The Sun-Herald

The Who We Are update: Week 44

This week's forum is now a heritage item - worth studying but no longer current.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.

To judge if Australia is a land of jocks or aesthetes, go to Who We Are.
To be shocked by what kids under 12 are watching on television, go to The Tribal Mind.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
The prime time audience shares for the week were: Seven&7TWO 28.8 per cent, Nine&GO 26.4, Ten&ONE 20.8, ABC1&2 18.4, SBS1&2 5.7.

This was Pay TV's account of itself: "The Saturday night broadcast of the third one day international cricket test between Australia and India, Live: Cricket: ODI Ind v Aus 3rd ODI S1, topped the week for STV with 214,000 viewers. The FOX Sports' coverage of Live: Rugby Union: Bledisloe Cup was watched by 144,000 people, 66,000 watched Live: Cricket: Ford Ranger Cup and 65,000 watched Live: Football: A-League Bris v Newc (all on FOX Sports).

"Midsomer Murders on UKTV had its best result of the year with 133,000 viewers, The Simpsons on FOX8 was watched by 114,000, Law & Order: SVU on TV1 was watched by 111,000 and Location, Location, Location on Lifestyle had a year-to-date high of 104,000 people. Deadliest Catch on Discovery Channel was watched by 85,000 people, Go, Diego, Go! on Nick Jr. was watched by 78,000 and Ultimate Gamer on FOX8 had its best audience of the year so far with 70,000 people.

"In week 44, STV channels represented 21.6% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 20.7% of all regional viewing and 58% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Australia watched, week ending October 31
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,960,000 571,000 613,000 320,000 209,000 248,000
2 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,515,000 419,000 442,000 289,000 159,000 206,000
3 ALL SAINTS-THE FINALE Seven 1,505,000 459,000 472,000 233,000 158,000 184,000
4 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,477,000 417,000 433,000 259,000 147,000 220,000
5 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,449,000 391,000 408,000 284,000 153,000 214,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,438,000 419,000 418,000 299,000 126,000 176,000
7 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,397,000 368,000 421,000 256,000 174,000 178,000
8 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,385,000 407,000 438,000 217,000 141,000 182,000
9 NCIS Ten 1,377,000 384,000 383,000 256,000 154,000 200,000
10 BORDER SECURITY - WED (R) Seven 1,359,000 396,000 338,000 271,000 153,000 201,000
11 BORDER SECURITY - AUSTRALIA'S FRONT LINE Seven 1,358,000 398,000 332,000 288,000 144,000 196,000
12 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,334,000 389,000 465,000 203,000 187,000 90,000
13 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,327,000 355,000 337,000 285,000 158,000 192,000
14 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,300,000 357,000 381,000 234,000 132,000 196,000
15 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,294,000 354,000 381,000 247,000 122,000 190,000
16 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,286,000 330,000 341,000 286,000 130,000 199,000
17 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,250,000 349,000 396,000 249,000 128,000 128,000
18 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,247,000 302,000 373,000 264,000 133,000 177,000
19 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,246,000 332,000 326,000 292,000 115,000 181,000
20 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,228,000 290,000 432,000 276,000 88,000 141,000
21 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,226,000 317,000 321,000 269,000 132,000 188,000
Continued here

22 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,190,000 308,000 369,000 217,000 121,000 175,000
23 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,189,000 325,000 358,000 188,000 137,000 181,000
24 THE MENTALIST -RPT Nine 1,184,000 338,000 388,000 211,000 103,000 145,000
25 BONES Seven 1,179,000 317,000 323,000 228,000 152,000 159,000
26 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,150,000 323,000 363,000 189,000 124,000 150,000
27 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,143,000 335,000 288,000 247,000 121,000 151,000
28 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,130,000 323,000 348,000 234,000 89,000 136,000
29 CRIMINAL MINDS-MON Seven 1,127,000 287,000 369,000 172,000 125,000 174,000
30 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,123,000 307,000 292,000 226,000 147,000 152,000
31 GETAWAY Nine 1,108,000 329,000 339,000 214,000 88,000 137,000
32 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,106,000 273,000 379,000 230,000 98,000 126,000
33 SPICKS AND SPECKS-EV ABC1 1,104,000 379,000 310,000 210,000 99,000 106,000
34 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,082,000 291,000 345,000 237,000 107,000 101,000
35 NINE NEWS Nine 1,058,000 287,000 338,000 216,000 113,000 104,000
36 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 1,056,000 289,000 373,000 196,000 118,000 80,000
37 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 1,054,000 268,000 307,000 201,000 140,000 138,000
38 CSI: CRIME SCENE INVESTIGATION Nine 1,042,000 361,000 271,000 186,000 109,000 115,000
39 60 MINUTES Nine 1,031,000 248,000 386,000 185,000 107,000 105,000
40 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,003,000 348,000 276,000 167,000 94,000 118,000
41 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,000,000 290,000 326,000 139,000 129,000 116,000
247 WIPEOUT GO! 166,000 32,000 68,000 26,000 21,000 19,000
323 TORCHWOOD ABC2 112,000 17,000 25,000 31,000 16,000 23,000
341 HOGAN'S HEROES GO! 99,000 20,000 32,000 20,000 17,000 9,000
354 2009 MOTOGP ONE 93,000 27,000 22,000 26,000 13,000 5,000
355 BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN GO! 93,000 20,000 32,000 16,000 15,000 9,000
361 DOCTOR WHO ABC2 90,000 7,000 42,000 16,000 13,000 12,000
401 THE WIRE ABC2 76,000 24,000 29,000 6,000 8,000 9,000
473 FRASIER GO! 53,000 10,000 16,000 11,000 8,000 7,000
481 GOOD GAME ABC1 51,000 17,000 8,000 10,000 9,000 7,000

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,247,000 302,000 373,000 264,000 133,000 177,000
2 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC1 946,000 274,000 302,000 131,000 88,000 151,000
3 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 920,000 236,000 284,000 185,000 109,000 105,000
4 THE BILL ABC1 876,000 243,000 283,000 126,000 97,000 128,000
5 HOPE SPRINGS ABC1 864,000 207,000 299,000 132,000 86,000 139,000
8 TAGGART ABC1 715,000 201,000 191,000 110,000 98,000 116,000
9 GARDENING AUSTRALIA ABC1 688,000 173,000 220,000 120,000 81,000 94,000
10 M - THE WORLD'S FASTEST INDIAN RPT Ten 645,000 144,000 226,000 127,000 79,000 69,000
12 M - A GOOD YEAR Ten 537,000 150,000 150,000 87,000 72,000 77,000
14 SEVEN'S R.U: BLEDISLOE CUP: AUS V N Z Seven 448,000 188,000 26,000 204,000 8,000 20,000
20 MYTHBUSTERS SBS ONE 350,000 94,000 93,000 84,000 48,000 32,000
21 M-TOY STORY Seven 337,000 Shown last week 177,000 Shown last week 91,000 70,000
22 M-TOY STORY 2 Seven 302,000 Shown last week 158,000 Shown last week 85,000 60,000
24 ROCKWIZ SBS ONE 280,000 69,000 111,000 39,000 25,000 37,000
27 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 264,000 74,000 85,000 46,000 34,000 25,000
53 FOUR NATIONS RUGBY LEAGUE 2009 Nine 122,000 31,000 18,000 54,000 9,000 11,000
The ratings race, updated 10 am Saturday
The delightful black comedy Glee won its timeslot with all age groups on Thursday night, and helped Ten to be the most watched network with viewers aged 16-39, but nevertheless was 200,000 viewers down on its audience of a few weeks ago. Can you explain?

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,397,000 368,000 421,000 256,000 174,000 178,000
2 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,385,000 407,000 438,000 217,000 141,000 182,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,149,000 273,000 328,000 251,000 128,000 168,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,135,000 284,000 308,000 260,000 115,000 168,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,084,000 293,000 295,000 225,000 127,000 144,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 978,000 229,000 335,000 202,000 120,000 91,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 933,000 216,000 325,000 198,000 105,000 89,000
13 M-SHOOTER Seven 749,000 261,000 272,000 Not shown (see below) 106,000 111,000
17 MEAN GIRLS RPT Ten 584,000 162,000 180,000 104,000 65,000 74,000
18 HARRY POTTER AND THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS -RPT Nine 572,000 176,000 201,000 85,000 63,000 48,000
19 THE SPEARMAN EXPERIMENT FRI Ten 541,000 146,000 116,000 129,000 66,000 85,000
22 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 487,000 141,000 130,000 101,000 64,000 52,000
54 FLASHBACK - 50 YEARS OF CHANNEL 7 Seven 199,000 Not shown in Sydney Not shown in Melbourne 199,000 Not shown in Adelaide Not shown in Perth
85 TORCHWOOD ABC2 112,000 17,000 25,000 31,000 16,000 23,000
97 BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN GO! 93,000 20,000 32,000 16,000 15,000 9,000
110 MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 72,000 13,000 4,000 26,000 14,000 16,000
130 GOOD GAME ABC1 51,000 17,000 8,000 10,000 9,000 7,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,256,000 355,000 327,000 235,000 166,000 173,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,132,000 271,000 310,000 252,000 121,000 178,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,107,000 329,000 339,000 214,000 88,000 137,000
4 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,067,000 272,000 273,000 213,000 153,000 156,000
5 CSI Nine 1,045,000 361,000 273,000 187,000 110,000 115,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,008,000 259,000 349,000 214,000 88,000 99,000
7 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,000,000 290,000 326,000 139,000 129,000 116,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC1 979,000 289,000 280,000 182,000 86,000 142,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 971,000 277,000 303,000 197,000 108,000 85,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 945,000 268,000 307,000 204,000 87,000 80,000
11 THE GREAT ESCAPE: THE RECKONING ABC1 898,000 293,000 236,000 155,000 77,000 138,000
12 RUSH Ten 890,000 260,000 287,000 141,000 110,000 92,000
13 GLEE THURS Ten 889,000 264,000 242,000 177,000 94,000 111,000
14 SECRET MILLIONAIRE Nine 886,000 275,000 275,000 132,000 100,000 104,000
15 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 865,000 250,000 233,000 151,000 121,000 109,000
16 BURN NOTICE Ten 803,000 215,000 258,000 134,000 109,000 87,000
21 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 679,000 210,000 232,000 80,000 76,000 81,000
25 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 610,000 213,000 159,000 113,000 48,000 77,000
31 GRAND DESIGNS REVISITED ABC1 411,000 123,000 108,000 86,000 44,000 49,000
35 E.R. Nine 358,000 123,000 93,000 60,000 47,000 35,000
43 LUKE NGUYEN'S VIETNAM SBS ONE 292,000 86,000 100,000 48,000 21,000 36,000
85 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 115,000 44,000 19,000 11,000 22,000 19,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,394,000 322,000 376,000 298,000 177,000 220,000
2 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,355,000 395,000 336,000 270,000 153,000 201,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,330,000 328,000 354,000 290,000 150,000 208,000
4 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,290,000 333,000 340,000 287,000 131,000 199,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,223,000 288,000 433,000 276,000 86,000 140,000
6 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,192,000 308,000 370,000 219,000 121,000 176,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,180,000 304,000 401,000 241,000 97,000 136,000
8 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,138,000 320,000 359,000 188,000 123,000 149,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,123,000 287,000 278,000 248,000 163,000 147,000
10 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,096,000 375,000 309,000 208,000 97,000 107,000
12 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 1,061,000 270,000 309,000 202,000 140,000 139,000
15 RPA WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Nine 872,000 276,000 289,000 144,000 76,000 88,000
16 MONEY FOR JAM Nine 834,000 209,000 307,000 179,000 61,000 79,000
20 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 770,000 251,000 231,000 142,000 67,000 78,000
23 JOHN SAFRAN'S RACE RELATIONS ABC1 671,000 200,000 242,000 111,000 48,000 69,000
32 AT THE MOVIES ABC1 429,000 134,000 152,000 64,000 42,000 38,000
33 WITHOUT A TRACE Nine 413,000 123,000 141,000 48,000 52,000 48,000
51 INSPECTOR REX SBS ONE 213,000 58,000 72,000 33,000 17,000 32,000
82 MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 129,000 40,000 31,000 26,000 13,000 18,000

The ratings race, updated 9am Wednesday
That helpful Rafter family and the All Saints medical team turned Seven's fortunes around last night, while Larry David did nothing for Nine (which will teach its programmers to take episodes out of context). At this point in the week, the prime time audience shares stand at: Seven&7TWO 30.5 per cent, Nine&GO 27.1, Ten&ONE 20.9, ABC1&2 15.3, SBS1&2 6.2.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,958,000 570,000 612,000 319,000 208,000 248,000
2 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,515,000 419,000 442,000 289,000 159,000 206,000
3 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,512,000 460,000 474,000 234,000 159,000 184,000
4 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,477,000 417,000 433,000 259,000 147,000 220,000
5 NCIS Ten 1,371,000 383,000 381,000 255,000 154,000 199,000
6 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,335,000 381,000 325,000 295,000 153,000 180,000
7 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,249,000 340,000 333,000 283,000 121,000 173,000
14 LIE TO ME Ten 974,000 241,000 315,000 168,000 112,000 139,000
20 TUTANKHAMUN: SECRETS OF THE BOY KING ABC1 760,000 230,000 230,000 135,000 71,000 94,000
23 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 716,000 246,000 205,000 126,000 63,000 76,000
27 CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM -SEINFELD REUNION Nine 596,000 168,000 241,000 94,000 39,000 54,000
29 AUSSIE LADETTE TO LADY Nine 574,000 125,000 265,000 67,000 57,000 60,000
71 EAST WEST 101 SBS ONE 141,000 64,000 34,000 21,000 10,000 13,000
88 MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 116,000 33,000 41,000 8,000 24,000 10,000
101 SURVIVOR: GABON GO! 85,000 21,000 25,000 14,000 11,000 14,000
111 THE WIRE ABC2 76,000 24,000 29,000 6,000 8,000 9,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,501,000 444,000 327,000 344,000 168,000 219,000
2 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,438,000 419,000 418,000 299,000 126,000 176,000
3 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,300,000 357,000 381,000 234,000 132,000 196,000
4 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,294,000 354,000 381,000 247,000 122,000 190,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,278,000 363,000 299,000 258,000 151,000 207,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,259,000 382,000 352,000 291,000 109,000 123,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,253,000 304,000 399,000 276,000 112,000 162,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,191,000 354,000 312,000 221,000 145,000 158,000
9 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,189,000 325,000 358,000 188,000 137,000 181,000
10 THE MENTALIST -RPT Nine 1,185,000 337,000 388,000 212,000 103,000 145,000
11 NINE NEWS Nine 1,160,000 353,000 330,000 234,000 124,000 120,000
12 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,131,000 323,000 348,000 234,000 90,000 136,000
13 CRIMINAL MINDS-MON Seven 1,127,000 287,000 369,000 172,000 125,000 174,000
20 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 781,000 217,000 244,000 163,000 75,000 81,000
22 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA Nine 747,000 242,000 234,000 106,000 88,000 76,000
25 JAMIE'S AMERICAN ROAD TRIP Ten 704,000 220,000 191,000 110,000 81,000 101,000
27 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 698,000 208,000 173,000 148,000 81,000 87,000
31 MAN VS WILD SBS ONE 514,000 157,000 151,000 97,000 43,000 66,000
33 MERCY Seven 456,000 108,000 174,000 56,000 62,000 55,000
42 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 332,000 97,000 125,000 38,000 38,000 34,000
113 THE VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 70,000 15,000 21,000 13,000 14,000 6,000
140 GOOD GAME ABC2 47,000 9,000 10,000 10,000 7,000 11,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE FORCE Seven 1,438,000 390,000 404,000 282,000 151,000 211,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,346,000 394,000 327,000 287,000 143,000 194,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,330,000 389,000 463,000 201,000 187,000 90,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,246,000 332,000 326,000 292,000 115,000 181,000
5 BONES Seven 1,193,000 321,000 327,000 230,000 153,000 162,000
6 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,141,000 335,000 289,000 246,000 120,000 151,000
7 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 1,058,000 289,000 373,000 196,000 119,000 80,000
8 60 MINUTES Nine 1,030,000 248,000 386,000 185,000 106,000 105,000
9 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,003,000 348,000 276,000 167,000 94,000 118,000
10 20 TO 1 -SUN Nine 979,000 276,000 326,000 177,000 116,000 83,000
13 CASTLE Seven 825,000 210,000 271,000 137,000 103,000 105,000
15 CSI: MIAMI Nine 787,000 195,000 257,000 159,000 98,000 78,000
16 WUTHERING HEIGHTS ABC1 769,000 281,000 247,000 82,000 61,000 98,000
25 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 477,000 143,000 162,000 57,000 49,000 65,000
32 WIPEOUT GO! 310,000 58,000 129,000 47,000 41,000 35,000
84 2009 MOTOGP ONE 93,000 27,000 23,000 26,000 12,000 5,000
85 SEINFELD GO! 92,000 22,000 36,000 13,000 9,000 12,000
96 WEEDS GO! 76,000 5,000 44,000 13,000 10,000 3,000
99 CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM GO! 74,000 15,000 35,000 9,000 12,000 4,000

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 whoweare-index at 05:22 PM
• Comments (60)

The Tribal Mind: The day the music lived again

by David Dale
MY GOODNESS, it's 1969 all over again. Johnny Farnham and Liza Minelli are touring the country; The Flintstones and The Jetsons are rating on television; NASA has managed to land a rocket on the moon; the Beatles have had three albums in the top 50 chart for most of this month; and Australian troops are stuck in the middle of a civil war in a faraway land.

But the main way the Noughties replicate the Sixties is in our compulsion to fill our heads with song. The Bureau of Statistics put out a report this week on "Australian Culture" (please don't make the oxymoron joke) which showed that we spend $665 million a year on recorded music and $291 million a year going to musical performances.

The Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA) reports that in the first six months of this year, Australians bought 12.8 million physical albums (on CD, vinyl, cassette and DVD) and 974,000 digital albums. We bought 339,600 physical singles and 16.7 million digital tracks.

Early this decade the music industry looked to be going down the toilet, but in the end, it simply changed the way it delivered the sounds to our brains. In the first half of 2009 Australians bought 12 per cent more music than in the first half of 2008.

So we're still addicted to the stuff. But enough about quantity. Lets talk about quality, and the key question: Is the music as good in 2009 as it was in 1969? Lets compare Australia's music buying behaviour in each year, via the charts below. The 69 charts were dominated by the Beatles, The Stones and Russell Morris and musicals such as Hair, Oliver, The Sound of Music and Funny Girl. The 09 charts are dominated by Pink, Taylor Swift, Lily Allen and The Black Eyed Peas.

Apart from the musicals, most of the successes of 69 involved rock, with an emphasis on guitar (Eric Clapton played solos on two of the top 25 singles and three of the top 25 albums). Most of this year's successes are pop, with an emphasis on power ballads and tragic lyrics (Taylor Swift sobs "I was begging you please don't go" in the singles chart and "it's killing me to see you go" and "one second it was perfect, now you're halfway out the door" in the album chart). You might speculate that a higher proportion of music buyers in this decade are female.

Not that there's anything wrong with that. But there does seem to be a uniformity in the 09 charts that wasn't apparent in the 69 charts. Back then it seemed less about producers working to a formula and more about bands giving it a go. So I'm going to rise above journalistic objectivity and declare it:

The music of 1969 is much more interesting than the music of 2009. The Black Eyed Peas and Taylor Swift may be talented, but do we seriously imagine anybody will be listening to them in 2049?

Go to Comments to make the case for the sounds of the Sixties or the noise of the Noughties.

Top Singles of 69
1 Something/ Come Together (The Beatles)
2 Honky Tonk Women (The Rolling Stones)
3 Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da/ While My Guitar Gently Weeps (The Beatles)
4 The Real Thing (Russell Morris)
5 Suspicious Minds (Elvis Presley)

Top Singles of 09
1 Love Story (Taylor Swift)
2 I Gotta Feeling (Black Eyed Peas)
3 Boom Boom Pow (Black Eyed Peas)
4 Right Round (Flo Rida)
5 Halo (Beyonce)

Top selling albums of 69
1 Hair (Broadway musical)
2 The White Album (The Beatles)
3 Abbey Road (The Beatles)
4 Oliver (film soundtrack)
5 The Graduate (Simon and Garfunkel)
6 Nashville Skyline (Bob Dylan)
7 Switched-on Bach (Walter Carlos)
8 The Sound of Music (film soundtrack)
9 Blood Sweat and Tears (Blood, Sweat and Tears)
10 At San Quentin (Johnny Cash)
11 Funny GIrl (Soundtrack)
12 This Is (Tom Jones)
13 Fool on the Hill (Sergio Mendes)
14 Flaming Star (Elvis Presley)
15 Camelot (Soundtrack)
16 Greatest Hits (Donovan)
17 TCB (The Supremes and the Temptations)
18 Blind Faith (Blind Faith)

Top selling albums of 09
1 Funhouse (P!nk)
2 Only By The Night (Kings of Leon)
3 It's Not Me, It's You (Lily Allen)
4 Fearless (Taylor Swift)
5 Essential (Michael Jackson)
6 Twilight (film soundtrack)
7 The E.N.D (Black Eyed Peas)
8 The Fame (Lady Gaga)
9 I am ... Sasha Fierce (Beyonce)
10 Relapse (Eminem)
11 #1s (Michael Jackson)
12 State of the Heart (Hilltop Hoods)
13 Hannah Montana: The Movie (Miley Cyrus)
14 Dark Horse (Nickelback)
15 21st Century Breakdown (Green Day)
16 Rockferry (Duffy)
17 No Line on the Horizon (U2)
18 Viva La Vida (Coldplay)
Sources: The Kent Report and ARIA.

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 05:53 PM
• Comments (14)

The Who We Are update: Week 43

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.

To learn why the music of 1969 is better than the music of 2009, go to The Tribal Mind.
To discuss the reliability of opinion polls, go to Who We Are.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Without doing anything special in the way of new programming, Channel Nine won the week. That's because Ten is chipping away at Seven's audience. It might be a different story next month when Seven launches its new channel (go below for details and to offer your thoughts). The prime time audience shares were: SBS1&2 5.5 per cent; ABC1&2 18.7; Ten&ONE 21.1; Seven&7TWO 26.9; Nine&GO 27.9.

This was Pay TV's account of itself: "The Simpsons on FOX8 topped the week on STV with 137,000 people, followed by Family Guy with 111,000 viewers and New Zealand's Next Top Model with 110,000 (both on FOX8). Erin Brockovich on TV1 had 106,000 people, The Outlaw Josey Wales on FOX Classics was watched by 100,000 and Grand Designs on Lifestyle was watched by 96,000.

"The FOX Sports' coverage of Live: Football: A-League Melb v Adel was watched by 77,000, the Newcastle/Central Coast football game Live: Football: A-league Newc v C'Coast was seen by 69,000 people and Live: Motorsport: Motogp Round 15, Australia was seen by 62,000 viewers. In week 43, STV channels represented 21.2% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 19.5% of all regional viewing and 56.6% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

Just for a change, What Rich Australians (Occupational groups 1 and 2) watched, week ending October 24
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 722,000 218,000 221,000 135,000 69,000 79,000
2 FLASHFORWARD Seven 550,000 179,000 143,000 82,000 69,000 77,000
3 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 549,000 164,000 173,000 98,000 53,000 61,000
4 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 534,000 181,000 156,000 91,000 44,000 62,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 525,000 122,000 162,000 133,000 35,000 73,000
6 NCIS Ten 514,000 123,000 121,000 136,000 52,000 82,000
7 THE FORCE Seven 506,000 116,000 135,000 99,000 47,000 110,000
8 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 499,000 143,000 135,000 113,000 43,000 65,000
9 A TRIBUTE TO DON LANE Nine 491,000 165,000 130,000 94,000 56,000 47,000
10 BORDER SECURITY Seven 475,000 117,000 149,000 91,000 35,000 83,000
11 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 475,000 125,000 133,000 119,000 45,000 53,000
12 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 464,000 168,000 115,000 96,000 44,000 40,000
13 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 447,000 149,000 124,000 85,000 39,000 51,000
14 THE MENTALIST Nine 443,000 116,000 150,000 102,000 28,000 48,000
15 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 441,000 113,000 117,000 121,000 33,000 57,000
16 SECRET MILLIONAIRE Nine 438,000 149,000 112,000 92,000 37,000 47,000
17 ALL SAINTS Seven 428,000 133,000 129,000 79,000 42,000 45,000
18 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 423,000 102,000 113,000 101,000 39,000 67,000
19 TWO AND A HALF MEN -FRI Nine 419,000 100,000 143,000 99,000 36,000 41,000
20 GETAWAY Nine 417,000 120,000 129,000 81,000 39,000 48,000
21 THE 39 STEPS ABC1 414,000 142,000 149,000 55,000 31,000 38,000

22 60 MINUTES Nine 413,000 127,000 142,000 76,000 29,000 39,000
23 BONES Seven 412,000 109,000 108,000 82,000 45,000 69,000
24 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 412,000 126,000 127,000 83,000 40,000 36,000
25 20 TO 1 -SUN Nine 408,000 115,000 122,000 96,000 35,000 40,000
26 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 406,000 104,000 129,000 92,000 33,000 49,000
27 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 402,000 114,000 105,000 86,000 38,000 59,000
28 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 402,000 116,000 146,000 77,000 36,000 27,000
29 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 399,000 105,000 129,000 76,000 43,000 46,000
30 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 391,000 118,000 91,000 88,000 49,000 44,000
31 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 390,000 115,000 105,000 83,000 41,000 47,000
32 RPA WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Nine 389,000 125,000 113,000 75,000 39,000 37,000
33 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 386,000 125,000 118,000 95,000 28,000 20,000
34 TWO AND A HALF MEN -TUE Nine 379,000 108,000 126,000 69,000 30,000 46,000
35 JOHN SAFRAN'S RACE RELATIONS ABC1 379,000 137,000 101,000 70,000 31,000 39,000
192 THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW ABC2 71,000 20,000 24,000 10,000 6,000 11,000
193 WIPEOUT GO! 70,000 11,000 18,000 19,000 12,000 9,000
226 JOHN SAFRAN'S RACE RELATIONS ABC2 55,000 23,000 9,000 8,000 6,000 9,000
250 TORCHWOOD ABC2 43,000 8,000 12,000 7,000 8,000 9,000
253 HOGAN'S HEROES GO! 42,000 8,000 12,000 12,000 3,000 7,000
260 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TWENTY20 CRICKET 2009 LIVE ONE 40,000 8,000 11,000 10,000 8,000 3,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals, OG1/2)

The future of free to air
Channel Seven has just announced the content of its second channel, and it looks as if several readers of this forum were excellent soothsayers (click here to read their predictions). Called 7TWO, it will launch on Sunday November 1 and be a mixture of nostalgia and cult (ie repeats and flops).

Seven's Director of Programming, Tim Worner, is quoted thus: "I am pleased to announce that 7TWO will be the new home for premiere episodes of our international hits including J. J. Abrams Lost, Ugly Betty, Heroes and 24 ... Iconic programs including mob hit The Sopranos, much loved drama Six Feet Under and groundbreaking comedy Murphy Brown will screen on the channel alongside new, primetime episodes of The Jay Leno Show, five nights a week.

"7TWO will feature the very best of British television from traditional tried and true favourites A Touch of Frost, Prime Suspect, Judge John Deed, Rosemary and Thyme and Minder to premiere episodes of motoring hit Fifth Gear, Heartbeat, Holby Blue, Benidorm, Gavin and Stacey, and Britain's Best Dish. Additional themed nights of programming include Action and Adventure, Lifestyle and Movies with the latter featuring an extensive catalogue of family titles from Disney's studios."

The daytime schedule will include cooking shows and repeats of Home and Away, Sons and Daughters, Magnum PI and Moonlighting. So, a lot like like Pay TV, for the cost of a digital box. The "face of 7TWO" will be Tom Williams, which may explain earlier rumours that it was going to be called 7MATE.

What Australia barely watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 HOPE SPRINGS ABC1 1,043,000 322,000 297,000 186,000 96,000 142,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,042,000 244,000 242,000 266,000 116,000 174,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,010,000 251,000 339,000 190,000 110,000 121,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 992,000 236,000 289,000 221,000 119,000 126,000
5 THE BILL ABC1 979,000 277,000 313,000 135,000 101,000 153,000
8 TAGGART ABC1 883,000 256,000 267,000 128,000 108,000 125,000
10 YOURS, MINE AND OURS -RPT Nine 713,000 191,000 253,000 129,000 53,000 86,000
12 WHAT LIES BENEATH Ten 481,000 127,000 152,000 76,000 66,000 60,000
15 M-BRIDGE TO TERABITHIA Seven 454,000 Not shown because of Toy Story 196,000 Not shown because of Toy Story 100,000 158,000
16 M-TOY STORY Seven 415,000 241,000 Not shown because of Bridge to Terabithia 174,000 Not shown because of Bridge to Terabithia Ditto
20 M-TOY STORY 2 Seven 377,000 253,000 125,000
23 M-ELLA ENCHANTED Seven 343,000 168,000 68,000 108,000
25 MYTHBUSTERS: YOUNG SCIENTIST SPECIAL SBS ONE 311,000 63,000 120,000 36,000 35,000 57,000
56 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TWENTY20 CRICKET 2009 - FINAL ONE 104,000 44,000 23,000 19,000 13,000 4,000
65 POKO ABC2 95,000 25,000 29,000 23,000 12,000 5,000
66 HOGAN'S HEROES GO! 94,000 33,000 21,000 17,000 7,000 15,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,348,000 421,000 383,000 228,000 165,000 150,000
2 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,274,000 367,000 406,000 197,000 139,000 166,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,149,000 259,000 319,000 280,000 128,000 164,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -FRI Nine 1,139,000 270,000 364,000 255,000 114,000 135,000
5 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,128,000 284,000 303,000 229,000 148,000 163,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,000,000 296,000 278,000 227,000 115,000 85,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 996,000 268,000 243,000 206,000 154,000 125,000
13 M-THE WORLD IS NOT ENOUGH Seven 744,000 218,000 233,000 133,000 82,000 78,000
14 THE DA VINCI CODE -RPT Nine 712,000 208,000 241,000 115,000 74,000 75,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 493,000 151,000 124,000 115,000 54,000 50,000
22 THE SPEARMAN EXPERIMENT FRI Ten 488,000 163,000 115,000 102,000 58,000 50,000
76 TORCHWOOD ABC2 117,000 17,000 32,000 22,000 17,000 30,000
100 GOOD GAME ABC1 78,000 19,000 32,000 8,000 9,000 9,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 A TRIBUTE TO DON LANE Nine 1,261,000 366,000 394,000 226,000 167,000 107,000
2 GETAWAY Nine 1,213,000 311,000 431,000 201,000 138,000 132,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,141,000 295,000 304,000 241,000 142,000 158,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,090,000 304,000 267,000 223,000 143,000 152,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,060,000 247,000 386,000 178,000 124,000 125,000
6 SECRET MILLIONAIRE Nine 1,015,000 301,000 325,000 166,000 121,000 102,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,005,000 247,000 272,000 221,000 150,000 116,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,003,000 320,000 289,000 159,000 94,000 141,000
9 RUSH Ten 973,000 250,000 311,000 156,000 125,000 132,000
10 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 952,000 297,000 279,000 168,000 118,000 90,000
11 GLEE THURS Ten 951,000 277,000 259,000 187,000 119,000 110,000
14 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 843,000 208,000 252,000 189,000 97,000 97,000
15 BURN NOTICE Ten 796,000 191,000 235,000 129,000 132,000 110,000
17 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 716,000 217,000 237,000 105,000 94,000 62,000
22 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 616,000 149,000 205,000 127,000 59,000 76,000
36 LUKE NGUYEN'S VIETNAM SBS ONE 323,000 86,000 127,000 66,000 19,000 26,000
87 THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW ABC2 118,000 27,000 39,000 13,000 12,000 27,000
100 THE NANNY GO! 88,000 36,000 22,000 6,000 2,000 22,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,304,000 350,000 414,000 228,000 140,000 172,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,287,000 313,000 387,000 253,000 141,000 192,000
3 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,279,000 367,000 441,000 185,000 131,000 154,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,210,000 325,000 396,000 220,000 122,000 146,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,184,000 317,000 326,000 249,000 121,000 170,000
6 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,141,000 390,000 327,000 206,000 98,000 120,000
7 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 1,052,000 297,000 287,000 187,000 134,000 146,000
8 RPA WHERE ARE THEY NOW? Nine 1,034,000 332,000 319,000 175,000 113,000 95,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 991,000 240,000 335,000 215,000 98,000 103,000
10 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 989,000 228,000 318,000 162,000 127,000 153,000
11 MONEY FOR JAM Nine 982,000 289,000 294,000 175,000 117,000 106,000
19 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 744,000 235,000 235,000 132,000 65,000 77,000
24 JOHN SAFRAN'S RACE RELATIONS ABC1 705,000 249,000 212,000 120,000 60,000 64,000
34 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 397,000 114,000 96,000 66,000 69,000 52,000
50 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS ONE 229,000 73,000 71,000 34,000 18,000 33,000
55 ERKY PERKY ABC1 203,000 54,000 48,000 39,000 24,000 37,000
57 BERT AND ERNIE'S GREAT ADVENTURES ABC1 194,000 64,000 62,000 21,000 10,000 36,000
61 ADVENTURES OF BOTTLE TOP BILL AND HIS BEST FRIEND ABC1 180,000 59,000 59,000 15,000 10,000 37,000
85 THE PINKY AND PERKY SHOW ABC1 117,000 43,000 31,000 21,000 4,000 17,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,701,000 481,000 523,000 286,000 204,000 207,000
2 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,352,000 348,000 391,000 264,000 152,000 197,000
3 NCIS Ten 1,347,000 332,000 381,000 272,000 155,000 207,000
4 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,337,000 288,000 374,000 274,000 183,000 219,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,322,000 314,000 338,000 291,000 158,000 221,000
6 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,278,000 338,000 397,000 238,000 138,000 167,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,188,000 283,000 400,000 237,000 108,000 160,000
8 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,127,000 319,000 324,000 231,000 112,000 141,000
14 LIE TO ME Ten 955,000 253,000 284,000 161,000 126,000 132,000
20 CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM Nine 755,000 230,000 251,000 142,000 58,000 73,000
23 AUSSIE LADETTE TO LADY Nine 693,000 158,000 281,000 96,000 74,000 84,000
25 THE SPHINX UNMASKED ABC1 652,000 199,000 177,000 118,000 70,000 89,000
74 EAST WEST 101 SBS ONE 154,000 76,000 31,000 30,000 8,000 10,000
91 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 97,000 25,000 23,000 17,000 23,000 10,000
93 NEW IDEA TV Seven 94,000 25,000 36,000 12,000 9,000 11,000

What Australia watched, Monday, including Good Game at Arthur's request
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,438,000 349,000 484,000 298,000 119,000 187,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,411,000 344,000 360,000 335,000 165,000 208,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,356,000 327,000 349,000 309,000 145,000 226,000
4 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,347,000 351,000 378,000 281,000 158,000 179,000
5 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,292,000 393,000 352,000 209,000 161,000 175,000
6 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,282,000 331,000 349,000 269,000 139,000 194,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,218,000 293,000 392,000 256,000 107,000 170,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,207,000 327,000 315,000 261,000 151,000 153,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,190,000 311,000 371,000 268,000 122,000 117,000
10 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,182,000 315,000 403,000 241,000 89,000 133,000
11 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,181,000 331,000 397,000 232,000 90,000 132,000
12 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,156,000 312,000 361,000 268,000 109,000 105,000
13 ABC NEWS ABC1 955,000 265,000 298,000 191,000 77,000 125,000
14 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 948,000 280,000 293,000 175,000 103,000 97,000
18 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 779,000 238,000 230,000 153,000 57,000 102,000
26 LITTLE BRITAIN USA MON Ten 656,000 185,000 219,000 113,000 72,000 66,000
27 MERCY Seven 648,000 194,000 173,000 104,000 88,000 89,000
32 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 450,000 132,000 150,000 71,000 53,000 44,000
97 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 102,000 23,000 17,000 19,000 28,000 16,000
99 DOCTOR WHO ABC2 95,000 24,000 37,000 12,000 11,000 12,000
110 NIP/TUCK GO! 71,000 9,000 14,000 16,000 16,000 16,000
119 VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 64,000 16,000 14,000 12,000 11,000 11,000
155 GOOD GAME ABC2 40,000 4,000 15,000 6,000 8,000 6,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE FORCE Seven 1,538,000 365,000 431,000 302,000 167,000 274,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,424,000 354,000 415,000 299,000 140,000 217,000
3 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,386,000 336,000 372,000 325,000 143,000 209,000
4 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,175,000 296,000 297,000 286,000 123,000 174,000
5 THE 39 STEPS ABC1 1,144,000 343,000 413,000 154,000 106,000 129,000
6 BONES Seven 1,144,000 291,000 324,000 229,000 134,000 166,000
7 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,113,000 313,000 352,000 224,000 136,000 89,000
8 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 1,064,000 354,000 273,000 210,000 110,000 116,000
9 60 MINUTES Nine 1,059,000 282,000 373,000 206,000 99,000 99,000
10 20 TO 1 -SUN Nine 1,035,000 304,000 301,000 216,000 103,000 110,000
11 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 1,020,000 278,000 378,000 160,000 114,000 90,000
12 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC1 966,000 286,000 320,000 168,000 82,000 111,000
13 ROVE Ten 851,000 234,000 302,000 136,000 88,000 90,000
14 GANGES ABC1 840,000 235,000 278,000 135,000 89,000 102,000
15 CSI: MIAMI Nine 809,000 204,000 283,000 126,000 104,000 91,000
16 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SUN Ten 789,000 191,000 247,000 181,000 76,000 94,000
17 CASTLE Seven 774,000 227,000 224,000 136,000 95,000 92,000
19 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION SUN RPT Ten 684,000 178,000 211,000 124,000 69,000 102,000
29 WIPEOUT GO! 294,000 43,000 119,000 48,000 44,000 41,000
30 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 291,000 94,000 78,000 49,000 25,000 45,000
62 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 146,000 22,000 58,000 26,000 23,000 17,000
84 CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM GO! 91,000 15,000 44,000 11,000 12,000 9,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)
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 whoweare-index at 09:36 AM
• Comments (65)

WHO WE ARE: Ask and ye shall be confused

To learn why the music of 1969 is better than the music of 2009, go to The Tribal Mind.

A column by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 18/10/2009
SO FAR this year, 91 per cent of Australians have been asked if they would answer a few questions for some sort of poll, survey or research project. Of these, 83 per cent said yes.

Of these, 40 per cent terminated the conversation when they realized it was actually an attempt to sell them a holiday package, phone plan, or course in scientology. Of the rest, 85 per cent spent up to 15 minutes answering the questions honestly and thoughtfully, while 15 per cent had a great time yanking the interviewer's chain. Of the conscientious majority, 97 per cent will never find out the results of the research in which they participated.

As you've gathered, I made up all those statistics - just like most of the politicians, pundits and PR people who bombard the media every day with assertions about what "the average Australian" wants, buys, fears, believes and won't stand for.

We have no way of knowing how often the average Australian gets surveyed, because nobody has done a survey about it. My household has been phoned seven times in the past month by alleged survey companies, of which three seemed to be genuine. Australia is suffering surplus survey syndrome. We will have to declare this The Year of the Opinion Poll.

I always agree to participate in such research, and I hope everyone else does, because I use that kind of information in my journalism. Paradoxically, I was told that I was not needed by one of the pollsters as soon as I revealed that I was a journalist. Which made me suspect that whoever commissioned the poll did not want the world to know these questions were being asked - presumably because they planned to keep the data to themselves, or release only those results that suited their commercial or political agenda.

This column being about Australian identity, I keep track of all poll results that receive any kind of public release. Many are dodgy, because the sample size was too small or because there was a bias in the way the sample was selected. But from the reliable minority, here are a few examples of the insights we've gained this year into What Australians Believe:

Did Jesus rise from the dead? A survey of 2500 Australians, conducted for the Centre for Public Christianity, found 54 per cent saying yes. Asked if Jesus was a real figure, 11 per cent said no, 39 per cent said yes but he did not have divine powers, and 50 per cent said yes and he had divine powers. Asked when Jesus lived, 31 per cent said BC (before he was born).

Should gay people be allowed to marry? A Galaxy Research survey of 1100 people, commissioned by the lobby group Australian Marriage Equality, found 68 per cent of women and 53 per cent of men saying yes.

Is torture an acceptable way to gain information from enemy soldiers? A survey of 1,000 Australians, conducted for the Red Cross, found 40 per cent said yes. But 93 per cent said war crimes should be prosecuted.

Should women breastfeed in public? A Newspoll of 1000 men and women, commissioned by the Australian Lactation Consultants Association, found that 36 per cent said no. It also found 34 per cent say a baby should stop breastfeeding within six months, 39 per cent say within 12 months and only 10 per cent say between one and two years.

What are you having for dinner tonight? A Pollinate survey of 2000 people, conducted for Adelaide's Sunday Mail newspaper, got this answer: 1 Spaghetti bolognese; 2 Roast chicken and vegetables 3 Steak with salad or vegetables; 4 Fish with salad or vegetables; 5 Pizza. Farewell the meat pie as our national dish (for recipes, go to spag bol).

How long will Malcolm Turnbull survive? This is the question that currently obsesses the media. Last week it generated a tsunami of polling across the nation. All three major research agencies went into a phoning frenzy.

Nielsen asked 1400 voters their voting intention and this question: "Who is your preferred Liberal leader?" and got ALP 46 per cent and L-NP 37, and 33 per cent for Hockey, 31 for Turnbull, and 21 for Abbott. This caused The Sydney Morning Herald to lead its front page with this headline: "Hockey firms as voters' choice".

Newspoll asked 1153 voters their voting intention and this question: "Which one of the following do you think would be the best candidate to lead the Liberal Party?" and got ALP 47 and L-NP 36 and Hockey 24, Turnbull 32 and Abbott 16, causing The Australian to lead its front page with this headline: "Turnbull leadership boost".

Roy Morgan Research asked 549 voters their voting intention and this quesiton "If you were a Liberal or National Party voter and helping to choose the Coalition leader for the next electon, who would you prefer?" and got ALP 46.5 and LNP 37 and Hockey 30, Turnbull 21, Abbott 17, Julie Bishop 9, Andrew Robb 4 and Christopher Pyne 2, causing Gary Morgan to headline his report: "Liberal voters prefer Hockey to Turnbull".

Gary Morgan thinks the variation between poll results is explainable by the ways the question was asked. Newspoll's use of the phrase "best candidate to lead the Liberal Party" raises the problem of what the word "best" means to the person interviewed. Morgan wonders: "Does 'best' mean 'best' for Australia? Or 'best' for the Liberal Party? Or 'best' for an elector's needs."

For Labor voters, the best Liberal candidate might be the one most likely to lose the next election. But how many of the 46.5 per cent who said they will vote Labor interpreted the leadership question in that Machiavellian way?

(Morgan also points out that surveys conducted by phone are less reliable than face to face interviews, because they do not reach the very poor: "Face-to-face polls include non-telephone owners, of whom significantly more vote ALP than L-NP," he says. I have my doubts about this. Nowadays, many young adults don't bother to have a landline connected because they conduct their communications on mobiles, at vast expense. A random sample of people whose home numbers can be found in the phone book is likely to under-represent the young and rich as much as the old and homeless.)

You have to feel sorry for Nielsen, Newspoll and Morgan. After paying a fortune to Telstra, the researchers have left everybody more confused than ever on the Turnbull question.

In this Year Of The Poll, we need to help them. The next time someone asks if you'd mind answering a few questions, set two conditions: "Only if you'll call me back and tell me the final results" and "Only if you'll let me explain how I'm interpreting the questions and what my responses mean." That should get the interviewer off the phone and you back to your dinner pretty quickly.

Go to Comments to tell us your experience with pollsters

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 whoweare-index at 10:55 PM
• Comments (14)

The Tribal Mind: What's the BIG idea?

To discuss the reliability of opinion polls, go to Who We Are

by David Dale
ONE DOOR closes, another opens. Just as the citizens of Ballina, on the NSW north coast, are planning to dismantle their Big Prawn, the citizens of Ulladulla, on the NSW south coast, are debating whether to erect a Big Marlin.

"This will put us on the map," say some Ulladullans, echoing a sentiment that must have been expressed time and again in towns all around Australia. "This will make us a laughing stock," say other Ulladullans, echoing a sentiment expressed somewhat less often, if we're to judge by the number of Bigs that have popped up across this continent in the past 30 years.

On the map or laughing stock -- either result is fine, I say. They should just go for it. To back away would be an insult to Australian culture.

I'm poking my nose into this local dispute because I'm a connoisseur of Bigs, going out of my way to see them whenever I travel and always delighted by the spectacle, even when they are monuments to dagginess -- like the Big Turd ... sorry, Potato, at Robertson, NSW.

These are the ones I've seen so far, in order of awesomeness: 1 the Big Lobster, Kingston, South Australia; 2 the Big Bull, Wauchope, NSW (sadly now dismantled) 3 the Big Pineapple, Gympie, Qld; 4 the Big Merino, Goulburn; 5 the Big Guitar, Tamworth; 6 the Big Trout, Adaminaby; 7 the Big Banana, Coffs Harbour; 8 the Big Pelican, Noosa, Qld; 9 The Big Goldpanner, Bathurst; 10 the Big Oyster, Taree.

My dream is to see before I die the Big Murray Cod at Tocumwal - which the photos suggest is a spotty green and white masterpiece. But doubtless it will be surpassed by the Big Marlin. The Milton Ulladulla Times predicts that "the big fish would be at least one metre larger than Australia's current biggest icon", but does not say what the record holder is.

In these decisions, size is all that matters. Which tends to support the theory that for a town, the urge to erect a Big Thing is the equivalent of the urge to buy a red sports car on the part of a man with a small penis. It bespeaks an inferiority complex. The Milton Ulladulla Times anticipates that kind of scepticism in its front page report on the debate, which is headed "Big Fish: Icon Or Eyesore?" It quotes Shoalhaven City Councillor, Robert Miller, thus: "It was a bit of a joke at first, but - who knows - it could be just what the town needs ... It is the most promising idea I've heard that can turn around the fortunes of Ulladulla."

It's good to live in hope. But if I can make a small criticism, Ulladulla's concept seems unfocussed, a throwback to the 20th century. I think it's time for Australia to embark on a new generation of bigs, to move on from wildlife to human symbolism. Here are a few thoughts to get you started:

How about the Big Asylum Seeker, to be erected on Christmas Island, off Western Australia? The Big Biffologist, near one of the Brisbane motels where NRL players go to celebrate victories (and no, he would not have his pants round its ankles). The Big Shooter, to be erected in Lygon Street, Melbourne (modelled on Carl Williams, to inspire tourists attracted by Underbelly). In the Melbourne CBD, the Big Banker. In Sydney's West, the Big Bikie. At Cronulla beach, The Big Rioter. Outside NSW Parliament, the Big Richo.

Go to Comments to add your Big ideas. And when your town council proposes to build a Big Thing, here's one thought to cling to: At Least It Isn't a Monorail.

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 04:08 PM
• Comments (8)

The Tribal Mind: Hip to be square

by David Dale
Two jaw-dropping moments in the recent Hey Hey It's Saturday Reunions were the final evidence for the case that daggy is the new black. You realise that a spectrum which used to stretch from cool at one end to daggy at the other has been bent into a circle when ...

An 11 year old boy demonstrates the many uses of Vegemite by smearing it over his chest as sunscreen, dobbing it under his arms as deodorant and rubbing it through his hair as styling gel. Then a stranger rushes up, scrapes paste off his body with a knife, spreads it on a bread roll and eats it. The boy wins top prize in the Red Faces segment. The show attracts 2.2 million viewers in the mainland capitals.

Five men wearing blackface and fuzzy-wuzzy wigs gyrate around while a sixth man in whiteface sings a Michael Jackson song. They come last in Red Faces and guest judge Harry Connick Jnr says he would never have agreed to be in the segment if he'd known they would put on something so demeaning about African-Americans. The show attracts 2.3 million viewers in the mainland capitals.

Australians believe Daryl Somers when he says he didn't see anything wrong with the blackface segment before it went to air, but now understands why Connick was offended. The mock-golliwogs were repeating an act they performed 20 years ago on the original Hey Hey It's Saturday. Somers failed to realise that social attitudes have changed in the intervening decades, because he's an idiot. But that's exactly why Australians have embraced Hey Hey in the past two weeks. The reunions took us back to a time when we didn't have to think about such inconvenient truths as racist stereotyping.

Dags may be silly some of the time and lame a lot of the time, but they are not cynical. What Australians love about dags is their innocent enthusiasm - a recurring theme in this nation's history. Innocent enthusiasm sent thousands of Australians up the cliffs at Gallipoli in 1915. It may have been a ridiculous battle strategy, but at least they had a go, and they died occupying the high moral ground.

It was innocent enthusiasm that took a tap-dancing knife thrower named Paul Hogan into a talent quest which led to comedy routines on A Current Affair and then to a hit series in which he and his business partner John Cornell made dagginess an art form.

It was the innocent enthusiasm of Sharon Strzelecki in Kath and Kim that caused Magda Szubanski to be regularly voted Australia's best known and most liked personality in the Q-Scores survey (until she was replaced this year by Hugh Jackman). And it was innocent enthusiasm that kept Australia's Funniest Home Videos on top of the Saturday night charts for year after year. So why would anyone be surprised by the success of Hey Hey?

Great moments in Australian dagophilia
1 Hey Hey It's Saturday Reunion tops the ratings two weeks in a row (2009)
2 The Castle sells 2 million tickets (1997)
3 Gosford housewife Julie Goodwin wins MasterChef and pulls a record 3.7 million viewers (2009)
4 Magda Szubanski is rated Australia's most liked person in the Q-scores survey (2005-2008)
5 All Aussie Adventures attracts 2.1 million viewers (2002)
6 The Norman Gunston Show moves from the ABC to Channel Seven and tops the ratings (1975-79)
7 Muriel's Wedding sells 4 million tickets (1994)
8 The Paul Hogan Show tops the ratings (1973-1984)
9 Casey Donovan's victory in Australian Idol draws a record 3.3 million viewers (2004)
10. Fish-and-chippie Regina Bird wins Big Brother and attracts 2.3 million viewers (2003)

In 21st century television, the opposite end of the spectrum from dagginess is not coolness - it's cynical exploitation. Which brings us to Celebrity MasterChef. The version of MasterChef that went to air earlier this year was a model of innocent enthusiasm - both from the contestants and the judges. The current spinoff has moved some distance from that end of the spectrum. The contestants know how to play to an audience. And the judges know how to make money, raising serious credibility issues by puffing products in every commercial break. It might look to some viewers as if some opinions can be bought.

No wonder Australians turn to a show in which what you see is what you get. Hey Hey may be stupid and self indulgent and sentimental and childish and offensive. But it's not cynical. Long live the dag in all of us.

To nominate your favourite dag moments, 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 06:58 AM
• Comments (9)

The Who We Are update: Week 42

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.

To discuss the reliability of opinion polls, go to Who We Are.
To discuss if erecting a Big Thing means a town has a small penis, go to The Tribal Mind.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
In a rare moment of full and frank disclosure, Channel Nine has released a rundown of how the stations have been attracting audiences this year. In the course of that report, Nine also reveals the name of the new digital station which Seven intends to launch in November. Apparently it will be called TBA. Here is the essence of Nine's roundup ...

Prime time audience shares for the week ending October 17: SBS1 5.1 per cent, SBS2 0.4; ABC2 15.9, ABC1 1.2; Ten 20.2, ONE 1.6; Nine 24.1, GO 2.4; Seven 29.0, TBA 0.0.
Prime time audience shares for the ratings year so far:
SBS1&2 5.9
ABC1&2 17.0
Ten&ONE 22.7
Nine&GO 26.6
Seven&TBA 27.8.

BUT for the year so far, Nine has the biggest share of viewers aged 25-54 and Ten has the biggest share of viewers aged 16-39.

Of course, all the percentages above are shares of free to air viewing. The numbers reduce if you include Pay TV in the mix. Across the mainland capitals each week, about 20 per cent of all viewing is to subscription channels. The shares above are shares of the other 80 per cent. This was Pay's account of itself for the week:

"The FOX Sports' coverage of the Asian Cup qualifier, Live: Football: AFC Asian Cup Qualifier Aus v Oman topped the week on subscription TV with 248,000 viewers. Live: Football: A-League Adel v Sydney was watched by 73,000, Live: Football: EPL A Villa v Chelsea was seen by 68,000 and Live: Cricket: Ford Ranger Cup was seen by 68,000 people (all on FOX Sports).

"New Zealand's Next Top Model premiered on FOX8 with 111,000 viewers, NCIS on TV1 was watched by 99,000 people, Stargate: Universe on Sci Fi was seen by 90,000 and Grand Designs on Lifestyle was viewed by 87,000 people. Doc Martin on UKTV had its biggest audience of the year so far with 81,000 viewers, Law & Order on W was watched by 76,000 and 71,000 people saw Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr.

"In week 42, STV channels represented 20.6% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 19.6% of all regional viewing and 55.1% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

Just for a change, what viewers aged over 55 watched, week ending October 17
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 766,000 191,000 182,000 210,000 80,000 104,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 735,000 187,000 217,000 134,000 96,000 101,000
3 ABC NEWS-SU ABC1 732,000 217,000 225,000 135,000 74,000 81,000
4 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 720,000 208,000 233,000 121,000 73,000 85,000
5 FOUR CORNERS ABC1 683,000 198,000 178,000 136,000 61,000 110,000
6 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 677,000 146,000 221,000 137,000 86,000 88,000
7 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 676,000 175,000 192,000 133,000 84,000 91,000
8 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC1 672,000 220,000 185,000 123,000 61,000 83,000
9 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 672,000 162,000 197,000 135,000 96,000 83,000
10 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 668,000 139,000 220,000 136,000 83,000 90,000
11 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 656,000 150,000 157,000 173,000 72,000 104,000
12 JONATHAN CREEK: THE GRINNING MAN ABC1 652,000 207,000 185,000 104,000 71,000 86,000
13 ABC NEWS ABC1 635,000 193,000 194,000 112,000 56,000 80,000
14 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 630,000 168,000 170,000 122,000 87,000 82,000
15 BORDER SECURITY Seven 626,000 203,000 147,000 130,000 72,000 74,000
16 HEART AND SOUL ABC1 618,000 171,000 187,000 96,000 78,000 86,000
17 HUNTER ABC1 609,000 198,000 179,000 96,000 71,000 65,000
18 THE BILL ABC1 590,000 178,000 160,000 91,000 76,000 85,000
19 GANGES ABC1 583,000 161,000 150,000 126,000 69,000 77,000

20 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 577,000 170,000 146,000 109,000 76,000 76,000
21 NINE NEWS Nine 572,000 144,000 174,000 127,000 69,000 58,000
22 BORDER SECURITY WED (R) Seven 563,000 150,000 154,000 98,000 74,000 87,000
23 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 558,000 151,000 147,000 123,000 62,000 76,000
24 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 549,000 127,000 179,000 105,000 64,000 73,000
25 MEDIA WATCH ABC1 545,000 161,000 161,000 88,000 47,000 88,000
26 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 543,000 149,000 132,000 113,000 68,000 81,000
27 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 541,000 158,000 186,000 74,000 75,000 48,000
28 CSI Nine 538,000 147,000 170,000 77,000 63,000 82,000
29 7.30 REPORT ABC1 536,000 178,000 140,000 106,000 53,000 59,000
30 TAGGART ABC1 534,000 155,000 168,000 70,000 67,000 74,000
31 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 521,000 108,000 167,000 104,000 73,000 69,000
32 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 514,000 126,000 161,000 116,000 53,000 57,000
33 GARDENING AUSTRALIA-EV ABC1 510,000 122,000 166,000 101,000 62,000 59,000
34 GETAWAY Nine 507,000 138,000 154,000 102,000 57,000 56,000
35 CATALYST- ABC1 495,000 157,000 133,000 86,000 57,000 61,000
36 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 492,000 128,000 131,000 92,000 64,000 77,000
37 ALL SAINTS Seven 482,000 142,000 146,000 81,000 62,000 51,000
38 STATELINE ABC1 481,000 151,000 132,000 87,000 59,000 53,000
39 THE EINSTEIN FACTOR ABC1 479,000 125,000 144,000 95,000 63,000 52,000
40 COLLECTORS ABC1 475,000 139,000 159,000 77,000 50,000 49,000
(OzTAM 55+, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,153,000 281,000 318,000 264,000 109,000 181,000
2 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 987,000 298,000 308,000 170,000 98,000 112,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 906,000 257,000 273,000 183,000 113,000 80,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 845,000 236,000 248,000 186,000 79,000 96,000
5 THE BILL ABC1 821,000 247,000 234,000 121,000 86,000 132,000
6 HEART AND SOUL ABC1 811,000 237,000 244,000 121,000 91,000 118,000
7 M-DEJA VU Seven 811,000 251,000 242,000 158,000 89,000 71,000
8 HOME ALONE 2: LOST IN NEW YORK RPT Ten 765,000 197,000 218,000 180,000 72,000 97,000
9 M-A BUG'S LIFE Seven 751,000 229,000 283,000 161,000 79,000
11 TAGGART ABC1 726,000 218,000 228,000 98,000 75,000 107,000
12 HEY HEY REUNION -RPT Nine 725,000 221,000 261,000 138,000 49,000 55,000
15 X-MEN: THE LAST STAND RPT Ten 599,000 150,000 216,000 116,000 63,000 55,000
20 M-DODGEBALL: A TRUE UNDERDOG STORY Seven 361,000 118,000 137,000 46,000 31,000 29,000
21 GROUNDHOG DAY Nine 349,000 102,000 110,000 75,000 30,000 32,000
25 DEXTER SAT Ten 248,000 66,000 88,000 43,000 33,000 19,000
28 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 240,000 82,000 75,000 35,000 28,000 20,000
29 ROCKWIZ SBS ONE 232,000 71,000 73,000 37,000 23,000 27,000
61 THE FLINTSTONES GO! 114,000 33,000 63,000 5,000 9,000 4,000
62 THE NANNY GO! 111,000 55,000 25,000 14,000 8,000 9,000
67 HOGAN'S HEROES GO! 105,000 49,000 22,000 11,000 12,000 12,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,390,000 399,000 380,000 259,000 174,000 177,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,297,000 319,000 379,000 264,000 152,000 183,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,187,000 293,000 349,000 248,000 150,000 148,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -FRI Nine 1,056,000 219,000 398,000 223,000 89,000 128,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,044,000 290,000 339,000 226,000 112,000 76,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,034,000 267,000 282,000 217,000 143,000 125,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 968,000 198,000 354,000 206,000 101,000 108,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 906,000 224,000 297,000 200,000 93,000 92,000
9 ABC NEWS ABC1 892,000 280,000 270,000 159,000 80,000 104,000
10 HUNTER ABC1 892,000 290,000 254,000 151,000 102,000 94,000
11 LOVE ACTUALLY RPT Ten 849,000 250,000 289,000 150,000 72,000 89,000
12 M-TOMORROW NEVER DIES Seven 780,000 246,000 232,000 148,000 109,000 44,000
17 THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION -RPT Nine 658,000 156,000 273,000 101,000 60,000 67,000
22 THE SPEARMAN EXPERIMENT FRI Ten 525,000 164,000 136,000 106,000 55,000 65,000
40 PARIS: CITY OF DREAMS RPT SBS ONE 268,000 92,000 102,000 44,000 17,000 12,000
74 GODZILLA GO! 137,000 7,000 59,000 37,000 15,000 18,000
76 TORCHWOOD ABC2 135,000 32,000 35,000 30,000 12,000 26,000
108 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TWENTY20 CRICKET 2009 LIVE ONE 66,000 15,000 19,000 13,000 13,000 6,000
191 CHARLIE'S ANGELS GO! 22,000 9,000 5,000 3,000 3,000 2,000
195 THE GLASS HOUSE RPT ABC1 22,000 13,000 3,000 3,000 0 2,000
216 THE HIDDEN BLADE RPT SBS TWO 15,000 6,000 6,000 1,000 1,000 2,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,193,000 297,000 321,000 260,000 158,000 157,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,189,000 312,000 311,000 266,000 138,000 162,000
3 CSI Nine 1,119,000 318,000 329,000 194,000 123,000 155,000
4 GETAWAY Nine 1,073,000 287,000 338,000 214,000 109,000 124,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,073,000 261,000 354,000 229,000 109,000 119,000
6 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,067,000 335,000 367,000 116,000 121,000 129,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,040,000 275,000 281,000 210,000 149,000 125,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,006,000 279,000 350,000 184,000 97,000 96,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 999,000 286,000 322,000 192,000 109,000 90,000
10 THE SECRET MILLIONAIRE Nine 946,000 268,000 277,000 162,000 103,000 136,000
11 GLEE THURS Ten 923,000 271,000 255,000 207,000 84,000 105,000
12 ABC NEWS ABC1 920,000 294,000 268,000 154,000 87,000 117,000
13 RUSH Ten 909,000 211,000 283,000 199,000 97,000 118,000
14 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 873,000 229,000 267,000 174,000 104,000 99,000
16 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 804,000 263,000 281,000 88,000 95,000 76,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 659,000 183,000 213,000 140,000 53,000 70,000
22 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 607,000 161,000 175,000 121,000 83,000 67,000
23 HOT SEAT Nine 600,000 153,000 189,000 134,000 73,000 50,000
33 E.R. Nine 356,000 105,000 107,000 58,000 42,000 44,000
40 LUKE NGUYEN'S VIETNAM SBS ONE 282,000 100,000 77,000 52,000 21,000 33,000
111 UFC WIRED ONE 71,000 12,000 39,000 8,000 13,000
143 DROP DEAD DIVA GO! 46,000 9,000 21,000 5,000 8,000 3,000
146 MOONLIGHT GO! 45,000 9,000 15,000 11,000 7,000 4,000
177 WILDSIDE ABC1 30,000 7,000 13,000 3,000 6,000 0
197 BOXING: KO TV CLASSIC ONE 22,000 6,000 9,000 3,000 3,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,365,000 343,000 371,000 260,000 163,000 228,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,364,000 375,000 355,000 273,000 142,000 218,000
3 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,322,000 351,000 381,000 241,000 156,000 193,000
4 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,244,000 339,000 339,000 246,000 143,000 176,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,219,000 339,000 345,000 292,000 97,000 146,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,198,000 299,000 356,000 288,000 104,000 151,000
7 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,185,000 325,000 373,000 220,000 122,000 144,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,174,000 363,000 301,000 207,000 141,000 162,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,114,000 288,000 352,000 264,000 102,000 108,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 1,079,000 290,000 334,000 255,000 109,000 92,000
11 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 1,075,000 304,000 268,000 217,000 134,000 152,000
12 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,069,000 387,000 278,000 225,000 74,000 105,000
13 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,032,000 267,000 311,000 177,000 122,000 156,000
14 RPA Nine 945,000 290,000 304,000 169,000 89,000 92,000
22 UNITED STATES OF TARA ABC1 732,000 269,000 248,000 98,000 55,000 61,000
23 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 719,000 262,000 206,000 141,000 45,000 65,000
52 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS ONE 233,000 64,000 69,000 44,000 19,000 37,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Wednesday
At this point in the week, Seven owns the game. The prime time audience shares are: SBS1&2 6.0; ABC1&2 16.4; Ten&ONE 21.4; Nine&GO 26.1 per cent; Seven&Still-no-new-station-because-they-keep-farting-around-(but click-here-to-see-what-Seven-should-be-doing) 30.1.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Network Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,841,000 515,000 593,000 298,000 229,000 205,000
2 NCIS Ten 1,477,000 418,000 395,000 298,000 158,000 208,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,457,000 373,000 393,000 308,000 184,000 199,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,428,000 376,000 377,000 309,000 162,000 203,000
5 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,404,000 359,000 432,000 254,000 169,000 191,000
6 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,403,000 360,000 385,000 287,000 165,000 206,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,230,000 316,000 426,000 230,000 116,000 142,000
8 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,197,000 356,000 366,000 220,000 128,000 127,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,188,000 311,000 324,000 247,000 156,000 150,000
10 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,181,000 395,000 361,000 165,000 139,000 120,000
11 LIE TO ME Ten 1,170,000 314,000 325,000 241,000 124,000 166,000
12 NINE NEWS Nine 1,117,000 273,000 372,000 218,000 146,000 109,000
15 THE SIMPSONS TUES Ten 978,000 293,000 345,000 147,000 91,000 103,000
16 THE ALL NEW SIMPSONS TUES Ten 934,000 218,000 349,000 148,000 103,000 116,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 729,000 140,000 235,000 152,000 93,000 109,000
23 THE SIMPSONS Ten 656,000 162,000 228,000 114,000 75,000 78,000
25 SPIDERMAN 3 Nine 604,000 175,000 233,000 83,000 64,000 49,000
26 MY SHOCKING STORY-TUE Seven 583,000 176,000 195,000 95,000 68,000 48,000
27 THE MYSTERIOUS DEATH OF CLEOPATRA ABC1 544,000 159,000 155,000 84,000 63,000 83,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Unbelievable. Look at how the best improvisational black comedy of the Noughties rated on Sunday:

129 CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM GO! 33,000 14,000 7,000 3,000 8,000 1,000

Not even the Seinfeld fans were watching it. Shame Australia, shame.

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,506,000 421,000 466,000 255,000 169,000 196,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,442,000 362,000 413,000 268,000 189,000 210,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,401,000 366,000 390,000 300,000 148,000 197,000
4 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,390,000 315,000 458,000 273,000 171,000 172,000
5 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,366,000 336,000 457,000 255,000 150,000 167,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,244,000 354,000 405,000 260,000 112,000 111,000
13 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,043,000 268,000 365,000 216,000 84,000 110,000
14 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,014,000 291,000 339,000 185,000 104,000 96,000
15 MEDIA WATCH ABC1 933,000 317,000 290,000 144,000 66,000 117,000
16 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC1 929,000 311,000 260,000 169,000 78,000 111,000
17 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 870,000 212,000 279,000 178,000 94,000 107,000
19 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA Nine 823,000 270,000 258,000 133,000 90,000 74,000
20 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 818,000 231,000 266,000 148,000 98,000 76,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 786,000 213,000 278,000 126,000 91,000 79,000
23 MERCY Seven 780,000 227,000 249,000 132,000 74,000 98,000
35 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 359,000 90,000 114,000 62,000 43,000 51,000
92 DOCTOR WHO ABC2 111,000 25,000 52,000 13,000 15,000 5,000
93 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 111,000 25,000 22,000 13,000 28,000 22,000
94 ENTOURAGE SBS ONE 107,000 27,000 39,000 13,000 22,000 6,000
107 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE TWENTY20 CRICKET 2009 LIVE ONE 84,000 28,000 27,000 15,000 10,000 5,000
109 VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 78,000 19,000 15,000 15,000 23,000 7,000
115 SEINFELD GO! 70,000 12,000 27,000 11,000 12,000 8,000
116 GOOD GAME ABC2 70,000 20,000 24,000 9,000 6,000 11,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,644,000 447,000 397,000 408,000 167,000 225,000
2 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,496,000 466,000 354,000 294,000 177,000 206,000
3 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,444,000 458,000 323,000 312,000 164,000 186,000
4 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,197,000 319,000 316,000 281,000 129,000 153,000
5 SEVEN'S V8 SUPERCARS ROUND 10: BATHURST D3 - THE RACE Seven 1,182,000 390,000 306,000 245,000 136,000 104,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,166,000 335,000 385,000 202,000 147,000 97,000
7 M-WILD HOGS Seven 1,139,000 321,000 322,000 202,000 144,000 150,000
8 SEVEN'S V8 SUPERCARS ROUND 10: BATHURST D3 - THE PODIUM Seven 1,112,000 361,000 326,000 236,000 106,000 82,000
9 20 TO 1 -SUN Nine 1,102,000 345,000 299,000 227,000 128,000 103,000
10 JONATHAN CREEK: THE GRINNING MAN ABC1 1,038,000 301,000 327,000 177,000 102,000 131,000
11 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 1,027,000 279,000 339,000 175,000 118,000 116,000
12 60 MINUTES Nine 1,024,000 279,000 316,000 193,000 125,000 112,000
13 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC1 999,000 276,000 311,000 195,000 102,000 114,000
14 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 978,000 338,000 271,000 167,000 96,000 106,000
15 GANGES ABC1 864,000 220,000 244,000 187,000 88,000 125,000
18 CSI: MIAMI Nine 780,000 196,000 267,000 124,000 93,000 100,000
19 ROVE Ten 712,000 211,000 239,000 106,000 78,000 79,000
27 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 402,000 108,000 171,000 42,000 23,000 59,000
35 WIPEOUT GO! 241,000 32,000 88,000 28,000 45,000 48,000
61 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 129,000 25,000 37,000 22,000 24,000 21,000
73 HORNBLOWER ABC2 101,000 34,000 38,000 7,000 9,000 12,000
80 R.A.N: REMOTE AREA NURSE RPT SBS ONE 89,000 21,000 32,000 20,000 7,000 9,000
99 NBA BASKETBALL AMAZING PLAYOFF MOMENTS ONE 65,000 2,000 36,000 9,000 6,000 12,000
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 whoweare-index at 08:49 AM
• Comments (65)

The Tribal Mind: The one they haven't thought of

by David Dale
It looks as if Foxtel has pulled the rug from under Channel Seven with its launch of 12 new channels and a system for legally downloading shows to home computers. Foxtel was exploiting Seven's failure to announce how it plans to program the new channel it must introduce to counteract Nine's digital station GO.

By unveiling stations devoted to whodunits (13th Street), revheads (Turbo MAX), personal grooming (LifeStyle YOU and The Style Network), wholesomeness (Family Movie Channel), animals (Nat Geo Wild), and children whose parents don't want them to see advertising (on the eve of the ABC's launch of its new kids' channel), Foxtel hasn't left much wiggle room. Seven can't introduce anything similar without being accused of plagiarism.

Fear not, Seven. This column's readers are riding to your rescue. Two weeks ago we asked for ideas on creating the perfect television channel for the late Noughties. Here's a sampling of the responses ...

A reader who wishes to be known as d@gp suggested a 24 hour Horror Channel: "Frankenstein, Dracula, Wolfman, Invisible Man, Mummy, Boris Karloff, Bela Lugosi, Lon Chaney Sr & Jr, and the Creature from the Black Lagoon".

Newtaste suggested a 24 Hour Koch channel: "David Koch attaches a camera to his head so viewers can follow his exciting life as a 4th-rate celebrity".

Matt suggested a nonstop nostalgia channel called 2000 to 1: "Chain Bert Newton to the studio floor with only three meals a day from Patty -- part infotainment, part reality TV (Survivor) and part Celebrity MasterChef".

Ozpuck suggested an Australian history channel: "Hear Kochie talk about the economic circumstances leading to the Great Depression! Watch Home and Away starlets re-enact the crossing of the Blue Mountains! See Pixie-Ann Wheatley interview the Don! Watch Norman Gunston on the steps of Parliament House on 11 November 1975 ... And have All Aussie Adventures as the theme tune".

Nick suggested the All-Ontime channel: "where programs actually start at the advertised time".

Dragonlass suggested a user-made content channel: "There are loads of people out there making amateur or semi-professional films and documentaries etc. Allow viewers to vote on what they like." Our big prizewinners were:

YASMIN -- The Second Chance Channel A collection of series - lets not call them failures -- prematurely axed by the commercial networks. Matt says Seven "would have to buy the smouldering remains from other networks, but considering they are all dead and never to see the light of day, it should get them cheap. Possible lineup could include Hole In The Wall, Doug Mulray, Big Brother, Taken Out, Australian Princess, The Perfect Couple, Joey. Soon to be added by 2010 - The Spearman Experiment, The 7pm Project, Australian Idol." Seven could include its own comedy triumph Let Loose Live, which managed two episodes - a record equalled by Hugh Jackman's only known imperfection, Viva Laughlin.

Plus the glorious collection illustrated at left: Kath and Kim USA, Monster House and My Kid's A Star.

7beta - A station programmed for Seven by the ABC Darren recommends "news that reports the news and doesn't wallow in celebrity minutae and doesn't sensationalise every little thing that happens; interesting movies that don't star Reese Witherspoon, Sandra Bullock, Ashton Kutcher, Meg Ryan, Hugh Grant ... actually anyone called Hugh; showing a series (any series) through an entire season in a single timeslot without skipping an episode or repeating or doubling up or fast-tracking."

That's plenty of inspiration to help Seven transcend Foxtel's trickery. You can read all the proposals, and add more, by clicking here.

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 10:43 AM

WHO WE ARE: The musts and the maybes

To design the perfect TV channel, go to The Tribal Mind

A column about identity by David Dale
To be a good and true Aussie, there are some things you absolutely must know about this country, and there are some things you probably should know but don't really need to. The borderline between these two states of wisdom is about to shift, so that, for example, Don Bradman will move from essential knowledge to optional trivia.

From October 19, the test that must be taken by anyone wanting to become a citizen will be based on a new booklet called "Australian Citizenship: Our Common Bond", written since Kevin Rudd came to power. Before October 19, anyone applying for citizenship must take a test based on a booklet called "Becoming An Australian Citizen", written while John Howard was in power.

The rewrite was designed to reflect how Australian attitudes have changed since the Howard decade, and the books are so different that pre-October 19 citizens may have some difficulty communicating with post October 19 citizens. It's not just that in the Howard booklet, Bradman, cyclist Hubert Opperman and billiards player Walter Lindrum were testable items while the Rudd booklet moves Bradman to a non-testable section at the back, and dumps Oppy and Lindrum altogether.

This column has compared the two texts, and come up with a test of how well you understand the subtle differences between late 90s thinking and late Noughties thinking. Here's how to play: print out this page, grab a pencil and put the letter H (for Howard booklet) or R (for Rudd rewrite) against each of these quotes.

1 "Australian citizenship is more than a ceremony. It is at the heart of Australia's national identity in the 21st century, as a nation at ease with the world and with itself."

2 "The workers turned to politics and in 1891 created the Labor Party whose first task was to restore and improve the workers' wages and conditions. There was a degree of sympathy from many middle class people for the plight of the workers, for everyone believed that in Australia there should be no poverty and no harsh conflicts."

3 "The Liberals were suspicious of government and encouraged individual enterprise while the more radical wanted to roll back the level of government activity. "

4 "It is a serious crime to bribe a police officer. It is a crime to even offer a bribe to a police officer."

5 "The colonists, like most people then, believed that there were differences between races and that the Chinese were inferior, but they also did not want a society with deep divisions or where foreign outcasts worked for low wages and lowered the dignity of all labour."

6 "We value our vibrant and skilled workforce."

7 "Many of the Aboriginal people in these remote locations do not live well. This is a great dilemma facing Australian society. Australia faces an ongoing challenge to ensure that the Aboriginal people fully share in the life and prosperity of the nation."

8 "The dry inland areas are called 'the outback'. There is great respect for people who live and work in these remote and harsh environments. Many of them have become part of Australian folklore. "

9 "In Australia, there is a spirit of 'mateship'. This means we help and receive help from each other in times of need. A mate is often a friend, but can also be a total stranger. A mate might take a meal to an elderly neighbour, drive a friend to a medical appointment or visit someone who is lonely. "

10 "Queen Elizabeth II has been a strong, stable presence throughout her long and popular reign".

11 "You can walk the desert or the shore, the mountains or the rainforests. Every step you take is a step closer to belonging to this vast and vibrant land."

12 "Over the years, the Eureka rebellion has become a symbol of protest and our belief in a fair go."

13 "The gaining of democratic reforms would have happened without the Eureka rebellion, but over the years it has become a symbol of protest and popular rights."

14 "Sir Donald Bradman was the greatest cricket batsman of all time. He was small and slight but amazingly quick on his feet, playing his shots almost like a machine. Among all Australian sporting heroes, Bradman is the best known."

15 "Sir Donald Bradman is the greatest cricket batsman of all-time and is an Australian sporting legend. He was slight but amazingly quick on his feet. Sir Donald Bradman, known as 'The Don', is recognised as the world's best ever batsman."

Go below for the answers and to discuss whether this is the sort of material we should be teaching our new citizens

The matches: 1 H; 2 H; 3 H; 4 R; 5 H; 6 R; 7 H; 8 H; 9 R; 10 R; 11 R; 12 R; 13 H; 14 H 15 R. Now can you explain the rewrites of Eureka and Bradman?

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 whoweare-index at 02:44 PM
• Comments (8)

The Who We Are update: Week 41

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.

To learn why daggy is the new black, go to The Tribal Mind.
To test if you're a good and true Australian, go to Who We Are.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
A combination of biffo and Hey Hey It's Golliwogs (with both reunions repeated on GO - six hours of vintage television) gave Channel Nine a convincing win for the week. The prime time audience shares were: Nine&GO 31.1 per cent, Seven&Still-no-new-station-because-they-keep-farting-around-(but click-here-to-see-what-Seven-should-be-doing) 26.2, Ten&ONE 19.6, ABC1&2 17.8, SBS1&2 5.3.

And this was Pay TV's account of itself: "The Australian premiere of Stargate: Universe on Sci Fi was seen by 149,000 people, giving the channel its biggest audience ever. In this new series, a team of scientists and soldiers journey through the universe on the Ancient ship Destiny. In other entertainment programming this week, America's Next Top Model on FOX8 was watched by 129,000 and NCIS on TV1 was viewed by 98,000. The Inspector Lynley Mysteries on UKTV had its best result for 2009 so far with 97,000 viewers, Property Ladder on Lifestyle drew 96,000 people and The Silence of the Lambs premiered on FOX Classics with 82,000.

"The FOX Sports coverage of the 'friendly' between the Australian and Dutch football teams, Live: Football: International, topped the week on subscription TV with 208,000 viewers. In other sport, Live: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy Final Aus v NZ was watched by 109,000, 94,000 people saw Live: Football: A-League Melb v Sydney (both on FOX Sports) and Sky Racing on Sky Raceday was seen by 74,000 people.

"In week 41, STV channels represented 20.3% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 19.9% of all regional viewing and 54.7% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Australia watched, week ending October 10
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL Nine 2,528,000 1,163,000 682,000 563,000 54,000 66,000
2 HEY HEY REUNION -EP2 Nine 2,213,000 609,000 874,000 351,000 186,000 194,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,772,000 422,000 672,000 400,000 136,000 143,000
4 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,756,000 449,000 572,000 311,000 215,000 207,000
5 MIDSOMER MURDERS-SU ABC1 1,508,000 443,000 487,000 214,000 154,000 210,000
6 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,490,000 348,000 454,000 319,000 170,000 199,000
7 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,469,000 516,000 360,000 254,000 176,000 163,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,466,000 329,000 534,000 321,000 125,000 157,000
9 NCIS Ten 1,453,000 409,000 416,000 283,000 155,000 190,000
10 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,414,000 304,000 425,000 305,000 179,000 201,000
11 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,343,000 443,000 355,000 229,000 170,000 147,000
12 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,336,000 351,000 378,000 265,000 157,000 185,000
13 60 MINUTES Nine 1,336,000 374,000 451,000 267,000 128,000 116,000
14 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL ENTERTAINMENT Nine 1,328,000 665,000 283,000 326,000 20,000 35,000
15 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL PRESENTATION Nine 1,317,000 764,000 Not shown 490,000 Not shown 63,000
16 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,295,000 393,000 405,000 200,000 146,000 152,000
17 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,294,000 415,000 375,000 204,000 144,000 156,000

18 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,289,000 349,000 352,000 273,000 140,000 174,000
19 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,269,000 204,000 454,000 214,000 164,000 234,000
20 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,250,000 368,000 283,000 265,000 142,000 193,000
21 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,204,000 360,000 363,000 223,000 127,000 131,000
22 BORDER SECURITY -WED Seven 1,186,000 359,000 281,000 246,000 128,000 172,000
23 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,186,000 302,000 392,000 254,000 118,000 119,000
24 YELLOWSTONE-EV ABC1 1,172,000 342,000 341,000 237,000 102,000 150,000
25 GETAWAY Nine 1,163,000 326,000 378,000 226,000 125,000 108,000
26 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,148,000 334,000 356,000 244,000 112,000 103,000
27 NINE NEWS Nine 1,129,000 336,000 343,000 230,000 113,000 108,000
28 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,118,000 318,000 302,000 218,000 143,000 137,000
29 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,117,000 241,000 428,000 245,000 76,000 127,000
30 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,094,000 331,000 337,000 169,000 139,000 118,000
31 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,090,000 346,000 301,000 188,000 122,000 134,000
32 TWO AND A HALF MEN -FRI Nine 1,089,000 220,000 392,000 242,000 108,000 127,000
33 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,080,000 297,000 367,000 208,000 96,000 112,000
34 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,057,000 352,000 303,000 170,000 116,000 115,000
35 LIE TO ME Ten 1,056,000 290,000 299,000 203,000 121,000 142,000
36 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 1,033,000 348,000 300,000 186,000 115,000 84,000
37 GLEE THURS Ten 1,028,000 263,000 351,000 202,000 92,000 121,000
38 CSI Nine 1,027,000 303,000 271,000 205,000 126,000 121,000
39 ABC NEWS ABC1 994,000 293,000 295,000 181,000 91,000 135,000
40 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 966,000 274,000 347,000 192,000 83,000 70,000
234 WIPEOUT GO! 164,000 12,000 48,000 33,000 31,000 39,000
244 THE VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 151,000 42,000 49,000 17,000 29,000 15,000
265 HEY HEY REUNION -EP1 GO! 134,000 21,000 57,000 22,000 11,000 23,000
288 TORCHWOOD ABC2 120,000 19,000 32,000 33,000 8,000 27,000
297 HORNBLOWER-EV ABC2 115,000 40,000 27,000 25,000 6,000 15,000
314 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 109,000 23,000 31,000 18,000 22,000 15,000
318 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 ONE 106,000 20,000 44,000 16,000 17,000 10,000
334 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 98,000 27,000 21,000 17,000 20,000 14,000
349 HEY HEY REUNION -EP2 GO! 91,000 17,000 46,000 10,000 7,000 11,000
382 UFC WIRED ONE 76,000 10,000 34,000 18,000 14,000
496 E= MC2: EINSTEIN'S BIG IDEA RPT SBS TWO 49,000 11,000 6,000 9,000 11,000 13,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,250,000 368,000 283,000 265,000 142,000 193,000
2 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 1,033,000 348,000 300,000 186,000 115,000 84,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 966,000 274,000 347,000 192,000 83,000 70,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 901,000 223,000 297,000 190,000 99,000 93,000
5 HEART AND SOUL ABC1 890,000 283,000 247,000 148,000 102,000 110,000
6 THE BILL ABC1 825,000 242,000 225,000 133,000 99,000 125,000
7 SEVEN'S V8 SUPERCARS ROUND 10: BATHURST D2 - TOP 10 SHOOTOUT Seven 761,000 248,000 166,000 170,000 105,000 72,000
8 COLD BLOOD ABC1 751,000 223,000 229,000 107,000 83,000 110,000
10 M-CARS Seven 731,000 250,000 240,000 154,000 86,000
14 BIG MOMMA'S HOUSE 2 -RPT Nine 631,000 156,000 185,000 143,000 81,000 66,000
15 SPEED Ten 625,000 164,000 169,000 102,000 87,000 103,000
16 M-STARSKY & HUTCH Seven 604,000 173,000 171,000 90,000 74,000 97,000
17 WEDDING CRASHERS -RPT Nine 506,000 156,000 147,000 79,000 67,000 56,000
27 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 271,000 84,000 110,000 29,000 35,000 13,000
29 ROCKWIZ SBS ONE 264,000 88,000 88,000 36,000 28,000 24,000
32 DEXTER SAT Ten 223,000 56,000 62,000 29,000 38,000 38,000
51 HEY HEY REUNION -EP1 GO! 134,000 21,000 57,000 22,000 11,000 23,000
67 HEY HEY REUNION -EP2 GO! 91,000 17,000 46,000 10,000 7,000 11,000
What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,343,000 443,000 355,000 229,000 170,000 147,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,269,000 358,000 372,000 221,000 155,000 163,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,199,000 331,000 314,000 253,000 132,000 169,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -FRI Nine 1,089,000 220,000 392,000 242,000 108,000 127,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,072,000 307,000 271,000 229,000 142,000 122,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,071,000 313,000 292,000 228,000 111,000 126,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,017,000 244,000 323,000 231,000 102,000 117,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,014,000 282,000 287,000 233,000 101,000 111,000
9 MOTORWAY PATROL Nine 893,000 178,000 291,000 197,000 109,000 119,000
13 M-GOLDENEYE Seven 764,000 270,000 192,000 117,000 94,000 91,000
14 THE SIMPSONS MOVIE Ten 760,000 188,000 250,000 155,000 85,000 82,000
15 U.S. MARSHALS -RPT Nine 750,000 187,000 232,000 151,000 102,000 79,000
22 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 552,000 162,000 150,000 117,000 76,000 48,000
44 NAZI NUMBER ONE: HERMANN GOERING RPT SBS ONE 232,000 68,000 66,000 41,000 28,000 29,000
80 TORCHWOOD ABC2 120,000 19,000 32,000 33,000 8,000 27,000

The ratings race, updated 9am Friday
None of the new shows launched last night set the world on fire, but neither did they become instant candidates for the Yasmin club (and thus for the schedule of Seven's new Second Chance Channel (go here for details).

The prime time audience shares for the week so far look like this: Nine&GO 32.6 per cent; Seven&Still-no-new-station-because-they-keep-farting-around 25.8, Ten&ONE 19.8, ABC1&2 16.5, SBS1&2 5.3. Interesting to note that Hot Seat is now doing better than Deal Or No Deal. Surely that can't be because Hot Seat was heavily promoted during the Hey Hey reunion?

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,257,000 320,000 356,000 269,000 133,000 179,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,242,000 336,000 362,000 269,000 118,000 157,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,162,000 326,000 377,000 225,000 125,000 108,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,103,000 263,000 400,000 234,000 109,000 97,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,096,000 330,000 345,000 219,000 107,000 94,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,075,000 306,000 351,000 223,000 96,000 100,000
7 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,056,000 352,000 303,000 170,000 116,000 115,000
8 CSI Nine 1,029,000 302,000 273,000 206,000 126,000 121,000
9 GLEE THURS Ten 1,026,000 263,000 350,000 201,000 91,000 121,000
10 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,008,000 289,000 292,000 193,000 122,000 113,000
11 ABC NEWS ABC1 983,000 289,000 284,000 200,000 94,000 115,000
12 SECRET MILLIONAIRE Nine 926,000 254,000 291,000 153,000 88,000 140,000
13 RUSH Ten 871,000 199,000 342,000 148,000 94,000 87,000
14 DEAD FAMOUS ABC1 871,000 255,000 285,000 152,000 79,000 100,000
19 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 730,000 225,000 243,000 90,000 96,000 77,000
23 HOT SEAT Nine 606,000 147,000 193,000 142,000 72,000 51,000
25 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 595,000 185,000 154,000 110,000 79,000 68,000
29 E.R. Nine 439,000 129,000 128,000 74,000 57,000 52,000
32 SUNRISE Seven 396,000 114,000 109,000 87,000 34,000 51,000
40 TODAY Nine 296,000 81,000 97,000 66,000 22,000 31,000
86 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 109,000 16,000 28,000 23,000 19,000 23,000
87 ADBC SBS ONE 107,000 22,000 23,000 34,000 7,000 20,000

The ratings race, updated 9am Thursday
Hey Hey was bigger than ever last night, and Channel Nine attracted 43.3 per cent of the prime time audience.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
1 HEY HEY REUNION Nine 2,308,000 632,000 893,000 376,000 196,000 211,000
2 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA -ENCORE (This is actually the last half hour of Hey Hey, mislabelled) Nine 1,677,000 464,000 711,000 236,000 139,000 127,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,331,000 381,000 339,000 283,000 159,000 170,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,296,000 394,000 332,000 272,000 129,000 169,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,287,000 339,000 404,000 276,000 143,000 125,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,235,000 368,000 371,000 273,000 120,000 104,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,186,000 383,000 310,000 213,000 140,000 140,000
8 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,186,000 359,000 281,000 246,000 128,000 172,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,148,000 336,000 346,000 243,000 111,000 112,000
10 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,080,000 342,000 299,000 187,000 120,000 132,000
11 ABC NEWS ABC1 988,000 339,000 300,000 150,000 80,000 120,000
12 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 933,000 281,000 208,000 207,000 104,000 132,000
13 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 922,000 275,000 228,000 174,000 124,000 120,000
15 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 876,000 273,000 205,000 154,000 108,000 136,000
16 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 845,000 326,000 221,000 124,000 87,000 86,000
22 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 608,000 151,000 206,000 107,000 68,000 76,000
24 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 539,000 187,000 169,000 72,000 57,000 53,000
25 UNITED STATES OF TARA ABC1 535,000 197,000 165,000 66,000 63,000 44,000
35 FLASHFORWARD-ENCORE Seven 348,000 106,000 108,000 54,000 40,000 40,000
56 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS ONE 183,000 42,000 64,000 26,000 26,000 25,000
74 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 127,000 26,000 31,000 21,000 32,000 18,000
115 ELEVENTH HOUR GO! 55,000 16,000 13,000 1,000 21,000 4,000

The ratings race, updated 10am Wednesday
Go to Comments to register your prediction on how Hey Hey It's A Bunch of BOFs will rate in its second outing tonight. Was last week's surge just a case of curiosity value? And while you're at it, give us your theory on why Transformers, the prequel to the number 10 most-moneymaking-movie-of-all-time-in-Australia, did so poorly last night. Nine must have thought it had a sure winner for the school holidays there.

Channel Seven won last night, but will have trouble catching Nine this week because of the biffo head start. At this point, the prime time audience shares are: Nine&GO 30.0 per cent, Seven&Still-no-new-station-because-they-keep-farting-around-(but click-here-to-see-what-Seven-should-be-doing) 27.6, Ten&ONE 19.3, ABC1&2 16.9, SBS1&2 6.2.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,755,000 449,000 572,000 312,000 215,000 207,000
2 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,498,000 348,000 454,000 323,000 171,000 202,000
3 NCIS Ten 1,452,000 408,000 416,000 283,000 155,000 190,000
4 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,402,000 306,000 419,000 298,000 181,000 198,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,388,000 329,000 396,000 267,000 183,000 212,000
6 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,343,000 285,000 407,000 266,000 179,000 206,000
7 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,201,000 360,000 362,000 222,000 127,000 130,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,190,000 315,000 390,000 240,000 122,000 123,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,120,000 280,000 312,000 212,000 161,000 155,000
10 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,099,000 331,000 337,000 171,000 140,000 120,000
13 LIE TO ME Ten 1,044,000 287,000 295,000 201,000 121,000 140,000
15 TRANSFORMERS Nine 836,000 251,000 254,000 140,000 103,000 89,000
17 THE SPEARMAN EXPERIMENT Ten 764,000 216,000 246,000 139,000 71,000 92,000
20 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 708,000 214,000 240,000 100,000 74,000 80,000
26 ATHENS: THE TRUTH ABOUT DEMOCRACY ABC1 474,000 176,000 155,000 57,000 35,000 51,000
35 CANNABIS: THE EVIL WEED SBS ONE 322,000 72,000 110,000 54,000 30,000 56,000
87 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 102,000 21,000 32,000 21,000 18,000 11,000
94 THE NANNY GO! 81,000 35,000 14,000 13,000 13,000 6,000
What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,478,000 515,000 368,000 254,000 176,000 164,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,478,000 412,000 416,000 287,000 159,000 204,000
3 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,367,000 416,000 445,000 263,000 127,000 115,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,325,000 354,000 357,000 306,000 139,000 168,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,302,000 345,000 439,000 268,000 117,000 132,000
6 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,296,000 392,000 405,000 199,000 146,000 154,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,243,000 398,000 388,000 228,000 118,000 112,000
8 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,225,000 388,000 356,000 203,000 131,000 148,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,154,000 323,000 312,000 225,000 146,000 148,000
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,131,000 531,000 320,000 126,000 155,000
11 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,128,000 244,000 432,000 247,000 76,000 130,000
12 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,084,000 297,000 369,000 210,000 96,000 113,000
14 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC1 870,000 272,000 256,000 179,000 64,000 98,000
15 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 864,000 221,000 241,000 184,000 102,000 115,000
16 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 857,000 237,000 257,000 163,000 101,000 98,000
17 MERCY Seven 828,000 289,000 247,000 94,000 89,000 110,000
20 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 747,000 206,000 212,000 155,000 90,000 84,000
22 ARE YOU SMARTER THAN A 5TH GRADER? Ten 738,000 259,000 188,000 124,000 83,000 84,000
28 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA Nine 657,000 192,000 240,000 88,000 65,000 72,000
30 ASHES TO ASHES ABC1 530,000 200,000 150,000 52,000 72,000 56,000
32 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 462,000 148,000 151,000 42,000 68,000 52,000
97 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 100,000 25,000 27,000 19,000 19,000 10,000
105 THE VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 83,000 21,000 29,000 10,000 15,000 8,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

The ratings race, updated 9am Monday
To see how yesterday's NRLGF compares with the AFLGF and fits into the most watched programs of all time, go to The TV shows Australia loved.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL Nine 2,416,000 1,119,000 650,000 535,000 47,000 65,000
2 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,845,000 422,000 730,000 425,000 124,000 144,000
3 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL PRESENTATION Nine 1,657,000 1,028,000 573,000 57,000
4 60 MINUTES Nine 1,403,000 415,000 465,000 273,000 133,000 118,000
5 MIDSOMER MURDERS-SU ABC1 1,354,000 443,000 487,000 214,000 210,000
6 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,269,000 204,000 454,000 214,000 164,000 233,000
7 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL ENTERTAINMENT Nine 1,227,000 617,000 256,000 301,000 19,000 34,000
8 YELLOWSTONE ABC1 1,172,000 342,000 341,000 237,000 102,000 150,000
10 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 956,000 238,000 364,000 179,000 99,000 77,000
11 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 926,000 271,000 267,000 195,000 90,000 103,000
17 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION SUN RPT Ten 559,000 96,000 191,000 136,000 63,000 73,000
22 RUGBY LEAGUE GRAND FINAL 1ST DIVISION Nine 443,000 308,000 135,000
25 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 402,000 100,000 141,000 81,000 27,000 53,000
28 M-THE SOUND OF MUSIC Seven 313,000 121,000 103,000 51,000 37,000
49 WIPEOUT GO! 164,000 12,000 48,000 33,000 31,000 39,000
65 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 125,000 32,000 27,000 21,000 26,000 19,000
70 HORNBLOWER ABC2 115,000 40,000 27,000 25,000 6,000 16,000
87 THE SANFL ABC1 89,000 not shown not shown not sown 89,000 not shown

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 whoweare-index at 11:06 AM
• Comments (84)

The Who We Are update: Week 40

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.
To test if you're a good and true Australian, go to Who We Are.
For the winners in our contest to design the perfect TV channel, go to The Tribal Mind.

The ratings race, updated 10am Monday
Even before the grand final, Channel Nine won the week -- with much help from its baby channel GO and its nostalgiafest Hey Hey It's A Mob of Geriatrics. The prime time audience shares were: Nine&GO 28.3, Seven&Still-no-new-station-because-they-keep-farting-around-but click-to here-to-see-what-Seven-should-be-doing 28.3, Ten&ONE 20.1, ABC1&2 17.8, SBS1&2 5.3.

"In week 40, subscription TV was the number one source of TV across Australia. STV channels represented 21.8% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 21.2% of all regional viewing and 57.2% of all viewing in subscription TV homes.

"America's Next Top Model topped the week with 158,000 viewers seeing the live broadcast on FOX8 and a total of 224,000 people watching the program on Tuesday night when viewers to the delayed broadcast on FOX8+2 are included. Disney Channel's Hannah Montana achieved a year-to-date high with 140,000 viewers, NCIS on TV1 was watched by 117,000 people and The Dark Knight premiered on Movie One with 110,000 viewers. WWE Smackdown! on FOX8 also had a year's best result with 96,000, WALL-E premiered on Disney Channel with 84,000 people, M*A*S*H on FOX Classics was watched by 79,000 people, Eastenders on UKTV was seen by 71,000 people and Kirstie's Homemade Home premiered on Lifestyle with 61,000 viewers."

"Live: Cricket: ICC Champions Trophy on Friday night was seen by 136,000 people, Live: AFL: On The Couch was viewed by 128,000 people and 85,000 watched Live: Football: A-League Melb v Brisb (all on FOX Sports). Sky Raceday on Sky Racing was seen by 81,000 people."

Just for a change, what viewers 16-39 watched, week ending October 2
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 HEY HEY REUNION Nine 687,000 211,000 231,000 113,000 52,000 79,000
2 FLASHFORWARD Seven 622,000 198,000 173,000 114,000 66,000 71,000
3 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 524,000 127,000 204,000 73,000 60,000 60,000
4 NCIS Ten 518,000 132,000 134,000 125,000 65,000 61,000
5 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 495,000 182,000 143,000 70,000 40,000 60,000
6 GLEE THURS Ten 459,000 127,000 125,000 87,000 43,000 78,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP2 Nine 439,000 124,000 142,000 81,000 42,000 50,000
8 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 435,000 132,000 132,000 92,000 29,000 50,000
9 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 434,000 123,000 134,000 91,000 37,000 49,000
10 BORDER SECURITY Seven 401,000 116,000 116,000 99,000 28,000 42,000
11 TWO AND A HALF MEN -EP1 Nine 400,000 118,000 143,000 69,000 30,000 40,000
12 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 400,000 119,000 116,000 84,000 45,000 36,000
13 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 388,000 119,000 123,000 80,000 36,000 29,000
14 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 383,000 111,000 113,000 84,000 36,000 39,000
15 MERCY Seven 381,000 90,000 135,000 73,000 36,000 47,000
16 RUSH Ten 350,000 100,000 124,000 69,000 24,000 33,000
17 BORDER SECURITY-MON Seven 346,000 95,000 98,000 69,000 42,000 42,000
18 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 329,000 97,000 99,000 68,000 33,000 32,000
19 NCIS RPT Ten 328,000 80,000 101,000 63,000 45,000 37,000
20 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION SUN RPT Ten 327,000 97,000 83,000 81,000 43,000 24,000
21 ROVE Ten 325,000 93,000 113,000 58,000 27,000 35,000
22 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 321,000 99,000 84,000 52,000 35,000 50,000
23 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 321,000 87,000 77,000 72,000 40,000 45,000

24 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 321,000 93,000 106,000 73,000 24,000 25,000
25 M-THE INCREDIBLES Seven 309,000 102,000 87,000 87,000 33,000
26 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 302,000 80,000 102,000 70,000 29,000 20,000
27 SHREK THE THIRD Nine 301,000 94,000 93,000 58,000 23,000 32,000
28 ALL SAINTS Seven 300,000 115,000 81,000 37,000 33,000 34,000
29 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 296,000 83,000 93,000 56,000 27,000 37,000
30 LITTLE BRITAIN USA MON Ten 295,000 84,000 98,000 55,000 31,000 26,000
31 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 293,000 102,000 50,000 68,000 43,000 29,000
32 HOME AND AWAY Seven 289,000 77,000 72,000 55,000 45,000 41,000
33 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 287,000 92,000 83,000 59,000 26,000 26,000
34 THE SPEARMAN EXPERIMENT Ten 287,000 94,000 75,000 49,000 34,000 35,000
35 NEIGHBOURS Ten 286,000 66,000 77,000 61,000 42,000 40,000
36 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 278,000 79,000 69,000 60,000 43,000 27,000
37 M-CASINO ROYALE Seven 274,000 69,000 110,000 37,000 27,000 32,000
38 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 273,000 76,000 88,000 53,000 25,000 31,000
39 M-THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION THE WITCH AND THE Seven 272,000 80,000 67,000 50,000 38,000 37,000
81 VAMPIRE DIARIES Nine 181,000 71,000 56,000 27,000 11,000 17,000
86 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 169,000 46,000 58,000 33,000 15,000 18,000
139 WIPEOUT GO! 82,000 10,000 37,000 18,000 11,000 6,000
155 SKINS SBS ONE 72,000 25,000 24,000 7,000 11,000 5,000
174 VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 66,000 14,000 17,000 9,000 15,000 11,000
193 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 56,000 15,000 18,000 12,000 8,000 3,000
206 ROCKWIZ SBS ONE 55,000 18,000 15,000 9,000 10,000 3,000
245 HORNBLOWER ABC2 44,000 13,000 7,000 13,000 10,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,311,000 395,000 293,000 290,000 147,000 187,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,063,000 253,000 357,000 198,000 138,000 116,000
3 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 1,046,000 351,000 292,000 195,000 103,000 106,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 949,000 300,000 262,000 174,000 118,000 95,000
5 HEART AND SOUL ABC1 889,000 287,000 237,000 163,000 98,000 104,000
6 M-THE INCREDIBLES Seven 825,000 274,000 277,000 181,000 92,000
7 THE BILL ABC1 825,000 248,000 225,000 141,000 88,000 122,000
8 GARDENING AUSTRALIA ABC1 755,000 245,000 213,000 128,000 104,000 66,000
12 COLD BLOOD ABC1 658,000 185,000 177,000 115,000 79,000 102,000
27 ROCKWIZ SBS ONE 253,000 85,000 78,000 29,000 38,000 23,000
29 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 238,000 77,000 81,000 37,000 24,000 19,000
54 DEXTER SAT Ten 138,000 26,000 55,000 22,000 15,000 20,000
66 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 - QUAL ONE 101,000 25,000 20,000 29,000 14,000 13,000
73 THE FLINTSTONES -RPT GO! 84,000 19,000 33,000 13,000 15,000 4,000
74 FOOTBALL: W-LEAGUE-PM ABC1 84,000 22,000 29,000 14,000 8,000 11,000
76 SCOOBY-DOO, WHERE ARE YOU! -RPT GO! 82,000 30,000 32,000 7,000 8,000 4,000
93 IN THE NIGHT GARDEN ABC2 63,000 29,000 23,000 9,000 0 1,000 7,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,250,000 350,000 366,000 208,000 167,000 158,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,218,000 399,000 278,000 237,000 174,000 131,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,190,000 325,000 323,000 236,000 158,000 148,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,098,000 303,000 343,000 225,000 107,000 120,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,046,000 312,000 242,000 208,000 164,000 120,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,035,000 254,000 352,000 205,000 125,000 99,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 984,000 272,000 313,000 209,000 102,000 88,000
8 HUNTER ABC1 975,000 302,000 295,000 165,000 85,000 127,000
20 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA FRI RPT Ten 563,000 150,000 180,000 136,000 55,000 43,000
48 INSIDE THE VATICAN SBS ONE 233,000 82,000 65,000 40,000 19,000 26,000
68 M-LEAVE IT TO BEAVER Seven 158,000 52,000 31,000 40,000 35,000
91 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 97,000 12,000 26,000 16,000 28,000 16,000
96 TORCHWOOD ABC2 89,000 23,000 14,000 22,000 6,000 24,000
112 THE NANNY GO! 72,000 30,000 6,000 12,000 16,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Friday
Channel Nine averaged 38 per cent of the prime time audience on Wednesday night, and 28.7 per cent on Thursday. At this point in the week, these are the shares: Nine&GO 29.3 per cent, Seven 28.2 per cent, ABC1&2 16.4, Ten&ONE 20.9, SBS1&2 5.2. Can you explain this phenomenon?

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,242,000 297,000 344,000 258,000 164,000 180,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,230,000 310,000 335,000 250,000 166,000 168,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,165,000 327,000 374,000 211,000 117,000 134,000
4 CSI Nine 1,144,000 294,000 353,000 209,000 148,000 139,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,083,000 259,000 308,000 202,000 171,000 142,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,038,000 284,000 298,000 232,000 129,000 95,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,017,000 256,000 326,000 235,000 106,000 94,000
10 GLEE THURS Ten 960,000 271,000 278,000 177,000 107,000 127,000
11 RUSH Ten 944,000 261,000 317,000 167,000 98,000 102,000
12 M-THE CHRONICLES OF NARNIA: THE LION THE WITCH AND THE Seven 892,000 253,000 237,000 172,000 115,000 115,000
15 BURN NOTICE Ten 723,000 215,000 236,000 92,000 98,000 82,000
16 CATALYST ABC1 705,000 214,000 180,000 144,000 70,000 97,000
17 NEIGHBOURS Ten 635,000 152,000 184,000 121,000 101,000 78,000
22 TRIBAL WEDDING ABC1 513,000 201,000 116,000 82,000 42,000 72,000
39 WORLD'S GREENEST HOMES-EV ABC1 301,000 78,000 95,000 63,000 26,000 39,000
49 MY FAMILY FEAST SBS ONE 223,000 41,000 104,000 42,000 17,000 20,000
50 COSTA'S GARDEN ODYESSY SBS ONE 222,000 45,000 87,000 50,000 15,000 25,000
62 ADBC SBS ONE 173,000 41,000 54,000 46,000 14,000 19,000
85 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC2 121,000 27,000 36,000 24,000 13,000 22,000
91 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 105,000 16,000 19,000 22,000 31,000 18,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 HEY HEY REUNION Nine 2,169,000 574,000 792,000 398,000 172,000 233,000
2 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,357,000 390,000 481,000 195,000 143,000 148,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,316,000 341,000 354,000 270,000 167,000 184,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,271,000 338,000 323,000 281,000 172,000 156,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,140,000 304,000 330,000 260,000 107,000 138,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,127,000 308,000 266,000 217,000 196,000 141,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,087,000 311,000 327,000 224,000 134,000 91,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,042,000 329,000 343,000 150,000 106,000 114,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,012,000 278,000 307,000 232,000 100,000 95,000
10 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA -ENCORE Nine 953,000 272,000 372,000 146,000 87,000 76,000
11 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 943,000 280,000 224,000 185,000 120,000 134,000
12 WORLD'S STRICTEST PARENTS-HAVE THEY CHANGED? Seven 912,000 264,000 189,000 187,000 151,000 121,000
13 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 842,000 304,000 201,000 148,000 98,000 91,000
14 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 796,000 224,000 192,000 151,000 115,000 114,000
18 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 668,000 183,000 223,000 124,000 69,000 69,000
24 UNITED STATES OF TARA ABC1 581,000 216,000 153,000 88,000 60,000 65,000
25 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 551,000 211,000 145,000 72,000 60,000 63,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,697,000 514,000 523,000 278,000 188,000 195,000
2 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,447,000 383,000 421,000 283,000 162,000 199,000
3 NCIS Ten 1,420,000 348,000 377,000 316,000 186,000 193,000
4 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,387,000 343,000 329,000 312,000 180,000 225,000
5 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,331,000 370,000 391,000 262,000 139,000 169,000
6 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,295,000 330,000 293,000 294,000 174,000 203,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,242,000 325,000 391,000 273,000 106,000 148,000
8 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,207,000 330,000 383,000 247,000 122,000 125,000
11 ALL SAINTS Seven 1,123,000 377,000 347,000 139,000 144,000 116,000
16 SHREK THE THIRD Nine 783,000 205,000 265,000 138,000 83,000 92,000
20 THE SPEARMAN EXPERIMENT Ten 668,000 186,000 176,000 113,000 102,000 92,000
25 ATHENS: THE TRUTH ABOUT DEMOCRACY ABC1 552,000 229,000 130,000 80,000 45,000 68,000
35 VAMPIRE DIARIES Nine 348,000 107,000 108,000 70,000 24,000 39,000
87 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 99,000 15,000 32,000 13,000 27,000 12,000
96 SURVIVOR: GABON GO! 88,000 12,000 19,000 22,000 19,000 16,000
113 THE WIRE ABC2 65,000 31,000 19,000 6,000 4,000 5,000
220 THE HILLS GO! 15,000 1,000 6,000 4,000 3,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Tuesday
The first episode of Flash Forward gave Channel Seven an unbeatable lead for the week, but does it have staying power? Certainly the stunning revelation at the end will get me back next week, but I wonder if most viewers are prepared to commit to a show that will require concentrated attention every week until April 29, 2010. Are there ominous indications in the fact that FF was not number one for the night with these demographic segments: Grocery Buyers, people over 55, and people in Melbourne and Brisbane?

Recently The Tribal Mind column examined the mystery of why Australians love sci-fi at the cinema but hate it on television (click here to read that). There's a good chance FF will go the way of Lost and Heroes, both of which started with nearly 2 million viewers but dropped to below 200,000 this year. In a couple of months, will we find Seven moving FF to its new digital station -- as Nine did with Fringe and The Sarah Connor Chronicles? While you are discussing that, you may also care to offer an explanation for the preponderance of Perky in the chart below.

At this point in the week, these are the prime time audience shares: Seven 29.8 per cent, Nine 22.6, ABC1 18.0, Ten 17.6, SBS1 6.4, GO 2.3, ONE 1.9, ABC2 1.4, SBS2 0.3.

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 FLASH FORWARD Seven 1,786,000 516,000 493,000 315,000 215,000 248,000
2 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,571,000 396,000 512,000 297,000 174,000 193,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,539,000 404,000 356,000 338,000 201,000 240,000
4 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,480,000 379,000 463,000 288,000 179,000 171,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,434,000 381,000 356,000 317,000 165,000 215,000
12 MERCY Seven 1,070,000 268,000 317,000 196,000 142,000 147,000
14 THE MENTALIST Nine 988,000 315,000 333,000 167,000 79,000 94,000
15 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 883,000 258,000 248,000 195,000 84,000 98,000
18 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 828,000 234,000 268,000 154,000 91,000 82,000
25 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA Nine 692,000 225,000 265,000 89,000 60,000 53,000
26 LITTLE BRITAIN USA MON Ten 680,000 179,000 214,000 129,000 94,000 65,000
27 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 675,000 189,000 233,000 108,000 80,000 64,000
35 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 396,000 92,000 127,000 77,000 52,000 48,000
66 SOUTH PARK SBS ONE 173,000 40,000 52,000 41,000 18,000 24,000
67 ERKY PERKY-PM ABC1 171,000 66,000 21,000 45,000 16,000 23,000
91 ERKY PERKY Seven 121,000 56,000 21,000 24,000 21,000
92 THE PINKY AND PERKY SHOW-AM ABC1 121,000 38,000 30,000 34,000 4,000 16,000
94 THE PINKY AND PERKY SHOW-PM ABC1 114,000 55,000 7,000 18,000 15,000 20,000
103 VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 96,000 24,000 29,000 15,000 17,000 11,000

The ratings race, updated 11am Monday
The ABC easily beat Channel Ten last night, which should not happen on an Australian Idol night. Such is the power of the English provincial police that the ABC almost beat Channel Nine. These were the prime time audience shares: Seven 27.0 per cent, Nine 21.2, ABC1 21.1, Ten 18.3, SBS1 4.9, GO 3.2, ONE 2.5, ABC2 1.5, SBS2 0.4.

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,530,000 419,000 440,000 352,000 184,000 136,000
2 MIDSOMER MURDERS-SUN ABC1 1,487,000 437,000 478,000 230,000 158,000 184,000
3 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,428,000 407,000 448,000 295,000 140,000 138,000
4 THE FORCE Seven 1,413,000 405,000 442,000 291,000 140,000 135,000
5 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,329,000 371,000 388,000 292,000 148,000 131,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,195,000 326,000 382,000 225,000 166,000 95,000
7 YELLOWSTONE ABC1 1,098,000 311,000 300,000 228,000 138,000 121,000
10 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 984,000 331,000 266,000 187,000 121,000 79,000
11 60 MINUTES Nine 953,000 288,000 308,000 182,000 107,000 68,000
12 RESCUE SPECIAL OPS Nine 944,000 292,000 306,000 182,000 98,000 66,000
13 20 TO 1 -SUN Nine 933,000 232,000 345,000 183,000 111,000 62,000
15 M-CASINO ROYALE Seven 766,000 203,000 281,000 115,000 87,000 81,000
17 CSI: MIAMI Nine 684,000 186,000 207,000 154,000 75,000 62,000
26 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 429,000 145,000 161,000 49,000 27,000 47,000
39 WIPEOUT GO! 223,000 43,000 79,000 39,000 46,000 16,000
44 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 203,000 54,000 63,000 34,000 31,000 21,000
46 AFL GAME DAY Seven 199,000 140,000 36,000 23,000
55 THE NANNY GO! 177,000 55,000 52,000 34,000 27,000 8,000
61 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 ONE 165,000 46,000 52,000 27,000 20,000 19,000
69 THE FLINTSTONES -RPT GO! 146,000 29,000 62,000 27,000 23,000 5,000
77 HORNBLOWER ABC2 117,000 39,000 36,000 22,000 16,000 5,000
87 THE SANFL-PM ABC1 94,000 94,000
92 RUGBY UNION: SHUTE SHIELD (NSW) 2009-PM ABC1 79,000 79,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

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 whoweare-index at 10:52 PM
• Comments (112)