoth darren: "Re 'Nurse Jackie', I've read some pretty lukewarm reviews. I pay attention to reviews, I does."
Well, so do I usually. So I was going to skip, because the review in The Guide wasn't really glowing enough for me. But Mr TQD hit record, and I'm glad he did. Maybe it'll peter out after one episode, but I'll do my best to chase it around the schedule for the next week or so. Nicely written, nicely done, interesting and/or amusing characters.
And I do remember your recommendation of "Infinite Jest" as well. One of my online bookgroups is tackling "The Count of Monte Cristo" which I think pips "Infinite Jest" by about 300 pages or so in the pagecount stakes. I think I'd rather read IJ, although I did like "The Three Musketeers" when I read it *many* years ago. But I have to get through "A Fraction of the Whole" before I buy any more doorstoppers.

by tqd on September 17, 2009 at 08:30 AM

I know this is a TV blog, but really I just have to comment on the new Dan Brown. I won't read it as I just think his books are really, really badly written and I can't for the life of me, figure out why people love his books so much. They are frankly, crap. Examples of the dumbing down of society in general. Now I will have to endure people asking me if I have read the new Dan Brown. And why haven't I? Isn't it wonderful? Ugh!!!
On to TV. So Idol is moving time slots? They can move it to any time they like. It won't make any difference. Their contestants are all bloody awful and no one wants to watch. Plain and simple. Poor Ten, started the year so well and it's all falling apart.
Darren, Tqd and all. I have read "Confederacy of Dunces" and it is a brilliant book. Haven't tried "Infinite Jest" but will put it on the list. A long book never puts me off, I just leave it for holiday time.

Tribal Mind replies: It's not a TV blog, it's just drawn that way. I think of it as a popular anthropology blog which happens to talk most often about the most popular of media. So Dan Brown is fair game -- any readers want to offer an analysis of the new one?

by em on September 17, 2009 at 09:46 AM

David - a perfect (but sad) example of why people don�t watch TV anymore. Anne of Green Gables on TV on Sat night.
Shown over 3 hours.
Except, according to IMDB, it's 199 minutes long. So, assuming 12 minutes of ads per hour, the total length shown was 180-36=144 minutes.
So 55 minutes were cut - over ONE QUARTER of a show was cut. There were a number of scenes where the characters said 'I'm sorry about xxx', except the 'xxx' had been cut so it made no sense.
No warning. No indication given that scenes/entire slabs of the show had been deleted. No nothing (apart from ads for other programs being shown over the entire length of the credits).
Why would they do this? It�s a 2 part miniseries - put the second part on some other time.
Perhaps its a conspiracy for us to stop watching TV and go off and buy DVDs.

by ctd on September 17, 2009 at 10:32 AM

Well, hello to all our fans at Channel Ten! Thanks for the explanation, it's nice to know there are reasons behind decisions sometimes.
Regarding Dan Brown: yes, he's a truly appalling writer. But what has left me gobsmacked is the $50 price tag on the new book. A friend of mine who works in book publishing/book selling reckons that's aiming far too high - thriller readers don't pay that much for books. Time will tell, I guess. (Last book I paid that much for was Stephen Colbert's "I am America - And So Can You!", which was worth every penny, being a much-treasured birthday present for Mr TQD.)

by tqd on September 17, 2009 at 10:42 AM

What I read about 'Nurse Jackie' is that it's somehow unfulfilling. The characters don't develop, it gets a bit same old. That's wot I red.
Tqd re 'The Count of Monte Christo' (there's about seven in yer typical Assorted Creams pack), it doesn't include in its astounding breadth 300 pages of footnotes and addenda does it? Does it? Doesn't make your mind whirl with its sheer virtuosic brilliance. Doesn't come uncannily close to prefiguring the downfall of Popular Culture and the death of Network Television as we know it does it? Aaah, 'Infinite Jest' I luv thee. Have to read it a third time soon. We'll get a room, me an IJ. Everyone here should, nay, must read it and be driven into ecstacies of either joy or madness and be better for it evermore.
Have yer started on 'Fraction of the Whole' yet? I didn't like it. Let us know your opinion.
Re Dan Brown, he's popular. Yes. Popular. I used to wonder similarly about the popularity of John Grisham and all his books starting with 'The'. In my opinion he never finished a single one properly and is one of the few people about whom it can be accurately said the Movies are better than the Books.
And speaking of the Dumbing Down of Society in General (Em), note to all Australians re Obama's labelling of Kanye West as a "Jackass" and in reference to the movies series also called "Jackass", 'Jackass' is another name for 'Donkey', and you don't have to re-pronunciate it "Jack ARSE" (Carrie Bickmore) to Australianise it! Obama's not saying Kanye has a bottom called Jack or a bottom with a surprise wind-up toy protruding from it. Geez.
(might've used a few nonexistent words there)....

by darren on September 17, 2009 at 11:30 AM

Darren, glad I'm not the only one who enjoyed the Cook and the Chef last night. A delightful show by 2 people who unpretentiously go about their business of showing us how they prepare food. There should be more simple programs like this on air without all the froth and bubble and I for one will miss it now its finished.

by Neil on September 17, 2009 at 11:41 AM

We've got it in writing - they stated that Glee would "remain consistent, both in quality and in timeslot". Expect angry and indignant phone calls if this promise is broken, Channel 10!
I still can't believe they are shifting everything around for arguably the worst season of Australian Idol. I'm not watching it any more, and it's not because Vile's gone (dear god, there were celebrations in my house when that occurred). It's because the singers are awful and out of tune, and the judges either don't hear it over the screaming teens or are being told to keep everything very positive a la Masterchef - because some of the comments they gave last week were laughable! AND the one contestant that could sing in tune was voted out!

by Beckala on September 17, 2009 at 11:53 AM

Didn't I tell you that Ten would treat Nurse Jackie badly?
I watched the first episode on my computer & loved it. Also no ads, decent time of night, etc, win, win.
Will not be watching the rest on Ten, can't be bothered following programs all over the schedule - once they start to move it's a sign that the end is nigh.
Will wait for Fox, boxed set, or overseas visitors bringing presents.
Why can't Ten stick to buying their usual crap for their retarded audience, and leave the good stuff to someone else who will actually show it?

by Sal on September 17, 2009 at 12:11 PM

tqd, I am currently reading "A Fraction of the Whole" as well. It's a doorstopper alright but I am enjoying it. And I can't believe their asking $50 for a Dan Brown. But I am sure it will be heavily discounted at Big W. Not that I care, you'd have to pay me to read it.
In fact, the prices of books in general is getting out of control. They are far too expensive. These days I hunt around the 2nd hand book stores or go to the library to get my reading material. Sometimes I indulge and buy a new book but only if I am pretty certain I am going to like it and want to read it a few times. I wonder how bad the GFC has affected the book market? My local Borders is still doing a brisk trade so I guess people are still buying books.

by em on September 17, 2009 at 12:37 PM

I watched the first episode of the Vampire Diaries over the weekend on the off chance that it might be as good as True Blood, but it's just a Twilight knock off without the sparkly vampires

by winter on September 17, 2009 at 02:03 PM

699K people still watching "The Spearmint Disaster" are they NUTS? or too dang lazy to move their index finger to change channels!

by davo on September 17, 2009 at 02:52 PM

em, second hand bookshops rock. Although (like libraries) it can be a bit hit and miss trying to find a particular title. (I generally just rock up with a list of authors I'd like to read, and generally walk away happy.) Apparently book sales have gone *up* with the GFC - books are seen as an affordable treat. If you also don't mind parting with your books once read, www.bookmooch.com is a good way to swap books (although beware of international postage!).
darren, okay, okay. I shall buy "Infinite Jest" asap. (The end of network tv, woot!) But I'm still going to read "Fraction of the Whole" first (still unstarted, I've got to finish "The Girl Who Played with Fire" first, and then "A Confederacy of Dunces").

by tqd on September 17, 2009 at 06:09 PM

Breaking away from TV for a while..... is there anyone else out there listening to ABC Classic FM's "The Classic 100 Symphony" currently being counted down, or up to numero uno. Since it has reached the final 25 Symphonies and quite a few known ones have yet to grace the boards, or thrill the airwaves and auditory canals, pop on over and see what your 1 cent a day provides. Who knows, you might even get to hum along with one... or two even. Besides, it's thursday night, and we all know what that means.... (sorry Skippy)

by Furlozza on September 17, 2009 at 06:48 PM

Have been waiting for Go! to catch up with new eps of Eleventh Hour and they finally did last night.
I don't have high expectations for ratings, considering it was on at 10:30pm on a digital multichannel, but do you know how it rated, TM? Thanks mate.

Tribal Mind replies: 51,000 viewers across the capitals. What kind of show is it anyway?

by Steve on September 17, 2009 at 07:25 PM

Thanks for that. It's a Jerry Bruckheimer procedural with a sci-fi slant. Only lasted a season, but it's decent entertainment. I wouldn't be surprised if sci-fi shows found their grounding on multichannels, a bit like Torchwood has on ABC2.

by Steve on September 17, 2009 at 10:14 PM

I feel the power! TM, I can't believe that Ten boffins called you to explain. Pity the other networks don't bother. I kinda like Nurse Jackie but as we all say on here, it gets really tedious chasing around trying to find the show you like everytime it gets moved. In the end you give up.
Anyway, they better not touch Glee. For once it would be nice to see a show for a whole season at the same day & time.
As for Idol, moving it won't save it. It's doomed. Like my son said last night "Idol, I'm over it."

by em on September 18, 2009 at 07:18 AM

So people prefer to watch '20 to 1' and 'Getaway With Telstra' and 'Skippy - Australia's First Superstar' rather than 'Glee'. What a surprise. At least it beat 'Garry Unfunny'.
I really enjoyed 'Glee'. 'Glee' is good. Fast pace. Good writing. A nice edge. The superhappyfunkids from 'Aus Idol' could learn a thing or two about doing a cover from watching 'Glee'. Looking forward to their cover of Kanye Fathead's 'Gold Digger' next week. Nice. Not expecting Ten to keep their word though re leaving it alone. If you play with it too much it'll fall off, Ten. Just sayin.

Tribal Mind replies: Glee was a repeat of an episaode that was shown only three months ago. The test will be next week, when it's not up against Skippy.

by darren on September 18, 2009 at 10:09 AM

Double Take is no longer doing too bad, now that it's moved to a 10.30pm timeslot.
Will be interested in the rugby league ratings tonight and Saturday night.

Tribal Mind asks: Why would the rugby league ratings be any different from usual at this time of year?

by arthur on September 18, 2009 at 10:54 AM

TM could you ask Ten what on earth are they doing with Numb3rs?
They played it for a few weeks then took it off for a few then put it back on, then said last week was a season final when there is about 15 episodes to go!
Why did need a double episode of Law & Order:UK instead?

Completely agree with Ozpuck, each day/night a different theme.
Movies, crime/cops, comedy, sci-fi/supernatural/fantasy, soaps, medical, music?

by Jac on September 18, 2009 at 12:56 PM

I enjoyed my weekly dose of big dumb cheeky fun last night: Burn Notice. From the lack of it in the ratings list, I'm assuming I'm getting to be in the minority? I'm just hoping that it doesn't get Yasminned. *fret*

Recorded the Skippy doco. Looking forward to finding time to watch it! (Three hours of "The Wire" and one episode of "George Gently" still to watch...)

by tqd on September 18, 2009 at 01:36 PM

"Why would rugby league ratings be any different..."
Obviously because it's the elimination finals. As are the afl ratings (though I have no interest in those).

by arthur on September 18, 2009 at 03:33 PM

Caught Drop Dead Diva on Go! last night and I can't believe it even made it to Nine when something brilliant like Survivor was dumped there! Did many people watch it, TM?

Tribal Mind replies: In the chart now. Did GO! play it from the beginning, or take up where NIne left off?

by Ryan on September 18, 2009 at 05:49 PM

arthur: I have a passing interest in the aerial ping pong, 1/2 because the Masters Skerrick have done Auskick this year. 1/2 because I'm interested in the underdog, which is what St Kilda have been over the years, and have now made the Grand Final, giving us one of two Saints required.
As for the other Saints, I'm almost too scared to watch.

by Bereft Skerrick on September 18, 2009 at 09:34 PM

Thanks for the Drop Dead Diva figures, TM.
Go! are playing it from the beginning, but for Adelaide and Perth it's the first time they've seen it. I don't think it will last much longer on the main channel.

by Rya on September 20, 2009 at 09:21 AM

bereft: I see but aren't St Kilda the overwhelming favourites to win the afl? They were first on the ladder and have a full team for the final.

by arthur on September 21, 2009 at 09:01 AM

arthur: St Kilda won their last flag in 1966 by a lucky last minute goal. They're sortof the North Sydney of the AFL.
I'm not part of the Saturday Evening NRL ratings figures. Family Skerrick was moving house, so if I didn't watch it didn't happen.

by Bereft Skerrick on September 21, 2009 at 10:28 AM

The Sun-Herald

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The Who We Are update: What women watch (Week 38)

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