The Sun-Herald

The TV year 2009: The spins are in

To mark the end of the "official" ratings year, the networks have started telling their tales. Amazingly, it seems that everybody won. First, lets look at the undisputed top 40 most watched shows of the year. Then we'll see how each network told its story.

The most watched programs of 2009
1 Masterchef Australia - Winner Announced (10) 3.74m; 2 AFL grand final (10) 2.88m; 3 Melbourne Cup - The Race (7) 2.67m; 4 Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (9) 2.58m; 5 NRL grand final (9) 2.53m; 6 Tennis: Australian Open, Dokic last game (7) 2.32m; 7 State of Origin Game 1 (9) 2.32m; 8 Hey Hey Reunion part two (9) 2.31m; 9 Tennis: Aus Open Men's Final (7) 2.24m; 10 Hey Hey Reunion (9) 2.17m; 11 State of Origin 2 (9) 2.13m; 12 Cricket: Twenty/20 Aus v South Africa Game 2 (9) 2.12m; 13 The Biggest Loser: Winner Announced (10) 2.10m; 14 Cricket: Twenty/20 Aus v S. Africa Game 1 (9) 2.04m; 15 Packed to the Rafters (7) 2.07m; 16 State of Origin 3 (9) 1.91m; 17 Logies (9) 1.69; 18 Seven news bushfire edition (7) 1,64; 19 Talkin Bout Your Generation (10) 1.60m; 20 Seven News Sunday (7) 1.59m; 21 Thank God You're here (70 1.52m; 22 World's Strictest parents (7) 1.51m; 23 Border Security (7) 1.50m; 24 Find My Family (7) 1.49m; 25 Seven News Mon-Fri (7) 1.48m; 26 The Zoo (7) 1.47m; 27 NCIS (10) 1.45m; 28 Dancing With The Stars (7) 1.44m; 29 RSPCA Animal Rescue (7) 1.43m; 30 Midsomer Murders (ABC) 1.42m; 31 Surf Patrol (7) 1.41m; 32 Nine News Sunday (9) 1.40m; 33 Triple Zero Heroes (7) 1.39m; 34 Customs (9) 1.38m; 35 Last Chance Surgery (7) 1.38m 1.38m; 36 Australia's Got Talent (7) 1.37m; 37 AirWays (7) 1.37m; 38 Today Tonight (7) 1.37m; 39 Merlin (10) 1.36m; 40 Highway Patrol (7) 1.35m.

CHANNEL NINE'S SPIN
". Nine wins 25-54 demographic across 5 city, official OzTAM results, 6pm-midnight, network on network
. Across all programing, Nine finishes year with 10 of the 20 best performing shows
Nine has the Number 1 rating program -- Underbelly: Tale of Two Cities.
. The Nine network has again delivered on its target demographic in 2009 by claiming for the second consecutive year the number one spot in the advertiser-preferred 25-54 demographic across the 5 city metro."

THE ABC's SPIN
"In a year dominated by fierce competition between networks and the launch of four new free-to-air channels, ABC TV has increased its share of free-to-air viewers in 2009 by broadening its appeal through ABC1 and ABC2.
ABC TV recorded a prime time share of 17.1% (weeks 7- 48, free-to-air 5 city) 0.1 of a point higher than 2008, which had previously been its most successful ratings year ever.
Complementing the increase in share within the free-to-air TV market, ABC iView has recorded a 140% increase in monthly average visits compared to 2008 and in October there was a record 1 million visits. In addition, more than 7 million vodcasts of ABC content have been downloaded in 2009 (to end of October).
2009 is the first full year that ABC2 has been part of the ratings cycle and its people share during prime time increased to 1.2% - double that of 2008. In week 46, ABC2 hit a new peak to reach 2.6 million viewers or 17.6% of the 5 city population.
Kim Dalton, Director of ABC TV said "The free-to-air TV landscape this year is hardly recognisable from even just 12 months ago. I'm delighted that ABC TV has been able to grow its audience in this tough environment, and in fact, has been at the forefront of this revolution. Come December 4, even more viewers are set to come on board with the launch of the new kids' channel, ABC3.
Top 6 Programs on ABC1
5 Cities
Spicks and Specks - 27th May (1.6 million; 32.5% FTA Share)
The Chaser's War on Everything - 27th May (1.5 million; 32.1% FTA Share)
Midsomer Murders - 4th October (1.5 million; 31.2% FTA Share)
The Gruen Transfer - 20th May (1.3 million; 26.1% FTA Share)
New Tricks - 13th June (1.3 million; 31.2% FTA Share)
Australian Story - 22nd June (1.3 million; 24.7% FTA Share)"

CHANNEL TEN'S SPIN
". Network Ten Total (TEN + ONE combined) wins the year in prime-time in 18-49 with a 33.7% share
. Network Ten Total (TEN + ONE combined) wins the year in prime-time in 16-39 with a 37.0% share
TEN (primary channel):
. TEN wins the year in prime-time in 16-39 and under 50s
. TEN is competitive in 18-49 with a 33.5% share; Year-on-year share in 18-49 is up by 2.9%; Year-on-year audience in 18-49 is up by 1.5%
. TEN wins 16-39 for 9th straight year; Year-on-year share in 16-39 is up by 2.7%
. TEN's year-on-year share in 25-54 is up by 4.7%; year-on-year audience in 25-54 is up by 4.9%
. TEN's year-on-year total share is up by 5.5%; Year-on-year audience is up by 4.0%.
TEN wins the year in daytime; TEN News At Five is the year's top regular daytime program
. TEN delivers the top 3 shows of 2009: MasterChef Australia - The Winner Announced, MasterChef Australia - Finale Night and The AFL Grand Final."

CHANNEL SEVEN'S SPIN
". Seven wins primetime in total viewers, 18-49s, and 25-54s in 2009
We'll leave Nine and Ten to attempt to spin their stories, and only wonder why you'd combine multiple channel audiences and redefine primetime to get a story. We'd rather let the facts speak for themselves.
. For the third consecutive year Seven is #1 in primetime and also #1 for the fourth consecutive year overall (across the 6am to midnight broadcast day) ...
. We have more total viewers, 18-49s and 25-54s in prime time than anyone else. And while we love our new channel, 7TWO, we don't need to add in its expanding audience to make up a story on how well Seven is going (which is very nicely and thankyou for asking)."

PAY TV'S SPIN
"In the first 48 weeks of the year, subscription TV was the number one choice for TV viewing around Australia with 22.4% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 21.4% of all regional viewing and 58.2% of all viewing in subscription TV homes. Even when the 2009 summer period is excluded (ie looking at weeks 7-48 only), STV was a clear winner. This year demonstrated the traditional strengths of subscription TV with a wide variety of sport, news and entertainment programs.

"The April broadcast of Live: Football: World Cup Qual. Aust v Uzbekistan topped the year for subscription TV with 431,000 viewers and set an all time audience record for the industry. The South Africa cricket tests earlier in the year proved popular, with Live: Cricket: Test RSA v AUS Day 2 S1 being watched by 358,000 people in March. The NRL series also scored significant audiences across the season with the Live: NRL Bulldogs v Storm match getting the biggest audience for the code with 347,000 viewers in May (all on FOX Sports).

"Australia's Next Top Model Live Finale on FOX8 in July topped the year in entertainment with 285,000 viewers watching the live finale. Live: Sound Relief Melbourne on Channel [V] was a major initiative for the platform and set an audience record for the channel with 220,000 viewers watching the charity concert in March.

"Project Runway Australia: Finale on Arena was watched by 191,000 in September and the Sky News' broadcast of Victoria Bushfire Disaster - Live Coverage provided subscription TV viewers with timely and comprehensive updates on the tragedy in February. The Disney Original Movie Princess Protection Program gathered 157,000 viewers to its broadcast in July and the Stargate: Universe premiere on SCI FI in October was watched by 149,000 people."

More to come as the argument proceeds. This is almost as good as the Liberal Party. The Tribal Mind column on Saturday December 5 will explain who were the real winners and losers of 2009 by analysing audience sizes rather than shares of an ever-diminishing cake.

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 01:24 AM

The Who We Are update: Last week of "official" ratings

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 how dumb Australia was in 2009, go to Who We Are.
To nominate the best lines from the movies of 2009, go to The Tribal Mind.

The most watched shows on each of the Free to Air channels, week ending November 28
Seven
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS 2,049,000 (Total audience across five mainland capitals)
2 THE FORCE 1,569,000
3 SEVEN NEWS - SUN 1,499,000
4 BORDER SECURITY 1465,000
5 UNLIKELY ANIMAL FRIENDS 1377,000
6 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS 1336,000
7 HIGHWAY PATROL 1311,000
8 BORDER SECURITY -WED (R) 1277,000
9 SEVEN NEWS 1273,000
10 M-RATATOUILLE 1241,000
7TWO
1 STARGATE ATLANTIS 175,000
2 HEROES 132,000
3 M-CHICKEN RUN 131,000
4 M-SHOOTER 107,000
5 M-HEAVY WEIGHTS 89,000
6 UGLY BETTY 88,000
ABC1
1 ABC NEWS-SUN 929,000
2 ABC NEWS WEEKDAYS 913,000
3 ABC NEWS-SAT 890,000
4 ELDERS WITH ANDREW DENTON 800,000
5 BILL 791,000
6 HOPE SPRINGS 727,000
7 TAGGART 716,000
8 7.30 REPORT 713,000
9 WIRE IN THE BLOOD: PRAYER OF THE BONE 692,000
10 THE NEW INVENTORS 674,000
ABC2
1 DOCTOR WHO: VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED 114,000
2 WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MADE: DORIS DAY SUPERSTAR 109,000
3 WILLA'S WILD LIFE 103,000
4 POKO 102,000
5 ADVENTURES OF BOTTLE TOP BILL AND HIS BEST FRIEND 94,000
6 JUNKYARD WARS 87,000
Nine
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON 1291,000
2 THE MENTALIST 1227,000
3 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED EP2 1216,000
4 NINE NEWS SUNDAY 1163,000
5 NINE NEWS SATURDAY 1133,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED EP1 1113,000
7 THE BIG BANG THEORY 1080,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT 1071,000
9 NINE NEWS 1049,000
10 CRICKET: ALL STAR TWENTY/20 1041,000
GO!
1 LICENCE TO WED 153,000
2 TRANSFORMERS 144,000
3 THE BIG BANG THEORY 123,000
4 WIPEOUT 112,000
5 KIDS WB SUNDAY 112,000
6 SUPERBAD 109,000
Ten
1 AUSTRALIAN IDOL - THE WINNER ANNOUNCED 1492,000
2 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA - FINALE 1295,000
3 AUSTRALIAN IDOL - THE FINAL VERDICT 1280,000
4 AUSTRALIAN IDOL - LIVE FROM THE OPERA HOUSE 1109,000
5 NCIS RPT 1106,000
6 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA TUES 1080,000
7 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION - CHRISTMAS SPECIAL 1063,000
8 HAMISH & ANDY RE-GIFTED 1050,000
9 GLEE THURS 1049,000
10 LIE TO ME 976,000
ONE
1 UFC WIRED 84,000
2 WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN RPT 74,000
3 SPORTS TONIGHT: AFL DRAFT UPDATE 56,000
4 WORLD HELI CHALLENGE 56,000
5 DRAG RACING: ANDRA CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 54,000
6 HIGH OCTANE 40,000
SBS1
1 TOP GEAR RPT 685,000
2 MAN VS WILD 664,000
3 DESTINATION: FIFA WORLD CUP 461,000
4 ADBC BITESIZE 427,000
5 ROCKWIZ 284,000
6 MYTHBUSTERS 280,000
7 TOP GEAR 268,000
8 LUKE NGUYEN'S VIETNAM 261,000
9 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? 260,000
10 DEMETRI'S CASTLE 242,000
SBS2
1 THE PACIFIC WAR IN COLOUR RPT 35,000
2 LOVE IN INDIA 1 24,000
3 2 BECOME 1 23,000
4 LIGHT FANTASTIC RPT 22,000
5 THE ADVENTURE OF ENGLISH RPT 20,000
6 DESTINATION: FIFA WORLD CUP RPT 19,000

The ratings race, updated 11am Saturday
Sometimes people who see conspiracies around them are paranoid psychotics. And sometimes sinister schemes are really afoot. The Friday, Saturday and weekly ratings charts from OzTAM were sent out with no distinction between the main stations and their digital offshoots. Thus Nine programs and GO programs were simply listed as Nine, Seven and 7TWO were lumped together as Seven, ABC1 and ABC2 were just ABC, etc. This reduces the reader's ability to spot viewing trends. Was OzTAM, which prides itself on its accuracy, asked to blur its results by the networks? Was this change designed to conceal how few people are watching the digitals?

What Australia watched, with some lack of precision, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 M-RATATOUILLE Seven 1,240,000 363,000 426,000 141,000 150,000 159,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,209,000 293,000 347,000 248,000 157,000 164,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,133,000 356,000 381,000 180,000 138,000 78,000
4 MERRY MADAGASCAR Seven [PLEASE TELL US, OZTAM, IS THIS REALLY SEVEN OR DO YOU MEAN 7TWO?] 1,057,000 292,000 326,000 144,000 168,000 126,000
5 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC [IS THIS ABC1 OR ABC2?] 890,000 227,000 255,000 188,000 105,000 116,000
6 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine [IS THIS REALLY NINE OR IS IT GO?] 873,000 291,000 228,000 143,000 124,000 87,000
7 THE BILL ABC [ABC1 OR ABC2?] 791,000 239,000 198,000 132,000 111,000 111,000
9 HOPE SPRINGS ABC [ABC1 OR ABC2?] 727,000 202,000 200,000 146,000 87,000 92,000
10 TAGGART ABC [ABC1 OR ABC2?]716,000 182,000 210,000 113,000 111,000 98,000
11 DECK THE HALLS Nine [NINE OR GO?] 676,000 267,000 187,000 92,000 75,000 55,000
12 FIRST TEST - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES Nine [PRESUMABLY NINE WOULDN'T PUT THE CRICKET ON GO, BUT WE HAVE NO WAY OF KNOWING, SINCE THESE CHARTS DON'T DISTINGUISH BETWEEN THE TWO STATIONS] 649,000 184,000 226,000 98,000 80,000 61,000
13 M-THE SANTA CLAUSE 3 Seven [DO YOU MEAN 7TWO?] 646,000 218,000 206,000 63,000 94,000 65,000
17 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE II Ten [IS THIS TEN OR ONE?] 402,000 106,000 118,000 72,000 54,000 52,000
24 ROCKWIZ SBS [IS THIS SBS1 OR SBS2?] 284,000 91,000 90,000 45,000 25,000 32,000
25 MYTHBUSTERS SBS [SBS1 OR SBS2?] 280,000 72,000 68,000 63,000 43,000 34,000
28 IRON CHEF SBS [SBS1 OR SBS2?] 232,000 72,000 68,000 36,000 32,000 23,000
70 HOGAN'S HEROES [SURELY YOU MEAN GO?] Nine 87,000 28,000 20,000 17,000 9,000 13,000
71 THE NANNY Nine [SURELY YOU MEAN GO?] 87,000 32,000 11,000 13,000 11,000 19,000
74 SEINFELD Nine [SURELY YOU MEAN GO?] 85,000 22,000 30,000 12,000 11,000 11,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,336,000 407,000 359,000 227,000 174,000 170,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,182,000 340,000 327,000 211,000 151,000 154,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,160,000 324,000 316,000 236,000 143,000 142,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,058,000 260,000 373,000 193,000 127,000 104,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,009,000 248,000 297,000 200,000 133,000 131,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 845,000 195,000 294,000 157,000 90,000 109,000
8 M-PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END Seven 840,000 248,000 252,000 137,000 102,000 102,000
12 DIE HARD 4.0 Ten 708,000 212,000 202,000 127,000 81,000 86,000
13 WIRE IN THE BLOOD: PRAYER OF THE BONE ABC 692,000 168,000 216,000 136,000 92,000 80,000
17 AUSTRALIAN STORY SPECIAL ABC 607,000 198,000 143,000 128,000 61,000 77,000
18 THE PURSUIT OF HAPPYNESS -RPT Nine 588,000 217,000 184,000 65,000 69,000 52,000
23 FIRST TEST - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES Nine 431,000 136,000 129,000 70,000 45,000 51,000
95 TORCHWOOD ABC [DON'T YOU MEAN ABC2?] 86,000 29,000 27,000 2,000 11,000 16,000
96 THE NANNY Nine [DON'T YOU MEAN GO?] 85,000 46,000 14,000 9,000 8,000 8,000
100 JUNKYARD WARS ABC [DON'T YOU MEAN ABC2?]79,000 13,000 20,000 8,000 15,000 24,000
134 GOOD GAME ABC [DON'T YOU MEAN ABC2?] 57,000 17,000 22,000 8,000 4,000 5,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Friday
This weekend every channel will send out its self-aggrandisement spin for the year, claiming to have captured particular demographics to cover its losses with the total audience. Watch this space on Sunday morning for the facts behind the mythmaking. At this point in the week, the prime time audience shares are: SBS1&2 5.1 per cent; ABC1&2 14.1; Ten&ONE 23.0; Nine &GO 27.2; Seven&7TWO 30.5.

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,238,000 310,000 369,000 223,000 168,000 168,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,167,000 331,000 313,000 212,000 141,000 170,000
3 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,062,000 238,000 378,000 216,000 104,000 126,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,062,000 282,000 375,000 207,000 106,000 91,000
5 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,038,000 294,000 312,000 178,000 112,000 141,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,026,000 252,000 367,000 198,000 113,000 96,000
7 GETAWAY Nine 1,025,000 280,000 308,000 186,000 109,000 142,000
8 GLEE THURS Ten 1,022,000 282,000 340,000 147,000 126,000 127,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,013,000 309,000 286,000 158,000 133,000 127,000
10 RUSH Ten 989,000 231,000 348,000 166,000 136,000 108,000
15 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 726,000 222,000 248,000 106,000 69,000 80,000
16 ARIA AWARDS 2009 Nine 708,000 221,000 204,000 110,000 100,000 73,000
23 SURVIVING MUMBAI ABC1 564,000 172,000 157,000 98,000 49,000 88,000
27 FIRST TEST - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES Nine 417,000 125,000 138,000 77,000 42,000 35,000
29 HEY ARTHUR, LOOK: MAKING SAMSON AND DELILAH ABC1 384,000 116,000 138,000 64,000 25,000 41,000
66 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 175,000 51,000 52,000 23,000 26,000 23,000
96 FIFTH GEAR 7TWO 85,000 10,000 43,000 16,000 11,000 5,000
97 UFC WIRED ONE 84,000 8,000 30,000 14,000 15,000 17,000
99 DROP DEAD DIVA GO! 81,000 35,000 27,000 8,000 10,000 1,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF - FINALE Ten 1,295,000 394,000 382,000 213,000 143,000 163,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,283,000 325,000 347,000 239,000 169,000 203,000
3 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,277,000 340,000 401,000 241,000 130,000 165,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,242,000 320,000 333,000 258,000 149,000 182,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED EP2 Nine 1,216,000 328,000 431,000 211,000 121,000 125,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,176,000 339,000 345,000 231,000 134,000 128,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED EP1 Nine 1,113,000 285,000 347,000 244,000 113,000 123,000
8 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,066,000 261,000 327,000 206,000 128,000 144,000
10 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,010,000 230,000 341,000 180,000 114,000 145,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 999,000 276,000 332,000 182,000 103,000 107,000
12 NINE NEWS Nine 965,000 261,000 308,000 178,000 114,000 104,000
16 WHITE COLLAR Ten 774,000 188,000 231,000 151,000 106,000 98,000
24 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 572,000 138,000 175,000 98,000 73,000 88,000
27 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 446,000 153,000 125,000 93,000 39,000 36,000
29 JOHN SAFRAN'S RACE RELATIONS ABC1 402,000 135,000 131,000 69,000 33,000 33,000
80 HEROES 7TWO 132,000 47,000 37,000 13,000 19,000 17,000
84 300 GO! 124,000 26,000 50,000 13,000 15,000 20,000
94 FRINGE GO! 93,000 21,000 31,000 13,000 13,000 16,000
96 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 93,000 24,000 19,000 22,000 18,000 10,000
111 PARLIAMENT QUESTION TIME ABC1 70,000 19,000 26,000 17,000 7,000 1,000

The ratings race, updated 10am Wednesday
The two new commercial digital channels did not increase their audience share yesterday, despite the arrival of their trains on the Foxtel platform. Presumably all their potential new viewers were stuck on the final of Packed To The Rafters. At this point in the week, the prime time audience shares are: Seven 29.2 per cent; Nine 24.5; Ten 21.4; ABC1 12.5; SBS1 5.3; GO 3.0; 7TWO 1.9; ABC2 1.8; ONE 0.7; SBS2 0.3. Tonight's final of Celebrity MasterChef will signal the start of the silly season.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Final Seven 2,048,000 568,000 619,000 386,000 235,000 241,000
2 UNLIKELY ANIMAL FRIENDS Seven 1,378,000 308,000 420,000 302,000 160,000 188,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,273,000 320,000 362,000 244,000 178,000 169,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,138,000 291,000 380,000 256,000 97,000 114,000
5 NCIS RPT Ten 1,105,000 290,000 307,000 231,000 118,000 158,000
6 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,095,000 292,000 274,000 221,000 149,000 158,000
7 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA TUES Ten 1,083,000 350,000 317,000 169,000 96,000 151,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,044,000 296,000 285,000 201,000 126,000 136,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,038,000 283,000 331,000 229,000 97,000 98,000
10 PRIVATE PRACTICE-TUE Seven 1,003,000 306,000 295,000 185,000 127,000 90,000
11 NINE NEWS Nine 995,000 286,000 321,000 186,000 111,000 91,000
14 LIE TO ME Ten 974,000 272,000 292,000 171,000 104,000 134,000
46 WHAT ON EARTH IS WRONG WITH GRAVITY? SBS ONE 228,000 71,000 57,000 43,000 25,000 32,000
70 EAST WEST 101 SBS ONE 131,000 54,000 32,000 20,000 15,000 10,000
80 SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS GO! 109,000 26,000 29,000 25,000 10,000 19,000
84 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 99,000 19,000 33,000 16,000 24,000 7,000
93 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 88,000 10,000 32,000 27,000 3,000 15,000
94 M-ALIEN VS. PREDATOR 7TWO 87,000 24,000 35,000 10,000 6,000 12,000

The box office race, updated 10 am Tuesday
The Twilight Saga: New Moon sold $16.1 million worth of tickets over the weekend, topping the opening weekend earnings of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince ($14.3m) and Lord of the Rings: Two Towers, ($14.1 M). (To compare with the all time record breakers, go to The films Australia loved).

By all accounts TTSNM is slow and sentimental. Any reader of this forum care to give us a review?

Presumably everyone was out at the flicks last night, because televiewing was way down. Flashforward has dropped below the million mark, which makes a move to 7TWO all the more likely before April 29. Talking of the digitals, 7TWO and GO made their first appearance on Foxtel this morning, making them available to a million more Australians. This column will check how that affected their audiences in tomorrow's ratings report.

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,381,000 395,000 375,000 259,000 184,000 169,000
2 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,311,000 372,000 405,000 226,000 142,000 165,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,302,000 363,000 347,000 259,000 157,000 176,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,276,000 385,000 330,000 280,000 122,000 160,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,246,000 344,000 380,000 278,000 111,000 132,000
6 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,230,000 343,000 399,000 238,000 119,000 131,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,182,000 331,000 332,000 230,000 147,000 142,000
8 NINE NEWS Nine 1,140,000 344,000 339,000 247,000 106,000 105,000
9 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,129,000 302,000 281,000 254,000 126,000 166,000
10 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,083,000 350,000 297,000 209,000 92,000 134,000
11 CRIMINAL MINDS-MON Seven 1,082,000 304,000 348,000 172,000 116,000 142,000
13 HAMISH & ANDY RE-GIFTED Ten 1,052,000 279,000 399,000 179,000 87,000 108,000
15 FLASHFORWARD Seven 972,000 276,000 257,000 160,000 116,000 164,000
16 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 956,000 266,000 301,000 184,000 94,000 111,000
17 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA Nine 834,000 245,000 283,000 111,000 95,000 99,000
19 ELDERS WITH ANDREW DENTON ABC1 800,000 248,000 224,000 152,000 84,000 91,000
27 MAN VS WILD SBS ONE 663,000 232,000 172,000 136,000 44,000 79,000
31 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 462,000 130,000 164,000 62,000 58,000 48,000
90 DOCTOR WHO: VOYAGE OF THE DAMNED ABC2 114,000 27,000 44,000 14,000 20,000 9,000
103 THE VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 82,000 15,000 25,000 15,000 13,000 13,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE FORCE Seven 1,554,000 415,000 462,000 307,000 143,000 228,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,492,000 392,000 411,000 326,000 166,000 196,000
3 AUSTRALIAN IDOL - THE WINNER ANNOUNCED Ten 1,471,000 476,000 421,000 259,000 152,000 164,000
4 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,422,000 368,000 458,000 254,000 135,000 207,000
5 BONES Seven 1,252,000 311,000 369,000 254,000 136,000 182,000
6 AUSTRALIAN IDOL - THE FINAL VERDICT Ten 1,236,000 352,000 381,000 229,000 126,000 149,000
7 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,178,000 277,000 359,000 225,000 182,000 136,000
8 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,156,000 287,000 435,000 203,000 134,000 97,000
9 ALL STAR TWENTY/20 Nine 1,129,000 309,000 378,000 217,000 104,000 121,000
10 AUSTRALIAN IDOL - LIVE FROM THE OPERA HOUSE Ten 1,108,000 301,000 356,000 214,000 117,000 120,000
11 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION - CHRISTMAS SPECIAL Ten 1,060,000 282,000 346,000 185,000 95,000 152,000
13 60 MINUTES Nine 928,000 235,000 316,000 205,000 76,000 96,000
18 SAMSON AND DELILAH ABC1 646,000 190,000 195,000 100,000 71,000 90,000
19 DARWIN'S BRAVE NEW WORLD ABC1 584,000 186,000 136,000 109,000 72,000 81,000
33 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 263,000 84,000 80,000 26,000 30,000 43,000
52 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 180,000 24,000 63,000 44,000 24,000 25,000
59 THE NANNY GO! 158,000 25,000 63,000 21,000 28,000 22,000
60 LICENCE TO WED GO! 152,000 31,000 64,000 23,000 20,000 14,000
66 THE FLINTSTONES GO! 140,000 28,000 60,000 20,000 19,000 14,000
70 WIPEOUT GO! 139,000 24,000 47,000 20,000 31,000 16,000
77 M-CHICKEN RUN 7TWO 131,000 22,000 47,000 16,000 23,000 22,000
82 KIDS WB SUNDAY GO! 112,000 29,000 40,000 11,000 14,000 19,000
85 WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MADE: DORIS DAY SUPERSTAR ABC2 109,000 21,000 58,000 17,000 5,000 8,000
88 M-SHOOTER 7TWO 106,000 26,000 40,000 11,000 12,000 17,000
(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 07:09 PM
• Comments (58)

The Tribal Mind: How we've changed -- or have we?

To learn how Australia became addicted to caffeine, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
AUSTRALIA has made an enormous evolutionary leap over the past ten years, and we should be proud of the way we've matured into sophisticated, discerning consumers.

That's one theory, anyway. Cleaning out a mouldy filing cabinet last weekend, I came across a way to test if the claim is true -- a fat document, sent out to journalists exactly ten years ago, with these words on the cover: "RATINGS REPORT - NINE SHINES IN 1999". It's Channel Nine's 60 page analysis of trends in television at the end of the 90s. I can say with absolute confidence that Nine will not be sending out a report anything like it this year.

Since we're only a week away from the end of the 2009 ratings period, it's possible to find some illuminating differences between the way we were and the way we are. Check out these ratings charts, and see if you agree with the comparisons I make afterwards...

The most watched non-sporting programs of 1999:
1 Hey Hey It's Saturday, final (9) 2.71 million
2 Friends (9) 2.59m
3 Sunday night movie - The Castle (9) 2.46m
4 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire special (9) 2.23m
5 Jesse (9) 2.21m
6 Getaway special - The Orient Express (9) 2.17m
7 The Logies, hosted by Andrew Denton (9) 2.13m
8 John Farnham's 50th birthday (9) 2.12m
9 Walking With Dinosaurs (ABC) 2.08m
10 SeaChange (ABC) 2.07m
11 The Best and Worst of Royalty (9) 2.03m
12 Sunday night movie - Mission Impossible (10) 2.00m
13 This is Your Life (9) 1.98m
14 Blue Heelers (7) 1.98m
15 Sunday night movie - Dating The Enemy (7) 1.97m
(Nielsen, mainland capitals)

The most watched non-sporting programs of 2009:
1 MasterChef Australia - Winner Announced (10) 3.74 million
2 Hey Hey Reunion part two (9) 2.31m
3 Hey Hey Reunion part one (9) 2.17m
4 Underbelly: A Tale of Two Cities (9) 2.13m
5 The Biggest Loser: Winner Announced (10) 2.10m
6 Packed to the Rafters (7) 1.90m
7 MasterChef challenge (10) 1.74m
8 The Logies, hosted by Gretel Killeen (9) 1.65m
9 Seven news Sunday (7) 1.61m
10 Talkin' 'bout Your Generation (10) 1.60m
11 Dancing With The Stars grand final (7) 1.57m
12 Thank God You're Here (7) 1.52m
13 World's Strictest Parents (7) 1.51m
14 Seven news weekdays (7) 1.50m
15 Border Security (7) 1.50m.
(OzTAM, mainland capitals)

We watch a lot less commercial TV these days. Instead, we watch more ABC (its two stations averaged 17.1 per cent of the prime time audience this year - up from 14.7 per cent in 99). We watch more Pay TV (28 per cent of homes are subscribers now, up from 10 per cent in 99). And Australians under 40 spend more hours a week on the internet (which barely existed in 99) than on the box.

We are much more diverse in our tastes. Back when the population was 19 million, it was usual for a hit series to hold more than 2 million viewers in the mainland capitals, week after week. Now, with the population above 22 million, the networks crack champagne if a show tops 1.5 million. Thisyear, the only series that united us was Underbelly. Back then, we united around Friends, Jesse, Walking With Dinosaurs, SeaChange, This Is Your Life and Blue Heelers.

We've come to prefer our own sense of humour. The favourite comedies in 99 were the US-made Friends, Jesse, Ally McBeal and The Drew Carey Show. This year the top comedies were Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation, Thank God You're Here and Two and a Half Men.

Movies don't work any more on TV. That's because 85 per cent of homes now have DVD players (up from 8 per cent back then). This year the top rating movie, Night at the Museum, drew 1.5 million viewers. In 99, seven movies attracted more than 1.8 million. They included The Castle, Dating The Enemy and Babe (which suggests Australians liked their own stories more than they do now).

And Mission Impossible, which drew 2 million viewers in 99, starred Tom Cruise, who was the national in-law at the time.

Channel Nine has gone down the plughole of history. In the 1999 document, Nine's Program Director, John Stephens, is quoted thus: "The network will not be resting on its laurels in year 2000. There will be greater emphasis on improving our winning performance with the lucrative 16-39 demographic and at the same time retaining Nine's loyal and valued 40-plus audience. I think Nine can look forward to an exceptional start to the new century."

By the mid Noughties, Stephens was working for Channel Seven, as was Nine's managing director David Leckie. In 99, Nine averaged 32.8 per cent of the prime time audience, while Seven averaged 29.4. This year Seven and 7TWO averaged 27.9 per cent while Nine and GO! averaged 26.6. Channel Ten has risen from 19.5 per cent then to 22.5 per cent now. SBS is up from 3.1 to 5.9.

Daryl Somers and Shaun Micalleff are stayers. Back then, Micallef was the love interest in SeaChange. Now he's the agent provocateur in Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation. Daryl Somers still does Hey Hey It's Saturday.

Go to Comments to discuss how else we've changed in ten years.

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 10:12 AM

WHO WE ARE: A nation of capppuholics

To find out if the ad industry calls you "socially aware", "basic needs" or "traditional family", go to The Tribal Mind.

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 15/11/2009
LET THE Germans celebrate their falling wall. Australia has a far more significant social shift to commemorate this year - the 30th anniversary of our change from a nation of tea drinkers to a nation of coffee drinkers, which means from passive to active, from apathetic to engaged, from relaxed and comfortable to alert but not alarmed, from an island off the coast of England to an island in the middle of the Mediterranean, from the kind of place where a John Howard would grow up and lead the Liberal Party to a place that would spawn a Kevin Rudd.

Yes, 1979 was the year when coffee consumption on the way up passed tea consumption on the way down. To mark the moment, the baristas of our nation have this year added a new permutation to their repertoire - the piccolo (an espresso with a bit more milk than a macchiato and a bit less milk than a latte).

This brings the number of shapes in which you can order your pickmeup in the typical suburban cafe to a glorious 16.

My caffeine, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways: espresso (or short black), double espresso, long black, macchiato, large macchiato, piccolo, latte (hot milk, minimum froth), flat white (a latte but served in a cup instead of a glass), cappuccino (hot milk, lots of froth), affogato (espresso with a dollop of icecream).

That's your basic array. Now add skim milk versions, soy milk versions, decaffeinated versions, and the babycino, and you see why baristas have to do so much fiddling with their machines that they'd have no time to boil water if some eccentric came in and asked for a cup of tea.

Lets track the transformation. In 1949, every Australian drank 3.2 litres of tea a year and 0.2 litres of coffee.

In the early 1950s, the cappuccino machine arrived, along with mass immigration from Italy. (As far as I can establish, the first one was installed in 1953 at the University Cafe in Lygon Street, Melbourne, pictured above). And thus coffee's conquest of the suburbs began.

By 1979, we were consuming 1.7 litres of tea and 1.7 litres of coffee a year. Nowadays, tea is below 0.8 litres and coffee is past 4 litres per person a year.

Put another way, in 50 years each of us has gone from two cups of tea a week to three cups of coffee a week. The research agency Bis Shrapnel estimates that outside the home, Australians drink a billion coffees a year, of which 480 million are cappuccinos.

But 80 per cent of our coffee consumption is home-made instant (we spend $250 million a year in supermarkets on Nescafe Blend 43, and $150 million on Moccona).

So the nation swallows five billion cups of coffee a year. No wonder we elected a prime minister who operates on five hours sleep a night and expects his public servants to work 15 hours a day. Give them all another double short skim piccolo.

Go to Comments to discuss the national addiction.

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 01:54 PM
• Comments (9)

The Tribal Mind: Divided, decimated and conquered

To learn how Australia became addicted to caffeine, go to Who We Are

by David Dale
AS THE old joke goes, there are two types of people in the world: those who say there are two types of people in the world, and those who find it more useful to divide the world into 10 types of people. The survey organisation Roy Morgan Research is in the second category. After four decades of interviewing thousands of Australians about their beliefs, hopes, fears, likes, and spending habits, Morgan has concluded that the 16 million adults in this land can be split among ten "value segments". Morgan's classification has been widely adopted by the advertising and marketing industry. Can you find yourself among these labels ...

Traditional Family Life (20.1 per cent of the community). According to Morgan, "generally aged 50-plus with grown children, this group is motivated by security, reliability and providing better opportunities for their families."

Visible Achievement (17.4 per cent). "Enjoy the tangible rewards of their success but, confident and individualistic, they do not feel the need to impress others. Practical and realistic, they seek quality and value for money." They seem to correspond with what the ratings agency OzTAM calls "Occupational Groups 1 and 2", which means their favourite TV shows include Packed To The Rafters, NCIS, Celebrity MasterChef and Spicks and Specks.

Socially Aware (14.4 per cent). "Community minded and socially active, people in this group have a strong sense of social responsibility. Always looking for something new and different, they tend to be early adopters and influencers." They watch the least amount of television of all the segments -- less than 2 hours a day.

Conventional Family Life (12.2 per cent, up from 10.8 per cent in 2006). This group, younger than the Traditionals, "devote their time and effort to family and their home - either building one or striving to improve it". They seem to correspond with what OzTAM calls "Grocery Buyers", which means their favourite TV shows include Packed To The Rafters, Midsomer Murders, RSPCA Animal Rescue, and Better Homes and Gardens.

Look at Me (11.5 per cent) "Younger, socially active, peer-driven people who are highly conscious of image and fashion ... their behaviour tends to be hedonistic and rebellious".

Young Optimism (7.7 per cent) "Associated with ambition and idealism, people in this group want to experience life - travel, career, friends, family, sport and social activity - and believe they can have it all. Usually students and young professionals, they are innovative and interested in technology." They rarely watch TV, but visit the cinema more than any other segment.

Something Better (6.5 per cent). "Competitive, ambitious and concerned about status and image and often extend their budget in order to demonstrate their success to others." They are the group most likely to subscribe to Pay TV.

Real Conservatism (4.8 per cent) "Usually mature people who hold conservative social, moral and ethical values, they seek a disciplined, ordered society that is safe and predictable."

Fairer Deal (3.2 per cent, down from 4.2 in 2006). "Usually associated with unskilled and semi-skilled workers ... more likely than others to experience unemployment and financial insecurity and subsequent family pressures. This can create a feeling that they are getting 'a raw deal' out of life."

Basic Needs (2.5 per cent). "Usually associated with retirees, pensioners or people living on social security payments ... a desire for security and order and a strong sense of community". Least likely of all the groups to go to the cinema, but most likely to watch 4 hours of television a day.

Go to Comments to discuss whether this is a legitimate way to slice society.

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 09:28 AM
• Comments (4)

The Who We Are update: Week 47

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 how Australian television tastes have changed since 1999, go to The Tribal Mind.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Sunday
Channel Seven consolidated its victory for the year, averaging 30.0 per cent of the prime time audience last week (a figure that includes the audience for 7TWO). Nine and GO drew 27.4, Ten and ONE 20.1, ABC1&2 17.1 and SBS1&2 5.4. Go below to see what women watched last week.

Pay TV boosted its share of viewing last week, apparently because the free to air stations seem to have declared the silly season two weeks early. This was Pay's account of itself: "The 'Tiger Woods show' topped the week with FOX Sport's coverage of Live: Golf: JBWere Masters drawing 152,000 viewers. In other sport, Rugby League: Four Nations was watched by 88,000 people, Live: Football: A-League Bris v Melb had 73,000 viewers and Live: Cricket: Ford Ranger Cup was seen by 69,000 people. Finally, in the early hours of Sunday morning, 63,000 dedicated fans watched the Socceroos beat Oman in Live: Football: AFC Asian Cup Qualifier Oman v Aust (all on FOX Sports).

"New Zealand's Next Top Model on FOX8 scored a season-to-date best result when it was seen by 127,000 viewers, Midsomer Murders on UKTV was seen by 119,000 people and The Contender Australia on FOX8 was watched by 92,000 people. Law & Order: SVU on TV1 was seen by 85,000 people, Location, Location, Location on Lifestyle was seen by 82,000 people and Dora the Explorer on Nick Jr. was watched by 78,000 people.

"In week 47, subscription TV was the number one choice for TV across Australia, with STV channels representing 22.3% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 22.6% of all regional viewing and 60.6% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Women 25-54 watched, week ending November 21
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 576,000 174,000 162,000 110,000 54,000 76,000
2 BONES Seven 433,000 103,000 125,000 90,000 50,000 65,000
3 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 430,000 121,000 139,000 88,000 32,000 50,000
4 NCIS Ten 378,000 115,000 106,000 78,000 37,000 42,000
5 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 369,000 141,000 104,000 58,000 27,000 39,000
6 PRIVATE PRACTICE-TUE Seven 364,000 118,000 103,000 61,000 32,000 50,000
7 FLASHFORWARD Seven 360,000 116,000 83,000 65,000 35,000 61,000
8 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 358,000 116,000 107,000 58,000 28,000 49,000
9 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 353,000 86,000 96,000 81,000 34,000 56,000
10 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 353,000 90,000 124,000 59,000 26,000 54,000
11 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 349,000 96,000 104,000 70,000 27,000 52,000
12 THE MENTALIST Nine 343,000 103,000 107,000 68,000 28,000 37,000
13 CRIMINAL MINDS-MON Seven 340,000 101,000 82,000 53,000 44,000 60,000
14 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 332,000 88,000 90,000 74,000 32,000 48,000
15 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 328,000 95,000 93,000 67,000 33,000 41,000
16 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 327,000 107,000 92,000 66,000 26,000 35,000

17 CASTLE Seven 325,000 66,000 117,000 54,000 44,000 44,000
18 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 308,000 81,000 97,000 58,000 24,000 47,000
19 BORDER SECURITY Seven 308,000 74,000 88,000 78,000 24,000 44,000
20 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 298,000 72,000 109,000 49,000 22,000 46,000
21 GLEE THURS Ten 296,000 81,000 75,000 67,000 31,000 42,000
22 LIE TO ME Ten 294,000 77,000 109,000 43,000 37,000 28,000
23 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 291,000 88,000 74,000 50,000 38,000 40,000
24 CSI: MIAMI Nine 289,000 80,000 83,000 66,000 34,000 28,000
25 60 MINUTES Nine 288,000 90,000 82,000 56,000 27,000 33,000
26 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 287,000 92,000 67,000 57,000 33,000 38,000
27 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 287,000 73,000 80,000 70,000 26,000 37,000
28 ROVE Ten 286,000 86,000 96,000 42,000 25,000 37,000
29 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 284,000 74,000 94,000 58,000 28,000 30,000
30 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 279,000 70,000 69,000 66,000 30,000 44,000
190 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 49,000 23,000 11,000 7,000 3,000 6,000
193 M-BIG 7TWO 49,000 5,000 17,000 8,000 7,000 11,000
196 THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS GO! 47,000 12,000 15,000 10,000 6,000 5,000
206 WIPEOUT GO! 43,000 9,000 11,000 10,000 7,000 6,000
212 M-KILL BILL: VOL. 2 7TWO 42,000 8,000 21,000 4,000 6,000 2,000
216 M-DANNY DECKCHAIR 7TWO 41,000 9,000 21,000 4,000 3,000 4,000
237 HEROES 7TWO 35,000 8,000 19,000 1,000 6,000 1,000
252 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 32,000 6,000 9,000 6,000 5,000 6,000
261 SUPERHUMAN ABC2 31,000 8,000 8,000 8,000 2,000 5,000
275 FIFTH GEAR 7TWO 29,000 8,000 10,000 7,000 3,000 1,000
279 M-NOAH 7TWO 29,000 5,000 13,000 3,000 7,000 2,000
281 SAMANTHA WHO? 7TWO 29,000 11,000 2,000 10,000 4,000 2,000
282 REAPER 7TWO 29,000 3,000 19,000 1,000 6,000 0
285 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 28,000 7,000 8,000 6,000 4,000 3,000
289 THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW ABC2 28,000 7,000 15,000 1,000 3,000 1,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,086,000 255,000 295,000 249,000 118,000 168,000
2 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 989,000 289,000 301,000 161,000 101,000 138,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 915,000 248,000 279,000 177,000 125,000 86,000
4 THE BILL ABC1 850,000 243,000 250,000 141,000 95,000 121,000
5 ABC NEWS UP-DATE ABC1 835,000 251,000 238,000 132,000 96,000 117,000
6 HOPE SPRINGS ABC1 827,000 233,000 238,000 157,000 95,000 104,000
7 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 812,000 203,000 236,000 177,000 122,000 74,000
8 TAGGART ABC1 794,000 203,000 237,000 127,000 117,000 110,000
9 M-PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST Seven 723,000 220,000 239,000 112,000 77,000 75,000
10 GARDENING AUSTRALIA ABC1 663,000 183,000 203,000 123,000 76,000 78,000
11 M-ROBOTS Seven 614,000 191,000 240,000 113,000 71,000
12 BIPOLAR EXPRESS -RPT Nine 573,000 183,000 199,000 71,000 57,000 63,000
14 SAHARA RPT Ten 522,000 98,000 145,000 141,000 54,000 84,000
15 LIAR, LIAR RPT Ten 425,000 101,000 154,000 66,000 45,000 59,000
17 MUSIC & LYRICS -RPT Nine 355,000 124,000 148,000 44,000 39,000
18 A GOOD MURDER RPT ABC1 341,000 95,000 111,000 46,000 42,000 47,000
22 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 289,000 63,000 89,000 51,000 41,000 45,000
23 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 274,000 77,000 97,000 29,000 22,000 50,000
27 ROCKWIZ SBS ONE 235,000 79,000 70,000 26,000 22,000 39,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,314,000 413,000 336,000 257,000 128,000 180,000
2 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,273,000 384,000 351,000 200,000 164,000 174,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,238,000 336,000 353,000 219,000 148,000 181,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,086,000 301,000 273,000 219,000 131,000 163,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 991,000 238,000 330,000 226,000 84,000 114,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -FRI EP 2 Nine 975,000 212,000 331,000 249,000 72,000 112,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 959,000 228,000 342,000 199,000 105,000 86,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 954,000 267,000 260,000 204,000 107,000 116,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 935,000 251,000 311,000 175,000 111,000 88,000
13 HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX -RPT Nine 791,000 233,000 282,000 137,000 75,000 64,000
16 SCHOOL OF ROCK RPT Ten 634,000 212,000 197,000 108,000 50,000 67,000
36 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 283,000 84,000 75,000 62,000 23,000 40,000
88 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 118,000 18,000 39,000 24,000 21,000 16,000
104 SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS GO! 93,000 18,000 18,000 22,000 14,000 21,000
114 TORCHWOOD ABC2 76,000 10,000 18,000 19,000 11,000 19,000
126 THE F WORD 7TWO 66,000 15,000 24,000 6,000 7,000 13,000
168 GOOD GAME ABC1 39,000 13,000 12,000 8,000 3,000 3,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,194,000 287,000 300,000 245,000 165,000 197,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,156,000 279,000 312,000 255,000 136,000 174,000
3 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,073,000 289,000 323,000 226,000 96,000 138,000
4 GETAWAY Nine 1,069,000 257,000 340,000 245,000 85,000 142,000
5 CSI: MIAMI Nine 1,012,000 263,000 309,000 220,000 107,000 113,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,008,000 303,000 317,000 179,000 116,000 93,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,000,000 282,000 347,000 193,000 84,000 94,000
8 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 993,000 299,000 289,000 185,000 88,000 131,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 941,000 243,000 255,000 185,000 122,000 136,000
10 CSI: NY Nine 937,000 214,000 322,000 209,000 103,000 89,000
11 ABC NEWS ABC1 917,000 269,000 271,000 156,000 89,000 132,000
12 GLEE Ten 909,000 236,000 239,000 194,000 98,000 143,000
13 CSI Nine 844,000 184,000 284,000 192,000 101,000 83,000
14 RUSH Ten 830,000 240,000 259,000 130,000 91,000 110,000
15 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 766,000 242,000 194,000 147,000 83,000 100,000
16 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 756,000 210,000 245,000 135,000 65,000 102,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 625,000 185,000 153,000 128,000 68,000 90,000
22 ADDICTED TO MONEY ABC1 616,000 203,000 153,000 98,000 54,000 108,000
88 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 124,000 38,000 33,000 26,000 10,000 16,000
96 FIFTH GEAR 7TWO 106,000 19,000 41,000 24,000 16,000 5,000
100 ADBC SBS ONE 105,000 45,000 22,000 19,000 5,000 13,000
101 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC2 104,000 31,000 33,000 17,000 7,000 15,000
109 MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 83,000 23,000 20,000 3,000 20,000 17,000
116 THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW ABC2 78,000 24,000 33,000 3,000 8,000 11,000
121 UFC WIRED ONE 73,000 11,000 26,000 18,000 12,000 5,000
124 IF AWARDS SBS ONE 71,000 19,000 31,000 10,000 8,000 3,000
147 MOONLIGHT GO! 57,000 23,000 12,000 7,000 7,000 8,000
164 SPORTS TONIGHT ONE 46,000 7,000 18,000 5,000 13,000 3,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
1 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,343,000 306,000 374,000 287,000 152,000 224,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,325,000 311,000 365,000 268,000 165,000 216,000
3 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,271,000 351,000 325,000 263,000 141,000 190,000
4 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,153,000 300,000 327,000 220,000 129,000 177,000
5 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,135,000 382,000 299,000 224,000 104,000 127,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,100,000 269,000 383,000 206,000 98,000 145,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,090,000 294,000 305,000 201,000 127,000 162,000
8 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,064,000 384,000 292,000 167,000 102,000 119,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,044,000 235,000 331,000 238,000 103,000 136,000
10 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,021,000 283,000 330,000 141,000 109,000 158,000
11 NINE NEWS Nine 1,017,000 273,000 341,000 193,000 116,000 94,000
12 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,003,000 265,000 349,000 205,000 100,000 83,000
13 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 1,003,000 309,000 248,000 184,000 112,000 149,000
16 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU THIS SUMMER Nine 833,000 227,000 277,000 159,000 74,000 96,000
25 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 641,000 224,000 175,000 127,000 58,000 57,000
29 JOHN SAFRAN'S RACE RELATIONS ABC1 492,000 167,000 132,000 94,000 47,000 53,000
32 MY NAME IS EARL Seven 420,000 115,000 157,000 61,000 43,000 43,000
56 INSPECTOR REX RPT SBS ONE 215,000 54,000 72,000 36,000 18,000 35,000
86 HEROES 7TWO 123,000 24,000 69,000 9,000 12,000 8,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Wednesday
Nine's last minute attempt to use nostalgic nationalism to claw back an audience does not seem to have worked. For the week so far, the prime time audience shares stand at: SBS2 0.4 per cent; ONE 0.9; ABC2 1.2; 7TWO 2.3; GO 3.1; SBS1 5.0; ABC1 13.0; Ten 19.9; Nine 24.6; Seven 29.8.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,804,000 524,000 562,000 316,000 197,000 205,000
2 NCIS Ten 1,309,000 378,000 385,000 225,000 131,000 190,000
3 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,285,000 345,000 360,000 257,000 148,000 176,000
4 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,262,000 327,000 326,000 273,000 145,000 190,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,217,000 289,000 314,000 281,000 139,000 194,000
6 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,184,000 303,000 342,000 234,000 144,000 162,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,137,000 275,000 366,000 251,000 85,000 161,000
8 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,109,000 313,000 349,000 196,000 90,000 162,000
9 LIE TO ME Ten 1,068,000 274,000 373,000 161,000 117,000 144,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 1,042,000 296,000 311,000 195,000 113,000 127,000
15 PRIVATE PRACTICE-TUE Seven 877,000 275,000 276,000 125,000 94,000 107,000
17 THE VERY BEST OF THE PAUL HOGAN SHOW - PART 2 Nine 769,000 280,000 244,000 97,000 59,000 89,000
21 AUSSIE LADETTE TO LADY -EP1 Nine 676,000 225,000 232,000 72,000 62,000 84,000
23 JAIL BIRDS ABC1 632,000 217,000 172,000 94,000 59,000 90,000
39 SEXIEST CELEBRITY BODY PARTS Seven 303,000 91,000 111,000 32,000 36,000 33,000
59 FIFI AND THE FLOWERTOTS ABC1 180,000 70,000 69,000 13,000 12,000 17,000
72 EAST WEST 101 SBS ONE 138,000 74,000 27,000 14,000 15,000 9,000
84 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 110,000 38,000 22,000 20,000 5,000 24,000
94 SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS GO! 89,000 19,000 25,000 15,000 11,000 19,000
117 THE WIRE ABC2 60,000 23,000 18,000 8,000 6,000 6,000

What Australia watched, Monday, including Good Game for Arthur
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,462,000 377,000 454,000 312,000 125,000 194,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,365,000 331,000 349,000 310,000 171,000 205,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,248,000 281,000 326,000 304,000 150,000 188,000
4 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,239,000 331,000 377,000 266,000 100,000 165,000
5 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,210,000 326,000 408,000 232,000 103,000 141,000
6 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,209,000 308,000 390,000 217,000 131,000 163,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,168,000 299,000 361,000 263,000 110,000 136,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,114,000 301,000 373,000 222,000 112,000 106,000
9 CRIMINAL MINDS-MON Seven 1,110,000 275,000 356,000 166,000 142,000 171,000
10 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,102,000 319,000 288,000 192,000 138,000 165,000
13 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,079,000 292,000 287,000 190,000 130,000 180,000
14 ELDERS WITH ANDREW DENTON ABC1 968,000 305,000 267,000 190,000 96,000 110,000
17 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA -EP1 Nine 793,000 237,000 262,000 120,000 78,000 97,000
22 TOP GEAR WINTER OLYMPICS SPECIAL SBS ONE 680,000 190,000 177,000 155,000 76,000 81,000
25 JAMIE'S AMERICAN ROAD TRIP Ten 645,000 186,000 167,000 136,000 78,000 78,000
35 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 394,000 125,000 102,000 75,000 56,000 35,000
77 ADVENTURES OF BOTTLE TOP BILL AND HIS BEST FRIEND ABC1 137,000 64,000 39,000 14,000 7,000 13,000
78 BERT AND ERNIE'S GREAT ADVENTURES ABC1 135,000 64,000 37,000 15,000 8,000 11,000
79 THE ELLEN DEGENERES SHOW Nine 133,000 45,000 33,000 30,000 9,000 15,000
89 DOCTOR WHO ABC2 113,000 21,000 29,000 37,000 8,000 19,000
158 GOOD GAME ABC2 45,000 9,000 12,000 12,000 4,000 7,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE FORCE Seven 1,580,000 415,000 430,000 326,000 166,000 243,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,476,000 374,000 422,000 325,000 155,000 200,000
3 BONES Seven 1,423,000 367,000 413,000 274,000 177,000 192,000
4 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,298,000 320,000 371,000 305,000 145,000 156,000
5 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,293,000 338,000 328,000 300,000 163,000 163,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,217,000 297,000 429,000 206,000 171,000 114,000
7 60 MINUTES Nine 1,078,000 331,000 332,000 170,000 115,000 130,000
8 CASTLE Seven 997,000 228,000 348,000 150,000 137,000 134,000
9 20 TO 1 -SUN Nine 930,000 258,000 277,000 168,000 118,000 109,000
10 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 924,000 310,000 247,000 183,000 87,000 97,000
12 ROVE Ten 760,000 214,000 258,000 119,000 81,000 88,000
13 AUSTRALIAN MASTERS GOLF Nine 713,000 175,000 293,000 116,000 77,000 52,000
14 MISS AUSTEN REGRETS ABC1 637,000 204,000 190,000 92,000 74,000 78,000
17 DARWIN'S BRAVE NEW WORLD ABC1 590,000 209,000 146,000 107,000 51,000 77,000
19 FALSE WITNESS Nine 529,000 153,000 167,000 99,000 51,000 59,000
31 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 276,000 76,000 88,000 52,000 27,000 34,000
34 WIPEOUT GO! 229,000 41,000 63,000 57,000 36,000 32,000
41 FOUR NATIONS RUGBY LEAGUE 2009 Nine 196,000 91,000 18,000 78,000 5,000 4,000
48 THE MATRIX REVOLUTIONS GO! 159,000 33,000 62,000 32,000 18,000 14,000
52 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 150,000 29,000 45,000 31,000 25,000 21,000
53 M-KILL BILL: VOL. 2 7TWO 147,000 30,000 67,000 18,000 14,000 18,000
56 M-BIG 7TWO 143,000 12,000 57,000 21,000 16,000 36,000
77 M-DANNY DECKCHAIR 7TWO 105,000 26,000 43,000 12,000 10,000 13,000
78 THE MAGIC OF AUDREY ABC2 105,000 19,000 20,000 30,000 19,000 18,000

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 08:10 AM
• Comments (53)

The Who We Are update: Week 46

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 find out if the ad industry calls you "socially aware", "basic needs" or "traditional family", go to The Tribal Mind.
To learn how Australia became addicted to caffeine, go to Who We Are.

The ratings race, updated 10am Monday
As we race towards the silly season (only two weeks of normal programming to go), Seven draws further ahead of Nine, Ten keeps sinking and ABC is thriving. The prime time audience shares last week were: SBS1&2 5.7 per cent; ABC1&2 18.0; Ten&ONE 19.8; Nine&GO 26.3; Seven&7TWO 30.1.

This was Pay TV's account of itself: "Tiger Woods and the other competitors in the Australian Masters were watched by 132,000 people on the FOX Sports' broadcast of Live: Golf: JBWere Masters. Other sports highlights this week include Live: Cricket: ODI Ind v Aus 6th ODI S2 watched by 257,000 viewers, Football: EPL Highlights seen by 69,000 viewers and Live: Golf: Euro PGA: HSBC C'ship Final watched by 67,000 (all on FOX Sports).

"Grand Designs on Lifestyle was seen by 125,000 viewers, Midsomer Murders on UKTV was seen by 107,000 people and New Zealand's Next Top Model on FOX8 was seen by 103,000 viewers. Law & Order: SVU on TV1 was watched by 102,000 people, Quantum of Solace premiered on Movie One with 96,000 viewers and Nickelodeon's Kids' Choice Awards 2009 premiered with 95,000 viewers.

"In week 46, STV channels represented 22.2% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 21.5% of all regional viewing and 58.9% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Australia watched, week ending November 14
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,853,000 539,000 559,000 302,000 226,000 228,000
2 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,601,000 404,000 437,000 328,000 182,000 249,000
3 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,515,000 369,000 445,000 337,000 161,000 203,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,456,000 338,000 452,000 347,000 126,000 193,000
5 BONES Seven 1,362,000 348,000 365,000 258,000 178,000 213,000
6 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,319,000 309,000 350,000 296,000 160,000 204,000
7 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,313,000 327,000 324,000 340,000 127,000 195,000
8 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,296,000 329,000 358,000 268,000 164,000 178,000
9 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,292,000 327,000 358,000 275,000 162,000 170,000
10 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,272,000 433,000 340,000 225,000 122,000 151,000
11 NCIS Ten 1,251,000 312,000 344,000 277,000 148,000 170,000
12 BORDER SECURITY -WED (R) Seven 1,233,000 334,000 340,000 256,000 136,000 167,000
13 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,224,000 353,000 364,000 199,000 144,000 164,000
14 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,217,000 338,000 319,000 242,000 136,000 182,000
15 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,211,000 312,000 332,000 261,000 136,000 170,000
16 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,202,000 332,000 289,000 288,000 141,000 152,000
17 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,187,000 350,000 370,000 239,000 106,000 121,000
18 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,166,000 317,000 280,000 239,000 148,000 183,000
Continued here

19 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,159,000 310,000 339,000 225,000 120,000 165,000
20 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,153,000 286,000 338,000 261,000 104,000 164,000
21 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,153,000 291,000 326,000 216,000 164,000 156,000
22 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,130,000 286,000 388,000 196,000 104,000 155,000
23 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,124,000 310,000 359,000 180,000 115,000 161,000
24 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,117,000 385,000 305,000 214,000 84,000 129,000
25 GETAWAY Nine 1,113,000 308,000 424,000 171,000 91,000 120,000
26 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,093,000 264,000 381,000 213,000 150,000 85,000
27 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,090,000 316,000 253,000 220,000 128,000 173,000
28 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,087,000 300,000 327,000 203,000 121,000 137,000
29 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,069,000 245,000 348,000 235,000 102,000 139,000
30 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,067,000 248,000 360,000 216,000 106,000 136,000
And the top digitals of the week ...
237 WIPEOUT GO! 170,000 42,000 48,000 30,000 22,000 28,000
295 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 126,000 39,000 34,000 29,000 5,000 19,000
297 DOCTOR WHO ABC2 125,000 25,000 35,000 28,000 15,000 23,000
299 M-BIRTH OF THE BLUES ABC2 124,000 27,000 54,000 15,000 15,000 13,000
301 HEROES 7TWO 123,000 51,000 36,000 15,000 4,000 16,000
303 M-CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG 7TWO 121,000 37,000 54,000 7,000 10,000 14,000
308 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 117,000 33,000 35,000 11,000 19,000 19,000
313 M-KILL BILL: VOL. 1 7TWO 113,000 31,000 36,000 19,000 17,000 10,000
322 KIDS WB SUNDAY GO! 108,000 24,000 41,000 10,000 14,000 20,000
323 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 108,000 19,000 37,000 16,000 14,000 22,000
327 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC2 105,000 36,000 25,000 19,000 15,000 9,000
329 M-CATEGORY 7: THE END OF THE WORLD 7TWO 105,000 14,000 42,000 11,000 12,000 26,000
334 ELMO'S WORLD-AM ABC2 102,000 43,000 26,000 7,000 20,000 6,000
336 AIR CRASH INVESTIGATIONS 7TWO 101,000 9,000 30,000 37,000 15,000 9,000
337 HOGAN'S HEROES GO! 101,000 19,000 34,000 23,000 13,000 13,000
343 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 99,000 30,000 22,000 14,000 19,000 15,000
386 UFC WIRED ONE 83,000 28,000 23,000 8,000 12,000 12,000 (OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,153,000 291,000 326,000 216,000 164,000 156,000
2 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 991,000 260,000 297,000 212,000 97,000 124,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 907,000 191,000 346,000 175,000 113,000 83,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 865,000 210,000 264,000 182,000 105,000 104,000
5 BILL ABC1 828,000 233,000 219,000 151,000 99,000 125,000
6 HOPE SPRINGS ABC1 824,000 232,000 236,000 177,000 80,000 100,000
7 ABC NEWS UP-DATE ABC1 787,000 217,000 210,000 146,000 100,000 114,000
8 M-MONSTERS INC. Seven 741,000 279,000 162,000 111,000 90,000 99,000
9 GARDENING AUSTRALIA ABC1 729,000 176,000 223,000 162,000 74,000 94,000
10 TAGGART ABC1 724,000 205,000 202,000 121,000 99,000 98,000
11 BRING IT ON -RPT Nine 626,000 182,000 184,000 130,000 63,000 67,000
12 M-EVER AFTER RPT Ten 590,000 151,000 163,000 96,000 80,000 100,000
13 AUSTRALIAN MASTERS GOLF Nine 579,000 145,000 256,000 78,000 62,000 38,000
15 M-THE KINGDOM Seven 536,000 157,000 143,000 115,000 61,000 61,000
21 MYTHBUSTERS SBS ONE 351,000 81,000 102,000 82,000 53,000 34,000
23 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 303,000 96,000 100,000 57,000 31,000 20,000
25 MONSTERS VS. ALIENS: MUTANT PUMPKINS FROM OUTER SPACE Seven 268,000 176,000 Not shown 92,000 Not shown Not shown
26 ROCKWIZ SBS ONE 251,000 88,000 67,000 45,000 24,000 26,000
34 THE CREDIT UNION CHRISTMAS PAGEANT Nine 198,000 Not shown Not shown Not shown 198,000 Not shown
37 MYER CHRISTMAS PARADE 2009 Seven 177,000 Not shown 177,000 Not shown Not shown Not shown

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,274,000 338,000 365,000 266,000 147,000 159,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,272,000 433,000 340,000 225,000 122,000 151,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,244,000 369,000 354,000 261,000 114,000 146,000
4 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,224,000 353,000 364,000 199,000 144,000 164,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,030,000 304,000 283,000 218,000 109,000 116,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 982,000 239,000 317,000 214,000 94,000 120,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -FRI EP 1 Nine 897,000 210,000 284,000 206,000 103,000 95,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 863,000 229,000 245,000 196,000 86,000 106,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -FRI EP 2 Nine 859,000 222,000 260,000 177,000 102,000 98,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 848,000 240,000 226,000 186,000 92,000 104,000
11 M-FAILURE TO LAUNCH Seven 846,000 297,000 254,000 145,000 68,000 83,000
17 HARRY POTTER AND THE GOBLET OF FIRE -RPT Nine 618,000 195,000 200,000 92,000 69,000 63,000
18 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM RPT Ten 597,000 177,000 180,000 100,000 80,000 60,000
28 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 374,000 128,000 102,000 84,000 32,000 29,000
29 CAN WE HELP? ABC1 357,000 101,000 102,000 63,000 36,000 56,000
35 AUSTRALIAN MASTERS GOLF Nine 294,000 60,000 121,000 56,000 32,000 24,000
95 TORCHWOOD ABC2 84,000 10,000 24,000 9,000 15,000 25,000
102 MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 75,000 19,000 15,000 1,000 24,000 15,000
108 SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS GO! 70,000 16,000 13,000 22,000 9,000 9,000
117 GOOD GAME ABC1 63,000 12,000 15,000 18,000 6,000 11,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,290,000 342,000 355,000 248,000 153,000 193,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,166,000 287,000 354,000 222,000 140,000 165,000
3 GETAWAY Nine 1,106,000 305,000 421,000 171,000 91,000 119,000
4 CSI Nine 1,037,000 322,000 326,000 153,000 106,000 130,000
5 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,024,000 354,000 287,000 186,000 76,000 120,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,017,000 279,000 270,000 200,000 143,000 124,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,014,000 273,000 356,000 199,000 73,000 113,000
8 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,008,000 285,000 334,000 164,000 102,000 123,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 978,000 248,000 362,000 201,000 74,000 94,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 973,000 252,000 346,000 176,000 97,000 101,000
11 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 962,000 298,000 267,000 186,000 90,000 122,000
12 RUSH Ten 948,000 263,000 312,000 165,000 104,000 103,000
13 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 930,000 245,000 353,000 170,000 71,000 91,000
14 GLEE THURS RPT Ten 801,000 211,000 249,000 166,000 76,000 98,000
19 SECRETS OF THE FREEMASONS ABC1 630,000 190,000 183,000 119,000 64,000 74,000
20 FRANCESCO'S MEDITERRANEAN VOYAGE ABC1 628,000 223,000 167,000 112,000 57,000 68,000
26 FERGIE: DUCHESS ON A MISSION Nine 509,000 149,000 176,000 58,000 57,000 69,000
40 LUKE NGUYEN'S VIETNAM SBS ONE 286,000 80,000 93,000 59,000 15,000 38,000
77 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 117,000 33,000 35,000 11,000 19,000 19,000
83 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 109,000 50,000 16,000 14,000 20,000 10,000
85 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC2 105,000 36,000 25,000 19,000 15,000 9,000
87 THE GRAHAM NORTON SHOW ABC2 91,000 28,000 41,000 6,000 9,000 7,000
93 GOSSIP GIRL GO! 85,000 26,000 28,000 19,000 7,000 6,000
95 MR BEAN WITH ROWAN ATKINSON ABC2 85,000 33,000 14,000 6,000 19,000 14,000
120 MOONLIGHT GO! 60,000 22,000 10,000 15,000 8,000 4,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Thursday
The first semifinal for Celebrity MasterChef last night did not gather more viewers than the normal episodes, but at least it boosted the apparent audience for The 7pm Project -- unless that was the work of Bindi Irwin, who was 7PP's final guest. At this point in the week, the prime time audience shares stand thus: Seven&7TWO 31.1 per cent; Nine&GO 26.7; Ten&ONE 20.8; ABC1&2 15.9; SBS1&2 5.4.

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,259,000 303,000 379,000 232,000 166,000 179,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,236,000 306,000 348,000 264,000 131,000 187,000
3 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,233,000 334,000 340,000 256,000 136,000 167,000
4 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,159,000 310,000 339,000 225,000 120,000 165,000
5 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,130,000 286,000 388,000 196,000 104,000 155,000
6 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,114,000 384,000 302,000 215,000 84,000 129,000
7 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,111,000 306,000 354,000 178,000 114,000 159,000
11 NINE NEWS Nine 1,000,000 252,000 315,000 207,000 113,000 113,000
12 NCIS: LOS ANGELES Ten 998,000 260,000 285,000 169,000 136,000 146,000
15 WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU THIS SUMMER Nine 875,000 252,000 305,000 155,000 66,000 97,000
20 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 709,000 257,000 194,000 127,000 53,000 79,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 700,000 207,000 230,000 114,000 67,000 82,000
28 JOHN SAFRAN'S RACE RELATIONS ABC1 591,000 218,000 150,000 107,000 47,000 70,000
32 AT THE MOVIES ABC1 426,000 153,000 138,000 66,000 29,000 40,000
47 BINDI: THE JUNGLE GIRL ABC1 262,000 72,000 88,000 30,000 28,000 44,000
59 INSPECTOR REX SBS ONE 202,000 45,000 70,000 36,000 21,000 30,000
90 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 124,000 30,000 33,000 20,000 25,000 16,000
92 HEROES 7TWO 122,000 51,000 36,000 15,000 4,000 16,000
96 THE NANNY GO! 113,000 58,000 21,000 24,000 4,000 7,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 1,853,000 539,000 559,000 302,000 226,000 228,000
2 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,319,000 309,000 350,000 296,000 160,000 204,000
3 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,292,000 327,000 358,000 275,000 162,000 170,000
4 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,255,000 308,000 329,000 276,000 184,000 158,000
5 NCIS Ten 1,247,000 311,000 344,000 275,000 148,000 169,000
6 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,204,000 289,000 314,000 278,000 152,000 172,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,114,000 288,000 307,000 239,000 144,000 136,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,090,000 219,000 355,000 259,000 107,000 150,000
9 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,075,000 294,000 323,000 200,000 121,000 137,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 1,061,000 272,000 360,000 210,000 111,000 108,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,043,000 270,000 380,000 191,000 96,000 106,000
12 LIE TO ME RPT Ten 955,000 246,000 303,000 151,000 124,000 131,000
13 PRIVATE PRACTICE-TUE Seven 930,000 309,000 268,000 137,000 121,000 95,000
27 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 584,000 188,000 147,000 109,000 73,000 68,000
28 QI ABC1 478,000 158,000 122,000 84,000 51,000 63,000
73 EAST WEST 101 SBS ONE 146,000 57,000 39,000 30,000 14,000 7,000
84 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 127,000 39,000 34,000 30,000 5,000 19,000
92 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 105,000 18,000 37,000 14,000 17,000 18,000
98 SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS GO! 91,000 17,000 23,000 26,000 9,000 15,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Tuesday
The audience for Four Corners last night was 200,000 down on its average. What does this say about public interest in the climate change debate? Do viewers avoid this discussion because it makes them anxious?

Flash Forward has settled on an audience of a million, which should be enough to keep it from being moved to the sci-fi dumping ground called 7TWO -- at least this year. But because it has fallen behind The Mentalist, Nine now wins Mondays, which Seven will not permit next year. So those who do not have digital free to air TV may never find out what actually happens on April 29.

At this point in the week, the prime time audience shares are like this: Seven and 7TWO 30.3 per cent; Nine and GO 27.9; Ten and ONE 18.5; ABC1 and ABC2 16.5; SBS1 and SBS2 6.6.

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,455,000 338,000 452,000 347,000 125,000 193,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,401,000 353,000 361,000 316,000 170,000 201,000
3 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,245,000 311,000 392,000 273,000 121,000 148,000
4 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,222,000 261,000 382,000 286,000 128,000 165,000
5 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,217,000 338,000 319,000 242,000 136,000 182,000
6 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,205,000 310,000 289,000 281,000 144,000 180,000
7 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,186,000 350,000 370,000 239,000 106,000 121,000
8 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,166,000 316,000 280,000 239,000 148,000 183,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,162,000 289,000 387,000 241,000 132,000 114,000
10 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,156,000 288,000 339,000 261,000 104,000 164,000
12 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,090,000 316,000 253,000 220,000 128,000 173,000
21 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 726,000 226,000 180,000 159,000 76,000 85,000
23 JAMIE'S AMERICAN ROAD TRIP Ten 708,000 207,000 205,000 132,000 84,000 80,000
27 FOUR CORNERS ON CLIMATE CHANGE ABC1 679,000 246,000 168,000 132,000 59,000 74,000
31 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 448,000 151,000 118,000 71,000 61,000 47,000
87 DOCTOR WHO ABC2 125,000 25,000 35,000 28,000 15,000 23,000
94 M-CATEGORY 7: THE END OF THE WORLD 7TWO 104,000 14,000 42,000 10,000 12,000 26,000
99 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 95,000 27,000 10,000 17,000 20,000 21,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,599,000 404,000 437,000 328,000 181,000 249,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,514,000 369,000 445,000 337,000 161,000 203,000
3 BONES Seven 1,363,000 348,000 366,000 258,000 179,000 213,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,313,000 327,000 324,000 340,000 127,000 195,000
5 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,202,000 332,000 289,000 288,000 141,000 152,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,090,000 264,000 379,000 213,000 150,000 85,000
7 60 MINUTES Nine 1,027,000 272,000 296,000 227,000 100,000 132,000
8 20 TO 1 -SUN Nine 1,004,000 295,000 312,000 216,000 99,000 81,000
9 M-MY HOUSE IN UMBRIA ABC1 947,000 306,000 277,000 148,000 95,000 121,000
10 CASTLE Seven 947,000 239,000 278,000 161,000 135,000 135,000
11 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 890,000 322,000 209,000 174,000 72,000 113,000
13 NO RESERVATIONS Nine 821,000 254,000 256,000 137,000 86,000 87,000
15 DARWIN'S BRAVE NEW WORLD ABC1 759,000 279,000 183,000 124,000 73,000 100,000
17 ROVE Ten 678,000 198,000 234,000 94,000 65,000 88,000
19 ELECTRIC DREAMS Ten 513,000 163,000 99,000 115,000 48,000 87,000
25 ANDREW OLLE MEDIA LECTURE: JULIAN MORROW (2009) ABC1 314,000 122,000 92,000 41,000 36,000 23,000
26 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 310,000 99,000 96,000 48,000 26,000 42,000
37 WIPEOUT GO! 237,000 60,000 70,000 36,000 30,000 40,000
63 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 145,000 26,000 52,000 18,000 17,000 31,000
74 THE NANNY GO! 131,000 37,000 41,000 20,000 10,000 23,000
76 M-CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG 7TWO 121,000 37,000 54,000 7,000 10,000 14,000
78 M-KILL BILL: VOL. 1 7TWO 113,000 31,000 36,000 19,000 17,000 10,000
80 KIDS WB SUNDAY GO! 108,000 24,000 41,000 10,000 14,000 20,000
83 CHARLIE'S ANGELS GO! 99,000 34,000 22,000 20,000 9,000 14,000
89 THE FLINTSTONES GO! 91,000 13,000 34,000 10,000 21,000 13,000
97 SCRUBS (R) 7TWO 73,000 9,000 34,000 10,000 6,000 14,000
98 FOUR NATIONS RUGBY LEAGUE 2009 Nine 73,000 26,000 7,000 33,000 2,000 4,000
(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 06:43 AM
• Comments (53)

WHO WE ARE: Aesthetic enthusiasts or athletic supporters

To be shocked by what kids under 12 are watching on television, go to The Tribal Mind.

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 1/11/2009
Are we a sporty nation or an artsy fartsy nation? Even the dumbest terrorist posing as an asylum seeker would have no trouble answering that question as part of a border security check. But if he answered "sporty", he'd be caught out for following a myth instead of the facts.

Last week the Bureau of Statistics put out two reports that are likely to shake up the self-concept of Australians - Sports and Physical Recreation: A Statistical Overview and Arts and Culture in Australia: A Statistical Overview. From them we learn, for example, that 1.06 million people are employed in the arts and culture industry and only 75,155 people are employed in the sports and physical recreation industry.

Apparently 29,000 Australians earn money from working in libraries, 83,000 from designing websites, 53,000 from photography and 36,000 from furniture making and woodcraft. By contrast, the bureau notes "there were 18,558 persons employed by sport and camping equipment retailers and 4,039 persons employed by marine equipment retailers".

The bureau reveals that Australia earned $511 million in the 2007-208 financial year from exporting sports and physical recreation goods: "The category of Boats, yachts and other vessels for pleasure or sports ($289.7m) was the main contributor to the overall export figure, followed by Horses with $88.7m."

In the same year, says the bureau's other report, "Australia earned $915 million through the provision of cultural goods ($628m) and cultural and recreational services ($287m) to the rest of the world." And that's not even counting all those former Neighbours starlets who get bit parts in US dramas and send money home to mum.

Oh yes, I knew all that, says the terrorist, sweating under the interrogation lights, but this discussion is not about how Australians make money, it's about how they spend their leisure time -- surely more people go to the footy or the cricket than ponce about in art galleries and concert halls.

Aha, we've caught him on that fallacy as well. The bureau reports that 8 million people (or half the population aged over 14) attended at least one type of performing arts performance in the 12 months before they were interviewed: "One quarter (25 per cent) of the population had attended popular music concerts, while just under one-fifth had seen theatre performances (17 per cent) and musicals and operas (16 per cent)".

In addition, 23 per cent had been to an art gallery and 34 per cent had been to a library. And of course, 65 per cent of adults go to the movies at least once a year (though the suspect might well argue that you can hardly count Transformers and The Hangover as cultural experiences).

By contrast, the sports report reveals that 7.1 million or 44 per cent of Australians over 14 attend at least one sports event a year. The favourites are: Aussie rules matches (attended by 19 per cent of men and 12.5 per cent of women); horse racing (15 per cent of men, 11 per cent of women); motor sports (13, 6) rugby league (12, 7) and cricket (7,2).

Sorry to disappoint the terrorist, but he hasn't arrived in a land of jocks and yobbos. Apparently it's more realistic to see Australia as a land of aesthetes and connoisseurs.

Go to Comments to discuss whether we've underrated our artiness.

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 09:08 AM
• Comments (3)

The Tribal Mind: The truth, the whole truth and something like the truth

To judge if Australia is a land of jocks or aesthetes, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
The little Aussie flick Mao's Last Dancer is a big hit in its own land - making $13 million in four weeks and likely to bump Muriel's Wedding out of the top ten grossing Australian films of all time. A question now arises: Would Mao's Last Dancer be less successful if it had not taken a dramatic liberty with the truth in one of its final scenes?

The same question arose with the recent British hit The Young Victoria, which made $4.2 million here. Towards the end, Victoria is riding in her carriage when an assassin shoots at her from the roadside. Her new husband Albert, with whom she's just had an argument, leaps in front of her and is hit by a second bullet, which leads to a touching reconciliation at the hospital.

It looked too neat to be true, and when I went to the history books (well, the internet, to be precise) I found that although there was an assassination attempt in 1840, neither Albert nor Victoria was hit by either bullet. A fine dramatic ending if it were a work of fiction, but for me, the implausibility marred the film.

In the case of Mao's Last Dancer, I really did go to a book - Li Cunxin's autobiography, on which the film is based - to check if I had been tricked. I was worried about a scene where Li is about to go on stage in Houston (after defecting to America) but is told to wait until "some VIPs" arrive. Finally the VIPs take their seats and the ballet begins. As he dances, Li realizes the VIPs are his parents, whom he hasn't seen for six years. Apparently some generous soul has arranged to fly them from China to surprise him. At the end of the ballet they join him on stage, amid cheers and tears.

I didn't see how this surprise would have been possible. It would have been a huge diplomatic and bureaucratic process, which must have required Li's involvement.

It reminded me of the final moment of A Beautiful Mind, in which the schizophrenic mathematician John Nash (played by Russell Crowe) is receiving a Nobel Prize. He sees his wife in the audience and directs his speech to her: "I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most important discovery of my life: It is only in the mysterious equations of love that any logic or reasons can be found. I'm only here tonight because of you. You are the reason I am. You are all my reasons."

Lovely speech. Never happened. Winners of those sorts of Nobel prizes don't get to give speeches. But without that dramatic resolution, would A Beautiful Mind have won four Oscars and earned $19.5 million at the Australian box office?

Hollywood marketing wisdom dictates that a biopic must end with the hero acclaimed by a worshipful crowd, justifying his painful journey and lifting the hearts of the cinema audience. That looks to be the strategy with Mao's Last Dancer. But life wasn't quite like that. In the book, Li talks about how he arranged his parents visit, and how they came to see him in his dressing room at interval. For me, the manipulated drama made the film unsatisfying.

A couple of years ago I was talking to Jan Sardi, who wrote the script of Mao's Last Dancer, about the issue of accuracy in films. He'd been Oscar-nominated for the screenplay of Shine (which made $10.2 million in 1996), but copped some criticism for taking liberties with details about David Helfgott's life.

"Your first duty is to hold the audience," Sardi told me. "It's absurd to think you can distil a life into two hours. You have to approach it the way you would an invented story or piece of fiction." That means the writer must rework events and people to create "the essentials of good drama: conflict and resolution, cause and effect, with one scene giving rise to another".

"In Shine, we showed David collapsing on stage in London," Sardi said. "He never did that. He had a nervous breakdown over 12 months. But how do you show that on screen? The collapse was our metaphor - a heightened reality so that the audience get the idea within a movie's time constraints."

Sardi calls this sort of thing "finding the poem in the life". He likes a line from Picasso: "A painting is a lie that makes us realise the truth."

But a lie only works on a naive audience. Today's cinemagoers can spot a formula a mile away and are not eager to suspend disbelief. Maybe we've become too savvy.

Go to Comments to discuss how far you'd let a dramatist stretch the truth.

Australia's most successful movies
1 Crocodile Dundee (1986), box office total $48 million
2 Australia (2008) $37 million
3 Babe (1995), $37 million
4 Happy Feet (2006) $32 million
5 Moulin Rouge (2001), $28 million
6 Crocodile Dundee II (1988), $25 million
7 Strictly Ballroom (1992), $22 million
8 The Dish (2000), $18 million
9 The Man from Snowy River (1982), $17 million
10 Muriel's Wedding (1994), $16 million
11 The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994), $16 million
12 Mao's Last Dancer (2009) $13 million
13 Young Einstein (1988), $13 million
14 Lantana (2001), $12 million
15 Gallipoli (1981), $12 million
16 The Wog Boy (2000), $11 million
17 The Piano (1993), $11 million
18 Mad Max 2 (1981), $11 million
19 The Castle (1997), $10 million
20 Shine (1996), $10 million

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 08:41 AM
• Comments (9)

The Tribal Mind: A long felt want or surplus to requirements

To judge if Australia is a land of jocks or aesthetes, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
WHEN an organisation offers a new product to the public, usually that's because it has noticed a need, found a gap in the market, or identified an audience that is not being served by previous offerings. I'm currently stumped by the appearance in the marketplace of two new commercial television stations, and I am crying out to the heavens: Where's the gap? Who the hell needs GO! and 7TWO?

Last week the ABC announced the launch date of a new channel devoted to children's programs, because it thinks there's a pile of parents who want to be able to park their kids in front of the box for a couple of hours a day without turning them into fast-food hyperactives. A few weeks earlier Channel Ten launched an all-sports channel because it thought there were people for whom too much footy and too much cricket are never enough, and who love anything that involves competition, whether it's paintball, game fishing, poker or tiddlywinks.

So it's easy to guess the intended audience for ABC3 and for ONE. But it's more difficult to identify the market gap being filled by GO!, Channel Nine's recent spinoff, and 7TWO, Channel Seven's soon-to-start spinoff. Both new stations are essentially collections of repeats and flops -- or, as they might express it, classics and cult favourites. GO! offers Hogan's Heroes, The Nanny, Bewitched, Vampire Diaries, Moonlight and Fringe. 7TWO promises Magnum PI, Home and Away The Early Years, Murphy Brown, Lost, Heroes and 24 (and promotes itself with imagery from the 1972 election campaign).

My best guess is that GO! and 7TWO are both targeting two niches - young geeks and old farts, or viewers aged 16-39 and viewers aged over 55. While Seven and Nine compete for the middle-aged (viewers aged 25-54) and Ten concentrates on GenX (18-49s), the digital spinoffs seem designed for demographics hitherto serviced mainly by the ABC and by Pay TV.

Lets look at how the niches currently consume TV ...

Most watched by Kids (under 12):
1 Ben and Holly's Little Kingdom (ABC)
2 Jibber Jabber (ABC)
3 The Simpsons (10)
4 Dorothy the Dinosaur (ABC)
5 Two and a Half Men (9)
6 The Land Before Time (ABC)
7 Ruby Gloom (ABC)
8 Fifi and the Flowertots (ABC)
9 Celebrity MasterChef (10)
10 Glee (10).

Most watched by Oldies (over 55):
1 Midsomer Murders (ABC)
2 Hope Springs (ABC)
3 Seven news
4 ABC news
5 The Bill (ABC)
6 Border Security (7)
7 Today Tonight (7)
8 Packed to the Rafters (7)
9 Taggart (ABC)
10 The Force (7).

Most watched by Groovers: (16-39):
1 Packed to the Rafters (7)
2 The Simpsons (10)
3 Celebrity MasterChef (10)
4 Flash Forward (7)
5 The Big Bang Theory (9)
6 Two and a Half Men (9)
7 Glee (10)
8 Beauty and the Geek (7)
9 NCIS (10)
10 The Force (7).

A glance at the first list demonstrates the need for the ABC's new children's network. It's not so much that it lacks those icons of our nation The Wiggles and Bananas in Pyjamas. Some parents will be more alarmed to learn that 170,000 primary schoolers regularly watch Two and a Half Men, which is about male sexual disfunction, and Glee, which covers premature ejaculation and teenage pregnancy. They will be relieved at the prospect of alternative programming for youngsters at 7pm and 7.30pm.

But nothing in those charts suggests a crying need for the offerings of GO! and 7TWO. My theory is that they were created simply to aggravate the Pay TV industry, giving the young geeks and the old farts a reason not to subscribe to Foxtel, which has been booming in recent years.

By copying the Pay formula, Seven and Nine demonstrate that modern programming is not so much about a gap in the market as about a dog in the manger.

Go to Comments to discuss if the commercial digitals are filling any genuine need.

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 06:31 PM
• Comments (6)

The Who We Are update: Week 45

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 whether it matters when "true" movies tell lies, go to The Tribal Mind.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Channel Seven won the week, needing no help from its offshoot 7TWO. Here's how OzTAM says the prime time audience shares broke up: SBS2 0.4; ONE 1.1; ABC2 1.4; 7TWO 1.7; GO 2.7; SBS1 5.1; ABC1 16.2; Ten 19.0; Nine 23.5; Seven 29.1.

You might expect that all this extra choice in free to air would be having some impact on Pay TV, but it's hard to spot any shrinkage in Pay's account of itself for the week: "On Tuesday night, New Zealand's Next Top Model had a series high audience of 113,000 people while The Contender Australia [Charlotte Dawson's boxing show -- anybody want to tell us what it's like?] premiered on Monday night with 98,000 viewers (both on FOX8). Midsomer Murders on UKTV was watched by 128,000 people, Relocation Relocation on Lifestyle had its biggest audience of the year so far with 100,000 people and Law & Order: SVU on TV1 was seen by 89,000 people.

"The thrilling fifth One Day International between India and Australia gave FOX Sports the best result of the series so far with 232,000 people watching Live: Cricket: ODI Ind v Aus 5th ODI S1. Live: Football: A-League Perth v Melb was watched by 85,000 people and Rugby League: Four Nations on Sunday morning was watched by 84,000 people (all on FOX Sports).

"In week 45, STV channels represented 21.3% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 21.7% of all regional viewing and 57.9% of all viewing in subscription TV homes." This may change once Foxtel and Austar begin delivering GO and 7TWO to their subscribers via cable and satellite.

What Australia watched, including the top digitals, week ending November 6
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 MELBOURNE CUP-THE RACE Seven 2,673,000 640,000 1,323,000 340,000 156,000 214,000
2 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 2,072,000 601,000 650,000 361,000 251,000 209,000
3 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,583,000 370,000 492,000 327,000 177,000 217,000
4 THE FORCE - BEHIND THE LINE Seven 1,528,000 394,000 453,000 326,000 154,000 202,000
5 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,514,000 359,000 483,000 305,000 175,000 192,000
6 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,433,000 351,000 427,000 338,000 138,000 179,000
7 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,426,000 406,000 405,000 242,000 176,000 197,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,387,000 401,000 412,000 287,000 147,000 140,000
9 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,370,000 334,000 414,000 268,000 162,000 193,000
10 BONES Seven 1,356,000 339,000 380,000 273,000 171,000 193,000
Continued here

11 BORDER SECURITY -WED (R) Seven 1,345,000 400,000 360,000 267,000 138,000 180,000
12 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,327,000 249,000 382,000 341,000 148,000 206,000
13 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,297,000 411,000 346,000 233,000 143,000 164,000
14 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,274,000 318,000 368,000 268,000 142,000 178,000
15 NCIS RPT Ten 1,268,000 339,000 379,000 234,000 142,000 174,000
16 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,253,000 367,000 335,000 258,000 143,000 150,000
17 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,238,000 382,000 356,000 251,000 114,000 136,000
18 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,237,000 324,000 354,000 252,000 149,000 158,000
19 MELBOURNE CUP CARNIVAL-LATE Seven 1,237,000 260,000 689,000 145,000 66,000 76,000
20 GETAWAY Nine 1,231,000 345,000 402,000 238,000 109,000 137,000
21 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,224,000 318,000 410,000 213,000 135,000 148,000
22 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,211,000 351,000 353,000 222,000 137,000 147,000
23 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,204,000 298,000 477,000 193,000 124,000 113,000
24 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,188,000 358,000 372,000 214,000 128,000 115,000
25 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,187,000 238,000 366,000 293,000 120,000 169,000
26 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,182,000 339,000 290,000 255,000 117,000 181,000
27 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,167,000 292,000 393,000 228,000 113,000 142,000
28 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,161,000 322,000 360,000 205,000 108,000 166,000
29 PRIVATE PRACTICE-TUE Seven 1,150,000 342,000 321,000 211,000 162,000 114,000
30 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,119,000 265,000 386,000 239,000 99,000 129,000
31 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,102,000 313,000 291,000 209,000 155,000 134,000
32 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,101,000 341,000 301,000 208,000 109,000 142,000
33 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,074,000 292,000 283,000 219,000 137,000 142,000
34 CRIMINAL MINDS-MON Seven 1,059,000 292,000 335,000 159,000 131,000 142,000
35 A MODEL DAUGHTER - THE KILLING OF CAROLINE BYRNE Ten 1,058,000 308,000 335,000 151,000 126,000 138,000
36 CSI Nine 1,056,000 310,000 325,000 184,000 110,000 128,000
37 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,056,000 311,000 290,000 158,000 136,000 161,000

... And the tops on the digitals
256 RESIDENT EVIL: APOCALYPSE GO! 156,000 37,000 45,000 24,000 29,000 21,000
259 WIPEOUT GO! 154,000 24,000 45,000 40,000 27,000 18,000
290 RESIDENT EVIL: EXTINCTION GO! 134,000 34,000 43,000 18,000 21,000 18,000
296 DOCTOR WHO ABC2 128,000 19,000 39,000 31,000 14,000 25,000
329 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 110,000 21,000 31,000 15,000 24,000 20,000
330 REAPER 7TWO 110,000 34,000 41,000 6,000 14,000 15,000
333 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 108,000 19,000 30,000 29,000 15,000 14,000
340 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 105,000 46,000 24,000 7,000 6,000 21,000
346 HEROES 7TWO 102,000 23,000 47,000 13,000 13,000 6,000

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,182,000 339,000 290,000 255,000 117,000 181,000
2 M-INDEPENDENCE DAY Seven 966,000 282,000 237,000 209,000 99,000 139,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 953,000 223,000 325,000 183,000 118,000 103,000
4 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 931,000 259,000 298,000 182,000 79,000 112,000
5 THE BILL ABC1 870,000 261,000 231,000 147,000 97,000 134,000
6 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 862,000 232,000 259,000 168,000 103,000 99,000
7 TAGGART ABC1 808,000 231,000 224,000 145,000 99,000 109,000
8 HOPE SPRINGS ABC1 797,000 225,000 223,000 173,000 76,000 100,000
12 SHE'S THE MAN -RPT Nine 582,000 202,000 200,000 119,000 62,000
13 KENNY RPT Ten 563,000 123,000 170,000 121,000 66,000 82,000
14 SILENT WITNESS RPT ABC1 484,000 131,000 157,000 80,000 58,000 58,000
15 THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND Ten 440,000 110,000 149,000 85,000 54,000 42,000
16 AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS -RPT Nine 431,000 123,000 146,000 76,000 49,000 37,000
25 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 265,000 84,000 92,000 33,000 24,000 33,000
26 MYTHBUSTERS SBS ONE 264,000 81,000 71,000 55,000 22,000 35,000
28 ROCKWIZ SBS ONE 240,000 73,000 82,000 28,000 16,000 40,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 MIDSOMER MURDERS ABC1 1,426,000 406,000 405,000 242,000 176,000 197,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,297,000 411,000 346,000 233,000 143,000 164,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,194,000 317,000 346,000 246,000 141,000 144,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,045,000 280,000 298,000 207,000 128,000 131,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,000,000 271,000 299,000 183,000 141,000 106,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 981,000 249,000 295,000 228,000 95,000 114,000
12 M-WAR OF THE WORLDS Seven 731,000 212,000 224,000 135,000 77,000 84,000
15 HOW TO LOSE A GUY IN 10 DAYS RPT Ten 632,000 188,000 169,000 146,000 62,000 66,000
16 HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN -RPT Nine 629,000 199,000 223,000 98,000 53,000 56,000
96 TORCHWOOD ABC2 89,000 15,000 18,000 19,000 14,000 22,000
132 SCRUBS (R) 7TWO 61,000 16,000 23,000 10,000 7,000 5,000
138 GOOD GAME ABC1 57,000 10,000 15,000 14,000 11,000 7,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 GETAWAY Nine 1,225,000 342,000 399,000 239,000 108,000 137,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,217,000 313,000 352,000 253,000 140,000 158,000
3 BEAUTY AND THE GEEK AUSTRALIA Seven 1,211,000 351,000 353,000 222,000 137,000 147,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,176,000 301,000 297,000 288,000 135,000 154,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,132,000 262,000 400,000 257,000 96,000 117,000
6 CSI Nine 1,069,000 313,000 331,000 185,000 110,000 130,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,057,000 297,000 342,000 221,000 84,000 113,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,050,000 307,000 244,000 213,000 154,000 132,000
9 NINE NEWS Nine 1,017,000 290,000 297,000 228,000 99,000 103,000
10 ABC NEWS ABC1 965,000 321,000 306,000 137,000 79,000 122,000
11 GLEE Ten 905,000 270,000 244,000 174,000 87,000 129,000
12 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 895,000 262,000 248,000 177,000 107,000 100,000
13 SECRET MILLIONAIRE Nine 891,000 240,000 270,000 162,000 100,000 119,000
14 RUSH Ten 826,000 215,000 288,000 145,000 85,000 93,000
17 THE AMAZING RACE 15 Seven 761,000 230,000 238,000 128,000 87,000 78,000
18 BURN NOTICE Ten 735,000 205,000 231,000 113,000 91,000 94,000
37 LUKE NGUYEN'S VIETNAM SBS ONE 307,000 99,000 103,000 56,000 20,000 28,000
91 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 97,000 12,000 38,000 14,000 16,000 16,000
93 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 89,000 15,000 28,000 11,000 20,000 16,000
104 FIFTH GEAR 7TWO 81,000 22,000 29,000 18,000 6,000 6,000
105 THE NANNY GO! 79,000 31,000 11,000 11,000 10,000 15,000
108 UFC WIRED ONE 78,000 22,000 32,000 8,000 10,000 6,000
122 DROP DEAD DIVA GO! 63,000 23,000 19,000 4,000 13,000 4,000
124 FRINGE GO! 61,000 14,000 9,000 24,000 4,000 10,000
154 GOSSIP GIRL GO! 45,000 8,000 14,000 6,000 8,000 9,000
208 THE JAY LENO SHOW 7TWO 21,000 12,000 2,000 6,000 0 1,000
216 THE MARTHA STEWART SHOW 7TWO 19,000 6,000 7,000 4,000 1,000 1,000
218 HOME AND AWAY - THE EARLY YEARS 7TWO 18,000 11,000 3,000 0 4,000 0

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BORDER SECURITY (R) Seven 1,345,000 400,000 360,000 267,000 138,000 180,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,314,000 291,000 388,000 261,000 158,000 215,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,286,000 327,000 325,000 265,000 143,000 225,000
4 MEDICAL EMERGENCY Seven 1,253,000 367,000 335,000 258,000 143,000 150,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,227,000 323,000 417,000 228,000 110,000 150,000
6 CELEBRITY MASTERCHEF AUSTRALIA Ten 1,224,000 318,000 410,000 213,000 135,000 148,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,170,000 292,000 394,000 230,000 112,000 142,000
8 CITY HOMICIDE-WED Seven 1,161,000 322,000 360,000 205,000 108,000 166,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,121,000 316,000 288,000 217,000 150,000 150,000
10 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,102,000 343,000 301,000 208,000 109,000 141,000
12 A MODEL DAUGHTER - THE KILLING OF CAROLINE BYRNE Ten 1,059,000 309,000 335,000 152,000 126,000 138,000
25 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 641,000 203,000 159,000 127,000 65,000 86,000
28 JOHN SAFRAN'S RACE RELATIONS ABC1 526,000 167,000 144,000 89,000 54,000 71,000
50 SHINTARO! SBS ONE 241,000 83,000 83,000 35,000 20,000 20,000
86 SUPERHUMAN ABC2 121,000 27,000 36,000 12,000 26,000 20,000
93 HEROES 7TWO 100,000 22,000 46,000 13,000 13,000 6,000
94 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 98,000 23,000 17,000 16,000 22,000 21,000
115 FRINGE GO! 65,000 19,000 22,000 8,000 9,000 7,000
151 THE WIRE GO! 44,000 12,000 12,000 11,000 6,000 3,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

The ratings race, updated 10 am Wednesday
It seems Australia watched the Cup then fell asleep in front of the set, leaving Seven's shows to flicker on into the night. They didn't even wake up long enough to switch the dial to 7TWO for the relaunch of Ugly Betty. To see how this year's Cup audience compares with the all-time records, go to The TV shows Australia loved.

After three nights of 7TWO, the prime time audience shares stand thus: SBS2 0.3 per cent; ABC2 1.3; ONE 1.3; 7TWO 1.7; GO! 2.9; SBS1 5.7; ABC1 13.6; TEN 19.0; Nine 23.7; Seven 30.6.

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE 2009 MELBOURNE CUP-THE RACE Seven 2,563,000 637,000 1,319,000 335,000 60,000 211,000
2 PACKED TO THE RAFTERS Seven 2,072,000 601,000 650,000 361,000 251,000 209,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,682,000 370,000 601,000 306,000 193,000 212,000
4 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,583,000 370,000 492,000 327,000 177,000 217,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,564,000 352,000 569,000 287,000 152,000 203,000
6 LAST CHANCE SURGERY Seven 1,514,000 359,000 483,000 305,000 175,000 192,000
7 NCIS RPT Ten 1,266,000 339,000 379,000 233,000 142,000 173,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,226,000 337,000 350,000 224,000 165,000 150,000
9 THE 2009 MELBOURNE CUP-LATE Seven 1,212,000 251,000 674,000 141,000 74,000 73,000
10 20 TO 1 -TUE Nine 1,206,000 298,000 477,000 194,000 123,000 113,000
11 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,197,000 252,000 491,000 239,000 92,000 123,000
12 PRIVATE PRACTICE-TUE Seven 1,150,000 342,000 321,000 211,000 162,000 114,000
19 LIE TO ME Ten 910,000 225,000 302,000 148,000 106,000 128,000
23 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 766,000 221,000 268,000 108,000 76,000 93,000
27 AUSSIE LADETTE TO LADY Nine 688,000 165,000 312,000 70,000 72,000 69,000
77 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 146,000 29,000 54,000 16,000 30,000 16,000
87 SURVIVOR: TOCANTINS GO! 117,000 25,000 32,000 23,000 16,000 21,000
90 REAPER 7TWO 110,000 34,000 41,000 6,000 14,000 15,000
92 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 105,000 46,000 24,000 7,000 6,000 21,000
128 THE WIRE ABC2 58,000 25,000 9,000 7,000 7,000 10,000

What Australia watched, Monday. including Good Game
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,441,000 376,000 381,000 272,000 178,000 234,000
2 TWO AND A HALF MEN -MON Nine 1,369,000 390,000 412,000 286,000 144,000 136,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,300,000 328,000 351,000 294,000 150,000 177,000
4 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,241,000 382,000 356,000 251,000 116,000 136,000
5 HIGHWAY PATROL Seven 1,237,000 324,000 354,000 252,000 149,000 158,000
6 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,195,000 360,000 372,000 218,000 128,000 116,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,123,000 338,000 274,000 211,000 167,000 133,000
8 DESTROYED IN SECONDS Seven 1,074,000 292,000 283,000 219,000 137,000 142,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,074,000 248,000 357,000 238,000 112,000 118,000
10 NINE NEWS Nine 1,070,000 291,000 361,000 212,000 117,000 89,000
11 CRIMINAL MINDS-MON Seven 1,059,000 292,000 335,000 159,000 131,000 142,000
12 FLASHFORWARD Seven 1,056,000 311,000 290,000 158,000 136,000 161,000
13 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC1 1,031,000 370,000 257,000 205,000 90,000 110,000
16 THE APPRENTICE AUSTRALIA Nine 841,000 261,000 281,000 119,000 106,000 74,000
17 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 833,000 236,000 242,000 155,000 97,000 102,000
18 FOUR CORNERS ABC1 773,000 281,000 172,000 162,000 77,000 81,000
24 TOP GEAR SBS ONE 674,000 200,000 183,000 141,000 70,000 80,000
27 JAMIE'S AMERICAN ROAD TRIP Ten 625,000 207,000 147,000 98,000 86,000 86,000
32 NURSE JACKIE MON Ten 455,000 127,000 178,000 62,000 52,000 36,000
80 JUNKYARD WARS ABC2 149,000 22,000 37,000 26,000 33,000 31,000
89 DOCTOR WHO ABC2 129,000 20,000 39,000 31,000 14,000 25,000
105 THE VAMPIRE DIARIES GO! 86,000 21,000 25,000 15,000 18,000 7,000
117 M-SEABISCUIT 7TWO 74,000 26,000 18,000 7,000 8,000 15,000
154 GOOD GAME ABC2 44,000 2,000 11,000 13,000 8,000 10,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE FORCE Seven 1,519,000 392,000 450,000 325,000 152,000 200,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,421,000 347,000 425,000 335,000 137,000 178,000
3 BONES Seven 1,366,000 342,000 382,000 277,000 171,000 194,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,327,000 249,000 382,000 341,000 148,000 206,000
5 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,183,000 236,000 365,000 293,000 120,000 169,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,039,000 241,000 351,000 215,000 139,000 93,000
7 60 MINUTES Nine 964,000 244,000 340,000 162,000 85,000 132,000
8 CASTLE Seven 950,000 248,000 277,000 171,000 135,000 119,000
9 AUSTRALIAN IDOL Ten 942,000 328,000 234,000 172,000 105,000 104,000
10 ABC NEWS-SU ABC1 932,000 282,000 267,000 167,000 91,000 126,000
13 ROVE Ten 748,000 221,000 239,000 125,000 88,000 74,000
15 WUTHERING HEIGHTS ABC1 700,000 280,000 171,000 93,000 57,000 99,000
24 WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? SBS ONE 382,000 121,000 111,000 55,000 33,000 63,000
43 WIPEOUT GO! 211,000 35,000 57,000 57,000 37,000 26,000
68 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 142,000 27,000 36,000 38,000 20,000 20,000
76 THE FLINTSTONES GO! 128,000 27,000 58,000 11,000 21,000 12,000
86 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP 2009 - PRE-RACE ONE 106,000 15,000 21,000 42,000 12,000 16,000
87 FOUR NATIONS RUGBY LEAGUE 2009 Nine 106,000 29,000 31,000 33,000 5,000 8,000
91 MICHAEL JACKSON: HIS LAST TELEVISED CONCERT 7TWO 88,000 7,000 39,000 21,000 11,000 9,000
97 WELCOME TO 7TWO 7TWO 82,000 19,000 33,000 12,000 10,000 9,000

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 05:57 PM
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