Who We Are

Wednesday May 9, 2007 04:08 PM

Sunday, February 28, 2010

The Who We Are update: Week 9

This week's forum is now a heritage item - worth studying but no longer current.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.
House and Despos are hits with the timeshifters, but if the timeshifters fast-forward through the ads, why should the networks care about the extra audience? Which leads to a fundamental issue: how do the makers of TV commercials stop people from fast-forwarding? For the background on all this, and to discuss your playback habits, go to Lets do the timeshift.

To nominate television's most annoying, overhyped and underrated people and programs, go to The Bogies 2010.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
The week doesn't really count towards the year's official ratings, because the winter Olympics are a special event, but for what it's worth, the prime time audience shares went like this: SBSTWO 0.4%; ABC3 0.5%; ONE 0.9; ABC2 1.3; 7TWO 3.3; GO 3.4; SBS1 4.8; ABC1 14.6; Ten 19.7; Seven 25.2; Nine 26.8.

This was Pay TV's account of itself for the week: "On Saturday night, the Mardi Gras Special on Arena brought the colour and spectacle of the 2010 Sydney Mardi Gras parade to 133,000 viewers around Australia. Family Guy on Fox8 was watched by 109,000 people, The American Idol Performance Show on FOX8 was watched by 103,000, Zack And Miri Make A Porno premiered on Movie One with 77,000 and How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? was watched by 72,000 on UKTV. NCIS on TV1 was watched by 72,000, Property Ladder on LifeStyle Channel was seen by 65,000 and Helen West on 13th Street was watched by 64,000 viewers.

"In sport, Live: Cricket: Twenty20: NZ v Aus Game 1 on FOX Sports was watched by 189,000 people and 180,000 watched the Dragons and Rabbitohs play the traditional Rugby League season opener in Live: Rugby League: Charity Shield. Live: AFL: NAB Cup Geelong v North Melb was seen by 157,000 people, Live: Rugby Union: S14 Reds v Blues was watched by 106,000 people, Live: Football: EPL Chelsea v Man City was viewed by 68,000 and Live: Football: A-League Semi Final by 65,000 people (all on FOX Sports).

"In week 9, subscription TV channels accounted for 22.9% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 21.7% of all regional viewing and 57.0% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Australia recorded in the week ending February 20 and watched within seven days
Description Overnight audience Consolidated audience 000's Increase % Increase
1 HOUSE Network TEN 946,000 1,081,000 135,000 14.20%
2 THE GOOD WIFE Network TEN 1,208,000 1,308,000 100,000 8.30%
3 GREY'S ANATOMY Network 7 866,000 963,000 97,000 11.20%
4 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Network 7 1,087,000 1,183,000 96,000 8.80%
5 CASTLE Network 7 963,000 1,059,000 96,000 10.00%
6 CRIMINAL MINDS Network 7 1,095,000 1,186,000 91,000 8.30%
7 BROTHERS & SISTERS Network 7 903,000 993,000 89,000 9.90%
8 BONES Network 7 1,251,000 1,339,000 88,000 7.10%
9 NCIS Network TEN 1,369,000 1,457,000 88,000 6.40%
10 TOP GEAR -EP1 Network 9 1,685,000 1,772,000 86,000 5.10%
11 GREY'S ANATOMY-EP.2 Network 7 911,000 995,000 84,000 9.20%
12 DOCTOR WHO: THE END OF TIME Network ABC1 803,000 885,000 82,000 10.20%
13 COUGAR TOWN Network 7 1,093,000 1,168,000 75,000 6.90%
14 THE MENTALIST Network 9 1,231,000 1,306,000 74,000 6.00%
15 BURN NOTICE Network TEN 423,000 495,000 72,000 16.90%
16 LOST Network 7TWO 180,000 247,000 67,000 37.20%
17 MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH THE LAWYER'S CUT-EV Network ABC1 806,000 867,000 61,000 7.50%
18 SILENT WITNESS Network ABC1 933,000 993,000 60,000 6.40%
19 LAW AND ORDER: SVU Network TEN 904,000 961,000 57,000 6.30%
20 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Network 7 897,000 952,000 55,000 6.10%
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, week ending February 27
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,397,000 374,000 481,000 259,000 110,000 173,000
2 NCIS Ten 1,384,000 399,000 374,000 264,000 154,000 193,000
3 MY KITCHEN RULES-TUE Seven 1,355,000 330,000 422,000 252,000 179,000 172,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,292,000 364,000 351,000 274,000 129,000 173,000
5 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,279,000 393,000 421,000 202,000 110,000 153,000
6 CUSTOMS Nine 1,276,000 374,000 380,000 241,000 114,000 166,000
7 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,274,000 308,000 385,000 249,000 156,000 176,000
8 AIR WAYS Seven 1,267,000 311,000 399,000 248,000 149,000 161,000
9 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 1,260,000 347,000 355,000 260,000 117,000 180,000
10 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,247,000 311,000 368,000 241,000 154,000 174,000

11 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,241,000 302,000 349,000 249,000 162,000 178,000
12 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,241,000 333,000 411,000 244,000 130,000 121,000
13 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,198,000 298,000 359,000 221,000 141,000 178,000
14 TWENTY/20 - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES Nine 1,197,000 367,000 343,000 229,000 125,000 133,000
15 MY KITCHEN RULES-MON Seven 1,193,000 316,000 373,000 224,000 141,000 140,000
16 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,156,000 325,000 376,000 207,000 107,000 141,000
17 NINE NEWS Nine 1,156,000 334,000 373,000 232,000 102,000 115,000
18 BONES Seven 1,155,000 312,000 349,000 227,000 162,000 105,000
19 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,143,000 278,000 350,000 221,000 144,000 150,000
20 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,122,000 280,000 367,000 201,000 148,000 126,000
21 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,110,000 333,000 351,000 191,000 117,000 118,000
22 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,106,000 268,000 310,000 234,000 129,000 165,000
23 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,085,000 299,000 327,000 245,000 85,000 129,000
24 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,078,000 260,000 356,000 222,000 90,000 150,000
25 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,027,000 258,000 310,000 215,000 108,000 135,000
26 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,023,000 284,000 355,000 202,000 75,000 107,000
27 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,016,000 292,000 294,000 176,000 122,000 133,000
28 COUGAR TOWN Seven 1,014,000 270,000 293,000 202,000 125,000 124,000
29 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 11 Nine 1,013,000 323,000 316,000 180,000 110,000 85,000
30 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 12 Nine 1,012,000 308,000 320,000 156,000 126,000 103,000
31 BONDI RESCUE Ten 1,002,000 298,000 270,000 211,000 90,000 133,000
32 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 993,000 236,000 351,000 169,000 114,000 123,000

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,106,000 268,000 310,000 234,000 129,000 165,000
2 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 942,000 296,000 307,000 176,000 106,000 58,000
3 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 868,000 217,000 312,000 135,000 99,000 105,000
4 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 766,000 235,000 212,000 166,000 86,000 68,000
5 M-SISTER ACT Seven 743,000 176,000 244,000 133,000 75,000 114,000
6 WHIZZ KIDS - WHO WANTS TO BE A MILLIONAIRE Nine 674,000 231,000 186,000 131,000 71,000 55,000
7 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 14 Nine 652,000 206,000 173,000 134,000 71,000 68,000
8 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SAT Ten 638,000 187,000 178,000 106,000 72,000 95,000
9 THE BILL ABC1 611,000 187,000 169,000 107,000 71,000 76,000
10 GARDENING AUSTRALIA ABC1 585,000 134,000 247,000 91,000 58,000 55,000
11 BLUE MURDER ABC1 550,000 161,000 154,000 95,000 73,000 67,000
12 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 14 (LATE) Nine 528,000 165,000 137,000 99,000 68,000 59,000
13 BED OF ROSES ABC1 492,000 124,000 148,000 108,000 56,000 57,000
19 MONSTER MOVES SBS ONE 337,000 75,000 117,000 67,000 35,000 42,000
26 2010 brand name CUP - ST KILDA V SYDNEY Ten 267,000 35,000 160,000 14,000 32,000 27,000
30 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 244,000 55,000 97,000 45,000 23,000 24,000
38 M-CALL ME: THE RISE AND FALL OF HEIDI FLEISS Seven 209,000 57,000 65,000 49,000 17,000 22,000
40 HEARTBEAT-SAT 7TWO 200,000 39,000 58,000 38,000 38,000 26,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 BITTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,122,000 280,000 367,000 201,000 148,000 126,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,110,000 240,000 340,000 229,000 148,000 152,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,075,000 240,000 363,000 200,000 128,000 144,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,015,000 274,000 327,000 206,000 105,000 103,000
5 SILENT WITNESS ABC1 919,000 271,000 263,000 148,000 104,000 133,000
6 ABC NEWS ABC1 860,000 273,000 264,000 126,000 77,000 120,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 856,000 207,000 322,000 165,000 83,000 79,000
8 VANCOUVER COLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 13 Nine 818,000 246,000 238,000 166,000 86,000 82,000
20 2010 brandname CUP: HAWTHORN V WESTERN BULLDOGS Seven 423,000 4,000 298,000 7,000 60,000 54,000
25 SUNRISE Seven 355,000 106,000 80,000 84,000 35,000 49,000
30 TODAY Nine 308,000 90,000 89,000 72,000 24,000 34,000
37 HITLER'S BODYGUARD SBS ONE 240,000 83,000 66,000 35,000 32,000 24,000
45 BLACKADDER GOES FORTH GO! 178,000 35,000 56,000 28,000 26,000 33,000
48 VIRTUAL ADULTERY AND CYBERSPACE LOVE RPT SBS ONE 173,000 48,000 43,000 32,000 24,000 26,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,178,000 289,000 351,000 223,000 152,000 163,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,175,000 271,000 352,000 242,000 151,000 158,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,091,000 304,000 329,000 247,000 101,000 110,000
4 COUGAR TOWN Seven 1,014,000 270,000 293,000 202,000 125,000 124,000
5 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 12 Nine 1,007,000 306,000 317,000 155,000 126,000 103,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 952,000 262,000 320,000 208,000 67,000 95,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 948,000 217,000 370,000 184,000 66,000 113,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 942,000 269,000 266,000 159,000 132,000 116,000
9 GETAWAY Nine 917,000 216,000 293,000 186,000 99,000 123,000
10 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 913,000 255,000 243,000 198,000 104,000 114,000
17 GHOST WHISPERER Seven 761,000 221,000 209,000 146,000 99,000 85,000
19 THE NEANDERTHAL CODE ABC1 641,000 172,000 203,000 122,000 71,000 73,000
20 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 607,000 143,000 162,000 163,000 71,000 68,000
26 HOT SEAT Nine 547,000 143,000 161,000 140,000 49,000 54,000
27 DEAL OR NO DEAL Seven 508,000 107,000 157,000 83,000 89,000 72,000
31 FAMILY GUY Seven 385,000 103,000 136,000 60,000 41,000 45,000
32 TODAY Nine 367,000 129,000 99,000 64,000 31,000 45,000
36 SUNRISE Seven 323,000 76,000 79,000 88,000 37,000 42,000
37 GOURMET FARMER SBS ONE 312,000 70,000 122,000 54,000 25,000 40,000
53 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 162,000 42,000 38,000 39,000 21,000 23,000
78 HEROES 7TWO 112,000 39,000 16,000 33,000 14,000 10,000
85 E.R. GO! 103,000 34,000 31,000 12,000 20,000 6,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,260,000 315,000 347,000 248,000 168,000 182,000
2 CUSTOMS Nine 1,259,000 369,000 378,000 238,000 111,000 163,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,226,000 334,000 327,000 231,000 154,000 180,000
4 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,198,000 298,000 359,000 221,000 141,000 178,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,178,000 378,000 371,000 228,000 96,000 105,000
6 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,143,000 278,000 350,000 221,000 144,000 150,000
7 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,111,000 334,000 351,000 191,000 117,000 117,000
13 RPA Nine 988,000 306,000 288,000 172,000 110,000 113,000
14 ICU Seven 937,000 252,000 270,000 182,000 104,000 128,000
16 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA Ten 879,000 286,000 272,000 151,000 67,000 103,000
20 GANGS OF OZ Seven 679,000 167,000 218,000 124,000 83,000 87,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 665,000 160,000 193,000 153,000 73,000 86,000
33 POH'S KITCHEN ABC1 404,000 98,000 141,000 76,000 36,000 53,000
36 TODAY Nine 368,000 113,000 117,000 76,000 22,000 41,000
39 SUNRISE Seven 327,000 97,000 76,000 79,000 35,000 41,000
54 LOST 7TWO 187,000 72,000 53,000 25,000 10,000 27,000
58 LOST-ENCORE Seven 159,000 45,000 51,000 37,000 10,000 15,000
61 TERMINATOR: THE SARAH CONNOR CHRONICLES GO! 152,000 40,000 54,000 19,000 23,000 17,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,475,000 372,000 444,000 300,000 166,000 193,000
2 NCIS Ten 1,384,000 399,000 374,000 264,000 154,000 193,000
3 MY KITCHEN RULES-TUE Seven 1,355,000 330,000 422,000 252,000 179,000 172,000
4 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,304,000 346,000 344,000 265,000 154,000 196,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,223,000 362,000 402,000 227,000 104,000 127,000
6 TWENTY/20 - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES Nine 1,126,000 365,000 324,000 203,000 110,000 124,000
7 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,016,000 292,000 294,000 176,000 122,000 133,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,013,000 259,000 324,000 188,000 130,000 111,000
9 BONDI RESCUE Ten 1,002,000 298,000 270,000 211,000 90,000 133,000
13 BROTHERS & SISTERS-TUE Seven 852,000 260,000 290,000 126,000 86,000 89,000
14 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 830,000 234,000 230,000 206,000 67,000 94,000
16 KEVIN MCCLOUD'S GRAND TOUR ABC1 737,000 188,000 261,000 107,000 95,000 86,000
17 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 725,000 170,000 189,000 184,000 74,000 109,000
30 TODAY Nine 362,000 120,000 97,000 71,000 33,000 41,000
31 SUNRISE Seven 341,000 97,000 65,000 95,000 32,000 53,000
46 BIG LOVE SBS ONE 173,000 44,000 67,000 28,000 8,000 27,000
50 SAMANTHA WHO? Seven 154,000 46,000 45,000 30,000 20,000 14,000
178 DURHAM COUNTY ABC2 38,000 12,000 17,000 2,000 1,000 5,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,386,000 371,000 478,000 256,000 109,000 172,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,355,000 340,000 362,000 263,000 187,000 204,000
3 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,286,000 394,000 424,000 203,000 110,000 154,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,264,000 309,000 352,000 247,000 166,000 190,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,244,000 351,000 425,000 244,000 98,000 125,000
6 MY KITCHEN RULES-MON Seven 1,194,000 316,000 374,000 224,000 141,000 140,000
7 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,180,000 330,000 420,000 230,000 72,000 128,000
8 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,168,000 325,000 382,000 212,000 108,000 141,000
11 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 1,000,000 237,000 354,000 171,000 114,000 124,000
13 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 935,000 273,000 273,000 165,000 104,000 120,000
27 ROSS NOBLE'S AUSTRALIAN TRIP Ten 525,000 125,000 171,000 97,000 76,000 56,000
35 SUNRISE Seven 353,000 88,000 84,000 99,000 34,000 48,000
36 TODAY Nine 347,000 101,000 102,000 84,000 24,000 37,000
47 JUDGE JOHN DEED 7TWO 227,000 40,000 82,000 35,000 35,000 35,000
48 HEARTBEAT 7TWO 212,000 47,000 65,000 31,000 36,000 33,000
58 30 ROCK Seven 164,000 46,000 64,000 38,000 7,000 9,000
137 DANTE'S COVE GO! 52,000 3,000 17,000 15,000 15,000 3,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,292,000 364,000 351,000 274,000 129,000 173,000
2 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,276,000 308,000 385,000 249,000 157,000 178,000
3 AIR WAYS Seven 1,267,000 311,000 399,000 248,000 148,000 161,000
4 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 1,256,000 346,000 354,000 259,000 116,000 180,000
5 TWENTY/20 - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES Nine 1,247,000 360,000 358,000 250,000 140,000 139,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,237,000 334,000 411,000 242,000 130,000 121,000
7 BONES Seven 1,156,000 312,000 349,000 227,000 162,000 105,000
8 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,091,000 301,000 329,000 245,000 86,000 129,000
9 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,027,000 258,000 310,000 215,000 108,000 135,000
10 HOUSE Ten 958,000 244,000 328,000 182,000 86,000 118,000
12 CASTLE Seven 893,000 237,000 277,000 132,000 140,000 107,000
14 DOCTOR WHO: THE END OF TENNANT ABC1 840,000 296,000 198,000 170,000 68,000 108,000
16 MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH THE LAWYER'S CUT ABC1 740,000 254,000 196,000 127,000 65,000 98,000
19 INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S TWENTY/20 Nine 519,000 174,000 170,000 72,000 46,000 57,000
58 UFC 110 MAIN CARD LIVE ONE 123,000 17,000 50,000 20,000 15,000 20,000
59 UFC 110 THE MAIN EVENT LIVE ONE 122,000 11,000 55,000 18,000 17,000 22,000
(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 11:27 PM
Comments (45)

Sunday, February 21, 2010

WHO WE ARE: Addicted to surprise

To find out what Australians are reading -- and what they're no longer reading -- go to The Tribal Mind.

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 21/2/2010
What you're about to read is just between us, OK? I want your feedback on an idea for a best-selling book, but if it gets around, somebody will steal it. So mum's the word.

The book would be called A.D.D. Nation - How neophilia consumed Australia. The ADD in the title refers not only to Attention Deficit Disorder but also our compulsion to add new experiences to our lives at an ever-increasing rate. Ten years ago most homes had a radio, a telly, a VCR and a landline. Now we've got three plasma screens, two DVD players, a games box, iPods, iPhones, and a high speed internet connection. Ten years ago most of us knew the food of Italy, France, and China. Now we chase a new culinary culture every week - Moroccan, Thai, Brazilian, Bengali, north Indian, south Japanese, Greek island, Burmese, Szechuan, and Hunan.

It's wonderfully open-minded of us, but is the search for The Next Big Thing happening too fast? The book would suggest Australians are so ADDicted to constant change we're about to rush over a cliff. Come to think of it, the title could be Land of Lemmingtons. What do you reckon?

I would raise this scenario: Because we have become Early Discarders as well as Early Adopters, we are at risk of burning through our stock of competent politicians before they've had a chance to be useful. It took us 10 years to get bored with John Howard, but only two years to get bored with Kevin Rudd (if current opinion polls are to be believed). He doesn't surprise us any more.

That means we'll discard him simply because he is less new than Tony Abbott. The only way Labor could prevent defeat would be to replace Rudd with Julia Gillard three months before the election. Labor won't do that, so Abbott will become the new prime minister.

But next year the Liberals will need to feed our appetite for novelty by replacing him with Joe Hockey. Labor will discard Julia Gillard as Opposition leader because she'll be old news by the 2013 election.

My reflections on whether it's all happening too fast were prompted by reader reaction to what this column said last month. I published a list of comparisons between the old Australia and the new Australia, suggesting this is a different country from 20 years ago. The contrasts included Chiko roll/ chicken wrap; lamington/ tiramisu; Eddie McGuire/ Shaun Micallef; tea with milk and sugar/ skim latte; dripping/ olive oil; Hey Dad/ Packed to the Rafters.

Nola wrote: "I agree Australia is a more interesting country now than in 1960. However, speed, convenience, and instant everything -- including gratification -- seem to rule supreme."

Graeme Tutt wrote: "We've become more open, sophisticated and multicultural, which makes Oz more vibrant, interesting & deep. Yet we have incredibly high expectations of life and a high standard of living that can't be sustained."

Mike Williams wrote: "As a baby boomer I have embraced the wave of change known as the sixties and beyond, but I can't help feeling a little anxious when ... Yo-Yos became a Nintendo DS; Mental Arithmetic became the calculator; Anonymity became celebrity obsession; School spirit became what's in it for me?; Self-discipline became legislation, by-laws and ordinances; The six oclock swill became teenage binge drinking; Shopping became a national pastime; A lottery ticket became a scratchie, Lotto, Oz Lotto and Powerball; The backyard became a courtyard; Parents became child micro-managers."

Many readers lamented the constant craving for new stimulation, and wondered if it might be time to just slow down. Hence the book idea -- except of course, if our national attention span really has become as short as I suspect, nobody will have the patience to read a book anyway. I'm lucky you got this far in the column. Tell us what you think at Comments.

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

by David Dale in whoweare-index at 04:26 PM
Comments (4)

Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Who We Are update: Week 8

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

To learn why Labor needs to replace Kevin Rudd with Julia Gillard, go to Who We Are.

To find out what Australians are reading -- and what they're no longer reading -- go to The Tribal Mind.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Sunday
Top Gear rather than the Olympics caused Channel Nine to win the week, and even then it was close. These were the prime time audience shares: SBSTWO 0.4%; ABC3 0.5%; ONE 0.9; ABC2 1.5; 7TWO 3.2; GO 3.3; SBS1 4.7; ABC1 14.4; Ten 18.5; Seven 26.0; Nine 26.6.

Not everybody loved Top Gear. With women 25-54, the week's top shows were My Kitchen Rules, Grey's Anatomy and The Good Wife. With people over 55, the top shows were Seven news, Border Security and ABC News. Funny how the viewers with the shortest future are the ones most interested in the state of the world.

This was Pay TV's account of itself for the week: "On Monday night, 149,000 viewers watched FOX Sports' live coverage of Live: Cricket: The Allan Border Medal. At the event, all-rounder Shane Watson was recognised as the best cricketer in Australia for the year, just beating Michael Clarke and Mitchell Johnson for the honour. In other sport, Live: AFL: NAB Cup Bulldogs v Lions was seen 111,000 people, Live: Cricket: Ford Ranger Cup was viewed by 108,000 people, Live: Rugby Union: S14 Reds v Crusaders by 107,000 and Live: Football: A-League Sydney v Melb by 92,000 (all on FOX Sports).

"In entertainment programming, 115,000 watched The Simpsons on Fox8, 108,000 saw American Idol Hollywood Show on FOX8, 93,000 watched America's Next Top Model (also on FOX8) and Gran Torino premiered on Movie One with 96,000 viewers. How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria? picked up its biggest ever audience on UKTV with 82,000 viewers, Wizards of Waverly Place on Disney Channel was viewed by 79,000 people, SpongeBob SquarePants on Nickelodeon had its best result of the year with 74,000 people and NCIS on TV1 was seen by 69,000 viewers.

"In week 8, subscription TV channels accounted for 22.6% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 20.6% of all regional viewing and 55.5% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Australia watched, week ending February 20
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TOP GEAR -EP1 Nine 1,681,000 436,000 522,000 330,000 180,000 213,000
2 MY KITCHEN RULES-MON Seven 1,471,000 353,000 463,000 292,000 201,000 162,000
3 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,412,000 429,000 489,000 220,000 147,000 128,000
4 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,392,000 346,000 368,000 302,000 167,000 209,000
5 NCIS Ten 1,366,000 423,000 371,000 287,000 130,000 155,000
6 AIR WAYS Seven 1,365,000 364,000 407,000 260,000 160,000 174,000
7 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,365,000 373,000 430,000 244,000 141,000 177,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,330,000 339,000 399,000 305,000 110,000 177,000
9 CUSTOMS Nine 1,277,000 342,000 397,000 262,000 109,000 168,000
10 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,263,000 295,000 360,000 264,000 155,000 190,000
11 BONES Seven 1,250,000 353,000 359,000 219,000 158,000 161,000
12 TOP GEAR -SPECIAL Nine 1,241,000 330,000 353,000 209,000 151,000 199,000
13 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,230,000 354,000 363,000 240,000 116,000 156,000
14 MY KITCHEN RULES-TUE Seven 1,214,000 336,000 373,000 239,000 121,000 144,000
15 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 1,207,000 355,000 346,000 216,000 113,000 177,000

16 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,172,000 272,000 343,000 240,000 147,000 170,000
17 NINE NEWS Nine 1,148,000 320,000 368,000 245,000 110,000 106,000
18 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,142,000 280,000 346,000 263,000 93,000 161,000
19 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,118,000 272,000 350,000 247,000 99,000 150,000
20 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,095,000 226,000 319,000 233,000 124,000 193,000
21 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,095,000 271,000 324,000 244,000 103,000 153,000
22 COUGAR TOWN Seven 1,088,000 299,000 299,000 223,000 124,000 142,000
23 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,086,000 278,000 361,000 216,000 100,000 131,000
24 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,084,000 286,000 319,000 227,000 122,000 131,000
25 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 4 SESSION 2 Nine 1,082,000 304,000 348,000 216,000 121,000 93,000
26 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 4 SESSION 1 Nine 1,076,000 322,000 308,000 210,000 122,000 113,000
27 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,076,000 284,000 323,000 214,000 121,000 133,000
28 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,066,000 295,000 311,000 215,000 100,000 144,000
29 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,062,000 294,000 355,000 230,000 76,000 107,000
30 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,049,000 296,000 299,000 234,000 90,000 129,000
31 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,036,000 332,000 274,000 173,000 114,000 143,000

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,095,000 226,000 319,000 233,000 124,000 193,000
2 ABC NEWS-SAT ABC1 896,000 229,000 312,000 148,000 77,000 130,000
3 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 887,000 229,000 284,000 161,000 124,000 89,000
4 M-FLUSHED AWAY Seven 774,000 176,000 262,000 150,000 88,000 99,000
5 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 7 Nine 747,000 241,000 214,000 145,000 60,000 86,000
6 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 738,000 195,000 204,000 154,000 92,000 93,000
7 THE BILL ABC1 676,000 194,000 188,000 116,000 89,000 89,000
8 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SAT Ten 647,000 154,000 197,000 103,000 90,000 102,000
9 BED OF ROSES ABC1 615,000 165,000 189,000 127,000 54,000 80,000
12 BLUE MURDER ABC1 583,000 170,000 148,000 107,000 82,000 76,000
13 M-EVAN ALMIGHTY Seven 506,000 297,000 113,000 97,000
16 VANCOUVER LIVE 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 7 Nine 406,000 128,000 140,000 72,000 43,000 23,000
21 M-PREDATOR Seven 313,000 96,000 110,000 33,000 38,000 36,000
25 2010 brandname CUP - SYDNEY V CARLTON Ten 264,000 14,000 152,000 15,000 40,000 45,000
29 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 226,000 64,000 84,000 42,000 17,000 20,000
34 HEARTBEAT-SAT 7TWO 199,000 37,000 52,000 49,000 32,000 28,000
65 2010 brandname CUP - SYDNEY V CARLTON ONE 108,000 14,000 29,000 22,000 16,000 26,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,192,000 290,000 333,000 241,000 148,000 180,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,118,000 272,000 350,000 247,000 99,000 150,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,098,000 299,000 372,000 206,000 120,000 102,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,084,000 249,000 292,000 249,000 132,000 161,000
5 SILENT WITNESS ABC1 933,000 264,000 295,000 152,000 85,000 137,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 839,000 230,000 254,000 153,000 101,000 99,000
7 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 5 SESSION 2 Nine 806,000 230,000 220,000 187,000 95,000 75,000
10 VANCOUVER COLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 6 Nine 752,000 286,000 209,000 176,000 82,000
12 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 624,000 171,000 181,000 140,000 55,000 75,000
14 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 614,000 149,000 176,000 162,000 49,000 77,000
21 SLEUTH 101 ABC1 466,000 127,000 166,000 59,000 46,000 68,000
26 TODAY Nine 336,000 107,000 98,000 73,000 20,000 37,000
28 SUNRISE Seven 316,000 82,000 68,000 87,000 36,000 44,000
35 JAMES MAY'S BIG IDEAS SBS ONE 227,000 50,000 59,000 44,000 33,000 41,000
36 HITLER'S BODYGUARD SBS ONE 217,000 60,000 60,000 41,000 29,000 27,000
38 BLACKADDER THE THIRD GO! 191,000 59,000 66,000 18,000 24,000 22,000
47 THE BENNY HILL SHOW 7TWO 149,000 24,000 66,000 26,000 18,000 15,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,217,000 305,000 337,000 255,000 152,000 168,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,147,000 272,000 349,000 231,000 139,000 156,000
3 COUGAR TOWN Seven 1,089,000 300,000 300,000 223,000 124,000 142,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,030,000 280,000 349,000 211,000 90,000 99,000
5 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 958,000 266,000 338,000 197,000 61,000 96,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 943,000 223,000 314,000 166,000 127,000 113,000
7 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - RESULTS Ten 914,000 302,000 244,000 195,000 79,000 93,000
8 LAW AND ORDER: SVU Ten 902,000 254,000 257,000 185,000 96,000 109,000
9 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 890,000 219,000 288,000 156,000 109,000 118,000
10 ADULTS ONLY 20 TO 1 Nine 887,000 231,000 262,000 179,000 93,000 122,000
13 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 5 Nine 848,000 272,000 252,000 137,000 97,000 89,000
17 THE WHITE ROOM Seven 678,000 150,000 220,000 137,000 85,000 86,000
22 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 556,000 169,000 135,000 131,000 55,000 66,000
30 TODAY Nine 364,000 104,000 113,000 91,000 22,000 34,000
31 SUNRISE Seven 354,000 92,000 81,000 97,000 42,000 42,000
35 GOURMET FARMER SBS ONE 301,000 80,000 93,000 51,000 26,000 52,000
36 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 299,000 63,000 88,000 65,000 32,000 52,000
37 FAMILY GUY Seven 298,000 74,000 86,000 64,000 37,000 37,000
42 OZ AND JAMES'S BIG WINE ADVENTURE SBS ONE 280,000 65,000 90,000 49,000 20,000 56,000
51 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 174,000 56,000 38,000 39,000 22,000 19,000
82 HEROES 7TWO 107,000 32,000 18,000 30,000 11,000 16,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 CUSTOMS Nine 1,275,000 342,000 397,000 262,000 107,000 167,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,213,000 268,000 361,000 248,000 158,000 178,000
3 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,138,000 280,000 346,000 263,000 92,000 158,000
4 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,094,000 271,000 324,000 244,000 103,000 153,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,092,000 331,000 298,000 255,000 105,000 102,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,088,000 325,000 327,000 240,000 82,000 114,000
7 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,087,000 245,000 324,000 232,000 139,000 146,000
8 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,075,000 284,000 323,000 214,000 121,000 133,000
9 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,036,000 332,000 274,000 173,000 114,000 143,000
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 968,000 256,000 289,000 224,000 69,000 129,000
11 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA Ten 955,000 283,000 317,000 170,000 78,000 108,000
28 NEIGHBOURS Ten 495,000 128,000 129,000 113,000 61,000 64,000
31 POH'S KITCHEN ABC1 469,000 138,000 162,000 75,000 46,000 48,000
34 SUNRISE Seven 368,000 94,000 86,000 101,000 41,000 47,000
35 TODAY Nine 337,000 90,000 111,000 77,000 26,000 33,000
50 LOST 7TWO 180,000 68,000 50,000 27,000 20,000 14,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TOP GEAR -EP1 Nine 1,680,000 436,000 522,000 330,000 179,000 213,000
2 NCIS Ten 1,366,000 423,000 371,000 287,000 130,000 155,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,309,000 303,000 376,000 281,000 143,000 207,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,283,000 334,000 425,000 298,000 128,000 98,000
5 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,261,000 301,000 366,000 252,000 144,000 199,000
6 TOP GEAR -SPECIAL Nine 1,240,000 330,000 353,000 209,000 150,000 199,000
7 MY KITCHEN RULES-TUE Seven 1,214,000 336,000 373,000 240,000 121,000 144,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,154,000 291,000 419,000 251,000 86,000 107,000
13 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 3 Nine 905,000 251,000 273,000 143,000 111,000 127,000
14 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 888,000 270,000 253,000 171,000 92,000 102,000
16 KEVIN MCCLOUD'S GRAND TOUR ABC1 746,000 232,000 230,000 99,000 88,000 96,000
17 NCIS: LOS ANGELES RPT Ten 730,000 171,000 244,000 142,000 80,000 93,000
20 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 653,000 155,000 169,000 195,000 56,000 79,000
23 QI ABC1 566,000 187,000 160,000 61,000 80,000 78,000
31 TODAY Nine 370,000 123,000 97,000 87,000 24,000 38,000
33 SUNRISE Seven 344,000 90,000 79,000 103,000 33,000 38,000
57 BIG LOVE SBS ONE 139,000 37,000 45,000 28,000 9,000 21,000
70 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 115,000 24,000 46,000 21,000 15,000 10,000
75 24 7TWO 108,000 36,000 40,000 7,000 9,000 15,000
118 THE SOPRANOS 7TWO 65,000 12,000 27,000 5,000 8,000 13,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 MY KITCHEN RULES-MON Seven 1,471,000 353,000 463,000 292,000 201,000 162,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,383,000 309,000 394,000 293,000 173,000 213,000
3 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,326,000 338,000 398,000 304,000 110,000 176,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,274,000 291,000 379,000 236,000 177,000 191,000
5 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,228,000 354,000 362,000 241,000 116,000 155,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,217,000 354,000 390,000 252,000 97,000 124,000
7 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,086,000 278,000 361,000 216,000 100,000 131,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,080,000 302,000 312,000 201,000 149,000 117,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,080,000 263,000 344,000 229,000 93,000 151,000
10 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,072,000 298,000 340,000 232,000 80,000 122,000
16 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 2 Nine 848,000 261,000 237,000 143,000 121,000 87,000
19 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - ELIMINATION Ten 678,000 169,000 208,000 140,000 53,000 108,000
20 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 676,000 175,000 206,000 135,000 72,000 88,000
27 ROSS NOBLE'S AUSTRALIAN TRIP Ten 488,000 103,000 166,000 94,000 62,000 63,000
28 MAN VS WILD SBS ONE 485,000 136,000 144,000 77,000 54,000 73,000
29 Q & A ABC1 456,000 189,000 113,000 83,000 42,000 29,000
34 TODAY Nine 390,000 109,000 118,000 96,000 26,000 41,000
38 SUNRISE Seven 332,000 77,000 69,000 101,000 43,000 42,000
46 JUDGE JOHN DEED 7TWO 222,000 48,000 63,000 41,000 32,000 38,000
48 30 ROCK Seven 212,000 77,000 81,000 22,000 14,000 19,000
86 THE BENNY HILL SHOW 7TWO 104,000 22,000 38,000 17,000 11,000 16,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
No program can unite Australians any more. A casual look at the chart below might suggest declining interest in the usual Sunday favourites. In fact, the advent of the Olympics and the hangover of cricket has split the audience into even smaller segments than usual.

With men 16-39, the most watched shows of the night were House and The Good Wife. With women 16-39, the most watched shows were The Good Wife and Talkin Bout Your Generation. With men aged 25-54, the most watched shows were Nine news and the cricket. With women 25-54, they were The Good Wife and Bones. With people over 55, they were Seven news and Border Security.

Monty Python did best with the wealthiest viewers (what OzTAM calls Occupational Groups 1 and 2). Dr Who did best with men aged 16-39. The Olympics did best with men 18-49. Bones and Air Ways did best with women 18-49. What did you watch?

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,418,000 430,000 495,000 219,000 147,000 127,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,392,000 346,000 368,000 302,000 167,000 209,000
3 AIR WAYS Seven 1,351,000 358,000 404,000 257,000 159,000 173,000
4 BORDER SECURITY Seven 1,330,000 362,000 419,000 238,000 139,000 172,000
5 BONES Seven 1,269,000 360,000 365,000 223,000 158,000 163,000
6 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 1,207,000 355,000 346,000 216,000 113,000 177,000
7 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 4 SESSION 2 Nine 1,087,000 308,000 346,000 220,000 120,000 93,000
8 SUNDAY NIGHT Seven 1,083,000 285,000 318,000 228,000 122,000 131,000
9 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 4 SESSION 1 Nine 1,076,000 322,000 308,000 211,000 122,000 114,000
10 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,066,000 295,000 311,000 215,000 100,000 144,000
11 CASTLE Seven 978,000 271,000 318,000 129,000 129,000 132,000
12 HOUSE Ten 946,000 298,000 271,000 162,000 88,000 127,000
13 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 1 Nine 910,000 221,000 326,000 158,000 111,000 94,000
16 MONTY PYTHON: ALMOST THE TRUTH THE LAWYER'S CUT ABC1 802,000 296,000 222,000 128,000 65,000 91,000
17 DOCTOR WHO: THE END OF TIME ABC1 799,000 290,000 181,000 127,000 63,000 139,000
18 VANCOUVER LIVE 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: DAY 1 Nine 636,000 202,000 184,000 133,000 43,000 74,000
36 WIPEOUT GO! 204,000 52,000 69,000 35,000 29,000 19,000
(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 07:31 PM
Comments (63)

The Tribal Mind: Why Frankie is the future of reading

For the reason why Kevin Rudd will lose this year's election, through no fault of his own, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
Don't believe them when they say that print is dead. Tell 'em they're dreamin' if they reckon there's no future in newspapers and magazines. Direct those print-skeptics to the latest report of the Audit Bureau of Circulations, which details what Australians are currently reading, and which is full of clues for any perceptive publisher.

Here's one idea I'll give you for free: Start a magazine called Gourmet Diabetic Gardener, put the singer Taylor Swift on the cover to pull the teen female demographic, and you can watch the money roll in.

The Audit Bureau's report suggests that over the past 12 months, sales of daily and weekly newspapers have dropped by 2.3 per cent, while sales of weekly and monthly magazines have dropped by 0.4 per cent - disappointing news, but hardly a reason for publisher mass suicide. Print readership is declining here at a much slower rate than in Britain and America, and it is still the case that 2.2 million Australians buy a paper every day; 8 million Australians buy at least one paper or magazine every week; and 6 million Australians buy a mag every month.

Now here are the clues you'll need to determine what niche your new publication should fill ...

The big losers:
1 Alpha 73,000 a month (down 30 per cent in 12 months);
2 Weight Watchers 67,000 a month (down 17);
3 AFR Smart Investor 60,000 a month (down 12);
4 Take 5 231,000 a week (down 11);
5 NW 128,000 a week (down 10).

Conclusion: Don't bother with male sports, dieting, financial advice, tame tales about daggy people, or celebrity gossip. And stay right away from girls in bikinis - the category that did worst in this audit was "Men's interest", with such mags as FHM, The Picture, Ralph and Zoo Weekly all dropping by around 5 per cent.

The big winners:
1 Frankie 38,000 every two months (up 32 per cent);
2 Dolly 140,000 a month (up 18 per cent);
3 Recipes+ 134,000 a month (up 17);
4 Diabetic Living 54,000 a month (up 16);
5 Harpers Bazaar 55,000 a month (up 16).
In addition, Better Homes and Gardens rose 3 per cent and Australian House and Garden rose 7 per cent.

When I saw the growth figure for Frankie, I searched for it in my local newsagent, but it had sold out. Its website says it's "a national bi-monthly based in Australia, aimed at women (and men) looking for a magazine that's as smart, funny, sarcastic, friendly, cute, rude, arty, curious and caring as they are." The latest issue contains stories on plastic cameras, home cooking, denim, dead celebrities, geeky glasses, non-crappy rom-coms, babies, nannas, Christmas Island and being single.

Clearly they've found the formula for success, which they'll only need to tweak a little next month with material on diabetes, gardening, home renovating and 14 year old heartthrobs.

At its current rate of growth, Frankie will outsell Women's Weekly by the year 2020. Although by then, if the print-skeptics are right, Frankie will be the only publication still on newsstands.

What Australia reads (the most purchased periodicals):
1 The Sunday Telegraph, Sydney, 632,000 a week (down 3 per cent in 12 months);
2 The Sunday Herald-Sun, Melbourne, 601,000 a week (down 1 per cent);
3 The Sunday Mail, Brisbane 525,000 a week (down 5);
4 The Herald-Sun Mon-Fri 514,000 (same);
5 The Herald-Sun Saturday 503,000 a week (same);
6 Women's Weekly 502,000 a month (up 2);
7 The Sun-Herald, Sydney 442,000 a week (down 7);
8 Woman's Day 410,000 a week (up 1);
9 Better Homes and Gardens 392,000 a month (up 3);
10 The Daily Telegraph, Sydney, Mon-Fri 359,000 (down 3);
11 The Sydney Morning Herald, Sat 354,000 a week (down 2);
12 New Idea 330,000 a week (same).

Go to Comments to discuss your reading habits.

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 08:15 AM
Comments (4)

Monday, February 15, 2010

The Tribal Mind: The secret life of viewers

by David Dale
IMAGINE you were the sort of person who likes to glance at television ratings charts and compare your taste with that of the vulgar masses. Undoubtedly there would be at least one program in any chart that causes you to despair at the ignorance and stupidity of your fellow viewers - a show you know to be brilliant, but which attracts so little interest from others that it's at risk of being buried at insomnia-time or held until silly season by the malicious bastards who run programming for the networks.

I call these shows AITOOWGTs (which stands for "Am I The Only One Who Gets This?"). My principal AITOOWGT of the moment is 30 Rock, the cleverest comedy of the decade, which draws only 200,000 viewers a week in the mainland capitals, because Channel Seven insists on showing it at 11.30pm on Monday nights.

Good news for both of us. There's been a technological breakthrough that has the potential to restore your faith in the people around you and slow the trigger fingers of the programmers. OzTAM, the ratings measurement agency, has found a way to count how many people use such gadgets as Tivo, Foxtel IQ, or even ancient VCRs to record programs for viewing later in the week.

OzTAM estimates that 27 per cent of Australian households (containing almost 6 million people) engage in a formerly illegal practice called timeshifting (which is not just the name for what keeps happening to the characters in Lost, my second AITOOWGT). OzTAM has tinkered with the people meters attached to sets in 3,000 homes so that the meter now notifies OzTAM's computer whenever a program is recorded and later watched. The computer waits seven days and issues an updated ratings chart which turns out to demonstrate that many shows have a hidden life. Here's a sampling from the preliminary results.

The most timeshifted programs this month:
1 The short film Harvie Krumpet, on SBS, increased its audience by 74 per cent when recorded viewings were included;
2 Appleseed (SBS) up 39 per cent;
3 The Fixer (SBS) up 29 per cent;
4 Fringe (GO) up 23;
5 Entourage (SBS) up 19;
6 Big Love (SBS) up 17;
7 Family Guy (7) up 17;
8 House (TEN) up 14;
9 Judge John Deed (7TWO) up 12;
10 30 Rock (7) up 7.

At first sight, SBS looks to be the major beneficiary of this new insight into viewing behaviour. Apparently many Australians store up its "cult" material for times when mainstream programming is just too tedious. But if you go by numbers instead of percentages, Channel Ten has most reason to celebrate. Some 144,000 people who were watching the Men's Final of the Australian Open tennis on Channel Seven simultaneously recorded the premiere of the new season of House and watched it later in the week, taking its mainland capitals audience from an apparent 1.04 million to an actual 1.18 million and securing its place in Ten's Sunday night lineup for future weeks.

Who is doing all this recording? OzTAM reveals that the biggest timeshifters are men aged 18-49. With that demographic, the audience for Harvie Krumpet rose 99 per cent when recordings were included, while Entourage soared by 33 per cent. The shifty boys also love The Colbert Report on ABC2 (up 90 per cent) and Nip/Tuck on GO (up 43 per cent).

Oh, I almost forgot to celebrate the appearance of 30 Rock in the shifty list. It was recorded by 16,000 geniuses, which brought its total to 235,000. That may not be enough to convince Seven it has a hit on its hands.

Go to Comments to discuss your AITOOWGTs and how you timeshift.

The most timeshifted shows, week ending February 6
Description Station Overnight audience Total audience Numerical increase % increase
1 HOUSE Network TEN 1,040,000 1,185,000 144,000 13.90%
2 HOUSE EP 2 Network TEN 1,043,000 1,177,000 135,000 12.90%
3 SILENT WITNESS Network ABC1 628,000 738,000 110,000 17.50%
4 GREY'S ANATOMY Network 7 1,213,000 1,300,000 88,000 7.20%
5 CRIMINAL MINDS Network 7 1,048,000 1,136,000 87,000 8.30%
6 GREY'S ANATOMY-EP.2 Network 7 1,213,000 1,297,000 84,000 6.90%
7 BROTHERS & SISTERS Network 7 872,000 944,000 72,000 8.20%
8 THE MENTALIST Network 9 1,249,000 1,318,000 69,000 5.60%
9 TAGGART Network ABC1 630,000 699,000 69,000 11.00%
10 FAMILY GUY Network 7 383,000 448,000 65,000 16.90%
11 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Network 7 1,027,000 1,091,000 64,000 6.20%
12 MEDIUM Network TEN 608,000 671,000 64,000 10.50%
13 M-A TOUCH OF FROST: MIND GAMES Network 7 879,000 939,000 60,000 6.80%
14 CSI: MIAMI -RPT Network 9 503,000 563,000 60,000 11.90%
15 ROSS NOBLE'S AUSTRALIAN TRIP Network TEN 633,000 690,000 57,000 9.00%
(OzTAM mainland capitals. Who We Are will publish the 15 most timeshifted shows each week from now on, as part of our daily updates on ratings)

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 03:01 PM
Comments (17)

Sunday, February 14, 2010

The Who We Are update: Week 7

The ratings race, updated 10am Monday
This was Pay TV's Mills-and-Boon-influenced account of itself for the week: "On the most romantic day of the year, subscription TV celebrated the devotion shown by subscribers when STV channels accounted for 23.2% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 21.0% of all regional viewing and 56.6% of all viewing in subscription TV homes during week 7, 2010.

"Viewers showed their affection for STV sport when 109,000 people watched Port Power thrash the Adelaide Crows in the opening round of the NAB Cup on Live: AFL: NAB Cup Adelaide v Port Adel and 109,000 people watched the NSW Waratahs come from behind to defeat the Queensland Reds in the final play of the game in Live: Rugby Union: S14 Reds v Waratahs (both on FOX Sports). Live: Cricket: Ford Ranger Cup on FOX Sports was watched by 69,000 people, Sky Raceday on Sky Racing by 56,000 people and Live: Football: A-League Perth v Bris on FOX Sports was seen by 51,000.

"Viewers also showed their fondness for STV's entertainment programs when 126,000 people watched American Idol Hollywood Show on FOX8. In addition, 126,000 people saw Midsomer Murders on UKTV and 112,000 subscribers viewed America's Next Top Model on FOX8. Come Dine With Me Australia on Lifestyle Channel was watched this week by 85,000, Taggart on 13th Street by 71,000 and How I Met Your Mother on Arena by 67,000 people.

What people aged 18 to 49 watched, week ending 13/2/2010
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 COUGAR TOWN Seven 817,000 260,000 221,000 168,000 83,000 85,000
2 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 757,000 222,000 201,000 177,000 59,000 98,000
3 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 742,000 213,000 217,000 183,000 49,000 80,000
4 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 707,000 217,000 192,000 154,000 69,000 75,000
5 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 685,000 188,000 226,000 143,000 44,000 84,000
6 NCIS Ten 643,000 188,000 167,000 133,000 58,000 97,000
7 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 627,000 168,000 209,000 137,000 31,000 82,000
8 HOUSE Ten 609,000 206,000 154,000 141,000 60,000 49,000
9 MY KITCHEN RULES-TUE Seven 604,000 178,000 145,000 134,000 64,000 84,000
10 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 590,000 160,000 180,000 115,000 52,000 83,000
11 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 580,000 167,000 136,000 144,000 64,000 68,000
12 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - SHOWCASE Ten 576,000 175,000 161,000 133,000 47,000 61,000

13 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 575,000 187,000 163,000 115,000 60,000 50,000
14 GREY'S ANATOMY-EP.2 Seven 572,000 166,000 137,000 128,000 68,000 72,000
15 AIR WAYS Seven 563,000 173,000 140,000 126,000 56,000 68,000
16 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 546,000 123,000 170,000 113,000 63,000 77,000
17 BONES Seven 541,000 141,000 154,000 119,000 68,000 59,000
18 CUSTOMS Nine 536,000 177,000 159,000 92,000 41,000 67,000
19 MY KITCHEN RULES-MON Seven 526,000 181,000 125,000 97,000 55,000 68,000
20 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 520,000 143,000 159,000 96,000 50,000 72,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 1,064,000 314,000 374,000 216,000 68,000 92,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,036,000 309,000 245,000 209,000 119,000 154,000
3 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 994,000 324,000 328,000 118,000 91,000 133,000
4 VANCOUVER LIVE 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: OPENING CEREMONY Nine 856,000 248,000 283,000 164,000 72,000 89,000
5 VANCOUVER GOLD 2010 WINTER OLYMPICS: OPENING CEREMONY (R) Nine 806,000 249,000 208,000 170,000 69,000 109,000
6 INDIGENOUS ALL STARS V NRL ALL STARS Nine 792,000 433,000 359,000
7 AUSTRALIA'S FUNNIEST HOME VIDEOS Nine 746,000 284,000 226,000 76,000 67,000 93,000
8 THE BILL ABC1 697,000 238,000 195,000 95,000 88,000 81,000
9 M-MADAGASCAR Seven 685,000 201,000 197,000 88,000 103,000 96,000
10 BED OF ROSES ABC1 675,000 197,000 201,000 118,000 62,000 98,000
15 I DREAMED A DREAM - THE SUSAN BOYLE STORY -RPT Nine 519,000 217,000 218,000 51,000 33,000
18 STAR WARS: EPISODE V - THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK Ten 402,000 158,000 117,000 66,000 61,000
20 STAR WARS: EPISODE VI - RETURN OF THE JEDI RPT Ten 310,000 210,000 100,000
22 2010 brandname CUP - HAWTHORN V RICHMOND Ten 303,000 21,000 207,000 9,000 21,000 45,000

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,169,000 285,000 322,000 230,000 172,000 160,000
2 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,161,000 320,000 356,000 213,000 127,000 146,000
3 NINE NEWS Nine 1,116,000 330,000 389,000 185,000 99,000 113,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,050,000 225,000 321,000 199,000 175,000 131,000
5 SILENT WITNESS ABC1 897,000 201,000 292,000 179,000 119,000 107,000
9 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 3 SESSION 2 Nine 679,000 201,000 204,000 149,000 49,000 76,000
10 SLEUTH 101 ABC1 644,000 173,000 221,000 115,000 69,000 66,000
27 HITLER'S BODYGUARD SBS ONE 303,000 68,000 124,000 51,000 35,000 24,000
35 BLACKADDER THE THIRD GO! 217,000 70,000 50,000 39,000 35,000 23,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Friday
As you see in the chart, Channel Seven has a hit with the new Courtney Cox sitcom. What's fascinating is that men are watching as enthusiastically as women. Cougartown was top show of the night with men 16-39, women 16-39, men 25-54, women 25-54, and high income earners.

The only demographics which did not embrace it were Grocery Buyers (with whom it was number 3 after Seven news and Today Tonight) and people aged over 55, where it was the number 18 most watched show of the night (ie a huge flop). Perhaps if Cox played a 60 year old woman going after 45 year old men, it might have a shot with the senior demographic.

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 COUGAR TOWN Seven 1,347,000 374,000 412,000 246,000 153,000 162,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,309,000 319,000 406,000 266,000 166,000 153,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,235,000 279,000 403,000 249,000 157,000 146,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,074,000 283,000 396,000 198,000 95,000 102,000
5 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,053,000 266,000 402,000 200,000 77,000 109,000
6 HOW I MET YOUR MOTHER Seven 1,039,000 284,000 306,000 210,000 116,000 123,000
7 LAW AND ORDER: SVU Ten 1,011,000 289,000 347,000 155,000 98,000 122,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 993,000 258,000 355,000 186,000 69,000 126,000
9 HOME AND AWAY Seven 957,000 260,000 287,000 201,000 117,000 93,000
10 ABC NEWS ABC1 889,000 229,000 311,000 137,000 75,000 137,000
11 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 882,000 246,000 264,000 179,000 71,000 122,000
14 THE WHITE ROOM Seven 812,000 203,000 267,000 147,000 112,000 83,000
15 MEDIUM Ten 753,000 180,000 251,000 134,000 75,000 113,000
19 ADULTS ONLY 20 TO 1 Nine 693,000 184,000 203,000 108,000 77,000 121,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 621,000 161,000 186,000 119,000 77,000 78,000
29 FAMILY GUY Seven 393,000 84,000 165,000 60,000 44,000 40,000
36 GOURMET FARMER SBS ONE 300,000 101,000 94,000 49,000 18,000 39,000
41 OZ AND JAMES'S BIG WINE ADVENTURE SBS ONE 262,000 82,000 85,000 42,000 21,000 32,000
42 THE BIG BANG THEORY GO! 255,000 64,000 85,000 45,000 22,000 40,000
76 SCRAPHEAP CHALLENGE ABC2 122,000 32,000 38,000 17,000 21,000 15,000
77 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 122,000 24,000 27,000 26,000 18,000 28,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,340,000 346,000 385,000 268,000 155,000 187,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,264,000 330,000 382,000 246,000 123,000 183,000
3 CUSTOMS Nine 1,165,000 357,000 353,000 205,000 105,000 144,000
4 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,129,000 281,000 316,000 280,000 121,000 131,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,121,000 323,000 357,000 219,000 112,000 110,000
6 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,069,000 312,000 326,000 183,000 107,000 141,000
7 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,059,000 321,000 285,000 209,000 120,000 125,000
8 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,033,000 310,000 309,000 195,000 64,000 155,000
9 ABC NEWS ABC1 1,024,000 237,000 358,000 176,000 111,000 142,000
10 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,006,000 245,000 298,000 210,000 107,000 146,000
11 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - SHOWCASE Ten 984,000 302,000 290,000 209,000 76,000 106,000
12 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 981,000 269,000 317,000 222,000 73,000 100,000
14 ICU Seven 934,000 225,000 255,000 238,000 97,000 119,000
16 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 817,000 216,000 227,000 199,000 73,000 102,000
18 GANGS OF OZ Seven 742,000 228,000 230,000 130,000 66,000 88,000
19 COLD CASE -EP1 Nine 726,000 193,000 216,000 130,000 105,000 82,000
21 HUNGRY BEAST ABC1 663,000 205,000 181,000 127,000 58,000 92,000
23 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 601,000 138,000 183,000 142,000 66,000 73,000
26 POH'S KITCHEN ABC1 539,000 155,000 196,000 78,000 54,000 56,000
47 LOST 7TWO 216,000 49,000 66,000 51,000 26,000 25,000
76 LOST-ENCORE Seven 126,000 45,000 43,000 21,000 10,000 6,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Network Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,524,000 371,000 466,000 301,000 191,000 195,000
2 NCIS Ten 1,416,000 407,000 406,000 244,000 133,000 226,000
3 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,347,000 327,000 400,000 271,000 180,000 170,000
4 MY KITCHEN RULES-TUE Seven 1,328,000 360,000 379,000 281,000 137,000 171,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,146,000 316,000 388,000 216,000 105,000 120,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,108,000 291,000 311,000 234,000 145,000 127,000
7 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 997,000 262,000 278,000 223,000 119,000 115,000
8 BONDI RESCUE Ten 987,000 312,000 214,000 230,000 89,000 143,000
9 KEVIN MCCLOUD'S GRAND TOUR ABC1 882,000 244,000 299,000 150,000 73,000 117,000
10 ABC NEWS ABC1 873,000 217,000 278,000 143,000 103,000 132,000
12 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 851,000 197,000 241,000 211,000 66,000 135,000
15 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 664,000 148,000 191,000 158,000 76,000 92,000
18 ONE DAY SERIES - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES Nine 625,000 182,000 217,000 106,000 58,000 64,000
42 TOP GEAR -SPECIAL Nine 165,000 Not shown Not shown Not shown 165,000 Not shown
19 QI ABC1 622,000 189,000 204,000 85,000 79,000 65,000
49 BIG LOVE SBS ONE 146,000 33,000 61,000 23,000 11,000 19,000
64 SEINFELD GO! 122,000 25,000 57,000 13,000 8,000 18,000
66 FRASIER GO! 120,000 28,000 56,000 17,000 7,000 12,000
73 GET SMART GO! 115,000 14,000 46,000 43,000 2,000 10,000
80 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 105,000 20,000 25,000 28,000 10,000 22,000
81 THE BENNY HILL SHOW 7TWO 105,000 12,000 41,000 17,000 8,000 26,000
92 24 7TWO 95,000 22,000 36,000 11,000 10,000 16,000

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,420,000 385,000 480,000 294,000 95,000 166,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,387,000 305,000 388,000 292,000 190,000 211,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,355,000 308,000 420,000 255,000 176,000 197,000
4 AUSTRALIAN STORY ABC1 1,250,000 349,000 452,000 215,000 115,000 118,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 1,193,000 326,000 410,000 237,000 113,000 107,000
6 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,150,000 353,000 351,000 223,000 94,000 129,000
7 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,143,000 335,000 342,000 258,000 65,000 142,000
8 MY KITCHEN RULES-MON Seven 1,107,000 320,000 327,000 193,000 129,000 138,000
9 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,082,000 323,000 363,000 217,000 74,000 105,000
10 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,072,000 289,000 336,000 192,000 127,000 127,000
13 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,001,000 256,000 322,000 180,000 112,000 130,000
17 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 838,000 197,000 254,000 161,000 107,000 119,000
20 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 723,000 193,000 167,000 195,000 77,000 91,000
31 Q & A ABC1 412,000 161,000 108,000 78,000 36,000 29,000
32 MYTHBUSTERS SBS ONE 370,000 97,000 89,000 83,000 52,000 49,000
46 JUDGE JOHN DEED 7TWO 216,000 23,000 78,000 53,000 20,000 41,000
59 30 ROCK Seven 163,000 62,000 57,000 16,000 14,000 14,000
109 2010 NFL SUPER BOWL LIVE Ten 90,000 37,000 31,000 10,000 6,000 7,000
121 2010 NFL SUPER BOWL LIVE ONE 75,000 20,000 25,000 16,000 9,000 6,000
170 2010 NFL SUPER BOWL REPLAY RPT ONE 48,000 12,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 5,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

The ratings race, updated 11am Monday
Technically, Channel Seven had the biggest audience share for the first night of the ratings year, but it was really Channel Ten's victory. Thanks to Shaun Micallef and Julianna Margulies, Ten drew most viewers aged 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54.

Below, we publish the charts for some of the key segments of the viewing audience - young, old, male, female. It looks as if The Good Wife might be a nation-uniter, while Shaun and Hugh Laurie are nation-splitters. Go to Comments to tell us what you made of TGW. Will you watch her again next week?

What viewers aged 16 to 39 watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 542,000 156,000 156,000 144,000 30,000 56,000
2 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 527,000 140,000 127,000 148,000 45,000 67,000
3 HOUSE Ten 451,000 164,000 95,000 117,000 40,000 35,000
4 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - THE WEIGH-IN Ten 383,000 114,000 105,000 85,000 25,000 55,000
5 AIR WAYS Seven 361,000 118,000 95,000 79,000 31,000 39,000
6 BONES Seven 359,000 108,000 98,000 71,000 43,000 40,000
7 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 353,000 125,000 89,000 72,000 42,000 25,000
8 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 2 Nine 288,000 88,000 84,000 60,000 35,000 21,000
9 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 278,000 69,000 56,000 101,000 16,000 38,000
10 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 1 Nine 269,000 88,000 71,000 48,000 35,000 28,000
11 TRISHNA & KRISHNA: THE QUEST FOR SEPARATE LIVES Seven 268,000 82,000 61,000 79,000 18,000 29,000
12 CASTLE Seven 239,000 71,000 82,000 24,000 35,000 28,000
13 AVATAR - CREATING THE WORLD OF PANDORA Ten 225,000 89,000 54,000 59,000 12,000 11,000

What Women 25-54 watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 471,000 115,000 146,000 96,000 48,000 66,000
2 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 413,000 118,000 136,000 81,000 37,000 41,000
3 BONES Seven 360,000 88,000 113,000 82,000 46,000 32,000
4 AIR WAYS Seven 356,000 104,000 98,000 80,000 31,000 43,000
5 HOUSE Ten 342,000 91,000 99,000 71,000 46,000 36,000
6 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 333,000 80,000 65,000 112,000 26,000 50,000
7 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - THE WEIGH-IN Ten 315,000 88,000 89,000 77,000 24,000 37,000
8 TRISHNA & KRISHNA: THE QUEST FOR SEPARATE LIVES Seven 287,000 67,000 82,000 75,000 28,000 35,000
9 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 267,000 93,000 82,000 44,000 29,000 20,000
10 CASTLE Seven 267,000 63,000 93,000 44,000 43,000 23,000
11 CASTLE EP.2 Seven 210,000 49,000 79,000 34,000 30,000 17,000
12 INSIDE THE FIRESTORM ABC1 173,000 39,000 65,000 37,000 12,000 20,000
13 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 2 Nine 169,000 52,000 53,000 29,000 16,000 19,000

What men aged 25-54 watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 357,000 114,000 99,000 76,000 37,000 32,000
2 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 319,000 100,000 81,000 72,000 24,000 41,000
3 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 316,000 84,000 92,000 88,000 16,000 35,000
4 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 2 Nine 302,000 97,000 93,000 59,000 30,000 23,000
5 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 1 Nine 282,000 95,000 74,000 54,000 32,000 27,000
6 HOUSE Ten 269,000 88,000 70,000 69,000 21,000 23,000
7 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 238,000 53,000 38,000 80,000 17,000 51,000
8 BONES Seven 236,000 63,000 60,000 59,000 28,000 26,000
9 AIR WAYS Seven 230,000 65,000 65,000 51,000 21,000 28,000
10 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - THE WEIGH-IN Ten 201,000 51,000 61,000 45,000 12,000 32,000
11 CASTLE Seven 164,000 43,000 52,000 24,000 27,000 17,000
12 ABC NEWS-SU ABC1 154,000 47,000 44,000 29,000 10,000 23,000
13 INSIDE THE FIRESTORM ABC1 153,000 40,000 60,000 20,000 9,000 24,000

What viewers over 55 watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 721,000 165,000 200,000 177,000 78,000 100,000
2 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 616,000 166,000 201,000 123,000 67,000 59,000
3 TRISHNA & KRISHNA: THE QUEST FOR SEPARATE LIVES Seven 576,000 150,000 167,000 123,000 64,000 71,000
4 AIR WAYS Seven 533,000 137,000 151,000 115,000 41,000 88,000
5 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC1 532,000 140,000 161,000 97,000 49,000 86,000
6 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 433,000 119,000 117,000 75,000 46,000 76,000
7 BONES Seven 423,000 114,000 126,000 72,000 47,000 64,000
8 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 2 Nine 421,000 119,000 126,000 79,000 47,000 50,000
9 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 1 Nine 409,000 113,000 127,000 70,000 54,000 45,000
10 CASTLE Seven 343,000 77,000 126,000 54,000 53,000 32,000
11 COLLECTORS ABC1 331,000 76,000 122,000 63,000 32,000 38,000
12 SNOW MONKEYS: WHO'S HOT AND WHO'S NOT ABC1 324,000 96,000 99,000 56,000 23,000 50,000
13 INSIDE THE FIRESTORM ABC1 263,000 81,000 75,000 40,000 26,000 42,000

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,449,000 349,000 330,000 417,000 141,000 212,000
2 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,409,000 426,000 442,000 275,000 146,000 120,000
3 THE GOOD WIFE Ten 1,407,000 395,000 395,000 283,000 134,000 200,000
4 AIR WAYS Seven 1,327,000 392,000 361,000 283,000 108,000 182,000
5 TALKIN' 'BOUT YOUR GENERATION Ten 1,323,000 372,000 420,000 277,000 102,000 152,000
6 BONES Seven 1,211,000 335,000 347,000 243,000 136,000 150,000
7 TRISHNA & KRISHNA: THE QUEST FOR SEPARATE LIVES Seven 1,169,000 318,000 322,000 269,000 121,000 139,000
8 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 2 Nine 1,020,000 317,000 297,000 192,000 110,000 103,000
9 HOUSE Ten 1,010,000 323,000 282,000 189,000 101,000 114,000
10 ONE DAY CRICKET - AUSTRALIA V WEST INDIES GAME 1 SESSION 1 Nine 954,000 307,000 270,000 163,000 112,000 102,000
11 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - THE WEIGH-IN Ten 926,000 263,000 253,000 208,000 60,000 142,000
12 ABC NEWS-SUN ABC1 911,000 237,000 289,000 171,000 80,000 134,000
13 CASTLE Seven 901,000 220,000 316,000 136,000 137,000 91,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

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

by David Dale in whoweare-index at 10:46 AM
Comments (70)

Monday, February 8, 2010

WHO WE ARE: There once was a limerick contest/ From which we have chosen the ten best ...

... We hope ute and chilli,
Weren't requirements too silly.
And thank you for joining the love fest.

A column about Australia by David Dale, published in The Sun-Herald, 7/2/2010
The task was to compose a limerick that included the words chilli and ute. The prize for the ten wittiest was a copy of The Little Book of Australia. The total number of entries was 206.

Some readers transcended the temptation to rhyme the key words with willy and root; many found ways to make political statements; and several took the opportunity to dispute answers in the patriotic quiz this column constructed two weeks ago. For example, a question on who invented the Paddle Pop provoked this response:

"Dear David, As the great nieces of Edwin Street we definitely knew the answer to this question. But to our horror our answer did not correspond to your answer. We were the original taste testers of the Paddle Pop which was invented by our father, Ronald Street, the nephew of Edwin (better known as Ted). Ted actually told our father it would be 'a nine day wonder'. Our father proved Ted wrong as the Paddle Pop has been around for over 50 years. We will buy the next version of your Little Book of Australia when the correction has been made! Jennifer, Fiona and Philippa Street."

I will send the Street sisters a copy of The Little Book, with the correction made by hand, and also give their father due recognition (along with their great-uncle) in the next edition. Their online comment inspired our first winner:

David Dale's quiz had some offended,
With a few answers that must be amended.
The three sisters Street
Gave some Paddle Pop heat.
Dave, your chilli-red ute's been rear-ended
(Suzanne)

In no particular order, these were the other recipients of The Little Book of Australia:

There once was a bowlful of chilli.
Aussies ate it and didn't feel silly.
They loved all the changes,
Different cultures and strangers,
And became friends in their Honda or ute.
(Amanda Taura)

Bruce and his mates in the ute
Gave chilli and tofu the boot.
They ran up the flags,
Barbied lamb and some snags,
Made burgers, of course, with beetroot!
(Kerrie Mead)

Kev once had a car-dealer ute,
That some people said was just loot.
Fair suck of the chilli!
The electorate is hilly.
How else was he meant to commute?
(Caz)

There once was a bloke with a ute
All the chicks thought it was beaut.
He liked to cook chilli
And show them his willy,
And sometimes it got him a root
(John & Sofia Wheeler)

There was a young man in a ute.
Was camped by a billabong, mute.
'Cause under the shade
Not some tea he had made
But spag bol, with chilli to boot!
(Pommie Git)

We Aussies are known for invention.
The ute's an example worth mention,
And the hoist made by Hilly,
Maybe spag bol with chilli.
But pavlova and thongs are exemption(s).
(Philip Kendall)

Oz bloke and shiela in ute.
Kids, dog and esky to boot.
Multicultural chilli.
Tea from the billi.
Our cuisine these days is a hoot!
(Graham Wood)

The ute, a type of a car,
Does not define who we are.
And equally silly
Is the notion that chilli
Projects our image afar.
(Greg Raffin)

There once was a farmer called Willi
Who planted genetically modified chilli.
When it started to shoot,
It devoured his ute.
I hope no one else is so silly!
(Ria Jansen)

You can read every entry, including the ones sent in by email, by going to limericks and more limericks.

To discuss why Avatar won't make $100 million, why Kristina Keneally will win the NSW election, and/ or why MasterChef won't get the same audience this year, go to The Tribal Mind.

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 05:50 AM
Comments (5)

Saturday, February 6, 2010

The Tribal Mind: Never bet on politics, television or the movies

For the winners of the Australia Day limerick contest, go to Who We Are.

by David Dale
THIS column is not a gambling man, but somehow in the last few weeks it has become entangled in three foolish wagers. In chronological order of likely embarrassment later this year, I seem to have placed bets that:

1) Avatar will never pass $100 million in Australian ticket sales and will thus leave The Sound of Music with the title of Australia's favourite movie;
2) Kristina Keneally will be Premier after the next State election;
3) No television series this year will top the mainland capitals audience of 2.4 million who watched the men's final of the tennis last Sunday.

This column is supposed to have some insight into the mass behaviour of Australians, so you'd think I'd know better than to take such risks. We can blame Cardinal George Pell, the Catholic Archbishop of Sydney, for bet number one. In January, he condemned Avatar as "old-fashioned pagan propaganda". To reassure him, I pointed out that although it had earned more money than any other film in history, Avatar would need to make $100 million to sell as many tickets as The Sound of Music, which some might describe as old-fashioned Catholic propaganda. And ticket sales of that kind would never happen. (To read that discussion, go to Baal worship.)

Mary Sum, an oracle who writes box office analysis for a website called urbancinefile.com.au, challenged us to put a bottle of great red wine on this prediction. As of last Thursday, Avatar's takings totalled $94 million. Please don't go again this weekend.

Bet number two is with a journalist from a rival news organisation, who sneered at my contention that voters will be influenced by a detail the pundits have so far ignored: Kristina Keneally is hot, and Barry O'Farrell is not. I offered to buy lunch if Keneally lost. While not denying Keneally's sex appeal, my opponent said he was so confident of her inability to transcend the rottenness of NSW Labor, he would put up his house.

Bet number three is with a fan of MasterChef, who was complaining about Channel Seven's new show My Kitchen Rules, rapidly nicknamed Dining With Bogans, because its contestants are so tedious. I suggested MKR would devalue the currency of foodie talent quests, and cut the audience that Ten can expect for this year's MasterChef. The fan said MasterChef's producers would be smart enough to choose interesting characters and to create a suspenseful story arc, letting it repeat the performance of attracting 3.7 million viewers to the finale.

If any episode of MasterChef or any other series draws more than 2.4 million viewers this year, I have to buy a dinner at Sydney's best restaurant. My confidence is boosted by the audience numbers in this chart:

The most watched shows of last week
1 Australian Open final (7) 2.4 million
2 Two and a Half Men (9) 1.5 million;
3 The Mentalist (9) 1.3m;
4 The Big Bang Theory (9) 1.2m;
5 Customs (9) 1.2m;
6 RSPCA Animal Rescue (7) 1.2m;
7 Grey's Anatomy (7) 1.2m;
8 My Kitchen Rules (7) 1.2m;
9 The Biggest Loser launch (10) 1.2m;
10 So You Think You Can Dance Australia launch (10) 1.2m.
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

Programs that once averaged 1.8 million viewers and passed 2.2 million for special events are stuck on 1.2 million. This is not because Australians are watching less television. It's because there is now too much choice, provided by Foxtel and by the big networks' digital spinoffs. Very few shows have the capacity to unite the nation any more. Tennis still does it. MasterChef did it last year.

I'm anticipating that after the State election next year, I'll be setting off from my brand new house with my great bottle of red and heading for a fine meal at [product placement here]. But probably I'll have to pay for all three.

Go to Comments to discuss the merits of these bets.

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

by David Dale in The Tribal Mind at 04:36 PM
Comments (7)

The Who We Are Update: The last week of TV's sleepy summer

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.
For the winners of the Australia Day limerick contest, go to Who We Are.
To discuss why Avatar won't make $100 million, why Keneally will win the NSW election, and why MasterChef won't get the same audience this year, go to The Tribal Mind.

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
This was Pay TV's account of itself for the week: "The American Idol Auditions was the number one program on STV in week 6, with 157,000 viewers watching the program on FOX8 on Thursday night. Midsomer Murders on UKTV was seen by 111,000 people, America's Next Top Model on FOX8 was watched by 105,000 and Bryan's episode of Come Dine With Me Australia on Lifestyle Channel was viewed by 104,000 people. Law & Order: SVU on TV1 was seen by 90,000 people, Hannah Montana on Disney Channel was seen by 78,000 people and Two and a Half Men on Arena was watched by 76,000 people. Taggart on 13th Street was seen by 68,000 people, iCarly on Nickelodeon by 67,000 viewers and Judge Judy on Bio by 62,000 subscribers.

"In sport, Live: Cricket: Ford Ranger Cup on FOX Sports was seen by 79,000 people, Sky Racing's Sky Raceday was seen by 66,000 viewers and Live: Football: EPL Liverpool v Everton on FOX Sports was viewed by 65,000. Subscription TV was the number one choice for TV around Australia with STV channels accounting for 23.2% of all metropolitan viewing between 6am and midnight, 21.8% of all regional viewing and 57.1% of all viewing in subscription TV homes."

What Women aged 25-54 watched, week ending February 6
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TENNIS: 2010 AUST OPEN - MEN'S FINAL Seven 556,000 200,000 196,000 89,000 38,000 34,000
2 GREY'S ANATOMY-EP.2 Seven 520,000 141,000 141,000 118,000 56,000 64,000
3 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 458,000 127,000 121,000 106,000 50,000 54,000
4 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - TOP 100 Ten 427,000 133,000 124,000 74,000 47,000 50,000
5 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 405,000 115,000 126,000 78,000 38,000 48,000
6 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - LAUNCH Ten 404,000 108,000 123,000 86,000 38,000 50,000
7 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 1 Ten 402,000 95,000 114,000 89,000 49,000 55,000
8 HOUSE EP 2 Ten 388,000 92,000 99,000 93,000 56,000 48,000
9 BROTHERS & SISTERS Seven 387,000 119,000 117,000 69,000 40,000 43,000
10 HOUSE Ten 378,000 92,000 91,000 93,000 54,000 49,000
Continued here

11 MY KITCHEN RULES-TUE Seven 374,000 120,000 106,000 68,000 39,000 42,000
12 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 3 Ten 368,000 97,000 112,000 80,000 33,000 46,000
13 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 338,000 66,000 111,000 68,000 46,000 47,000
14 MY KITCHEN RULES-MON Seven 337,000 104,000 108,000 47,000 41,000 37,000
15 THE MENTALIST Nine 324,000 80,000 109,000 69,000 33,000 33,000
16 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 320,000 79,000 103,000 72,000 29,000 37,000
17 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 318,000 79,000 83,000 85,000 32,000 40,000
18 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 316,000 91,000 98,000 57,000 30,000 40,000
19 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 310,000 76,000 76,000 79,000 35,000 44,000
20 CUSTOMS Nine 303,000 91,000 87,000 57,000 24,000 45,000
21 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - ELIMINATION Ten 292,000 81,000 71,000 78,000 23,000 38,000
22 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 285,000 82,000 91,000 54,000 24,000 34,000
23 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 285,000 75,000 97,000 55,000 31,000 27,000
24 HOME AND AWAY Seven 283,000 89,000 84,000 48,000 33,000 28,000
25 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 281,000 77,000 77,000 67,000 23,000 37,000
26 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 275,000 76,000 98,000 50,000 35,000 17,000
27 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 2 Ten 275,000 77,000 79,000 55,000 28,000 35,000
28 SURVIVOR: SAMOA -FINALE Nine 264,000 76,000 75,000 53,000 28,000 33,000
29 ICU Seven 262,000 76,000 76,000 44,000 23,000 43,000
30 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 255,000 62,000 91,000 50,000 17,000 34,000
31 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 252,000 66,000 69,000 50,000 25,000 41,000
32 SURVIVOR: SAMOA -REUNION Nine 250,000 84,000 68,000 41,000 26,000 31,000
33 SEVEN NEWS Seven 249,000 68,000 64,000 54,000 28,000 35,000
34 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 248,000 79,000 73,000 47,000 19,000 30,000
35 MEDIUM Ten 246,000 80,000 68,000 45,000 34,000 20,000
(OzTAM mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Saturday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS - SAT Seven 1,157,000 347,000 276,000 242,000 113,000 178,000
2 ABC NEWS-SA ABC1 1,057,000 299,000 359,000 190,000 84,000 124,000
3 M-COOL RUNNINGS Seven 930,000 261,000 236,000 220,000 94,000 119,000
4 A TOUCH OF FROST Seven 879,000 252,000 269,000 158,000 97,000 102,000
5 NINE NEWS SATURDAY Nine 801,000 225,000 298,000 137,000 78,000 63,000
6 BILL ABC1 762,000 195,000 218,000 146,000 93,000 110,000
7 BED OF ROSES RPT ABC1 675,000 171,000 202,000 167,000 58,000 78,000
8 ABC NEWS UP-DATE ABC1 652,000 166,000 189,000 165,000 63,000 69,000
9 TAGGART ABC1 649,000 170,000 182,000 114,000 90,000 93,000
10 STAR WARS: EPISODE II - ATTACK OF THE CLONES RPT Ten 649,000 174,000 173,000 139,000 58,000 105,000
11 GARDENING AUSTRALIA ABC1 556,000 194,000 104,000 130,000 56,000 73,000
12 STAR WARS: EPISODE III - REVENGE OF THE SITH RPT Ten 556,000 159,000 168,000 103,000 50,000 75,000
25 IRON CHEF SBS ONE 276,000 73,000 80,000 54,000 31,000 38,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What Australia watched, Friday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWENTY/20 -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN Nine 1,273,000 362,000 385,000 245,000 151,000 129,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,103,000 293,000 301,000 231,000 125,000 153,000
3 BETTER HOMES AND GARDENS Seven 1,081,000 270,000 352,000 201,000 125,000 133,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,018,000 237,000 286,000 228,000 121,000 146,000
5 NINE NEWS Nine 970,000 277,000 323,000 189,000 92,000 90,000
6 HOME AND AWAY Seven 924,000 228,000 293,000 161,000 125,000 117,000
7 A TOUCH OF FROST Seven 826,000 231,000 269,000 124,000 98,000 105,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC1 741,000 193,000 232,000 158,000 61,000 97,000
9 TEN NEWS AT FIVE Ten 737,000 198,000 231,000 145,000 81,000 82,000
10 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 727,000 197,000 212,000 168,000 58,000 92,000
11 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 639,000 230,000 281,000 60,000 68,000
12 SILENT WITNESS ABC1 625,000 184,000 136,000 135,000 78,000 93,000
13 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 587,000 266,000 252,000 69,000
14 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 576,000 152,000 161,000 132,000 65,000 65,000
15 NCIS FRI RPT Ten 531,000 148,000 140,000 110,000 60,000 74,000

What Australia watched, Thursday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,269,000 368,000 362,000 223,000 156,000 160,000
2 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,225,000 329,000 375,000 230,000 138,000 152,000
3 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - TOP 100 Ten 1,154,000 339,000 329,000 224,000 123,000 139,000
4 NINE NEWS Nine 1,070,000 298,000 394,000 211,000 71,000 97,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,056,000 297,000 326,000 184,000 141,000 109,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,053,000 283,000 387,000 224,000 52,000 107,000
7 GETAWAY Nine 971,000 294,000 320,000 164,000 75,000 116,000
8 ABC NEWS ABC1 920,000 219,000 324,000 168,000 88,000 121,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 916,000 285,000 295,000 174,000 47,000 115,000
10 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 874,000 250,000 245,000 177,000 74,000 127,000
13 MIGHTY SHIPS Seven 844,000 199,000 258,000 163,000 104,000 120,000
19 SEVEN AGES OF ROCK ABC1 559,000 190,000 151,000 82,000 71,000 66,000
27 FAMILY GUY Seven 379,000 79,000 151,000 51,000 59,000 40,000
31 GOURMET FARMER SBS ONE 337,000 100,000 94,000 75,000 29,000 39,000
36 OZ AND JAMES'S BIG WINE ADVENTURE SBS ONE 283,000 88,000 83,000 55,000 29,000 28,000
54 MY KITCHEN RULES QLD: SNEAK PEEK Seven 164,000 40,000 55,000 40,000 19,000 11,000
55 STARGATE ATLANTIS 7TWO 157,000 37,000 36,000 46,000 21,000 17,000
62 EXTREME: CELEBRITY REHAB Seven 139,000 33,000 42,000 29,000 17,000 18,000
83 HEROES 7TWO 118,000 29,000 16,000 41,000 20,000 13,000

What Australia watched, Wednesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,271,000 273,000 424,000 238,000 147,000 187,000
2 CUSTOMS Nine 1,235,000 331,000 388,000 223,000 117,000 176,000
3 RSPCA ANIMAL RESCUE Seven 1,229,000 293,000 390,000 247,000 133,000 166,000
4 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,130,000 253,000 380,000 204,000 131,000 163,000
5 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,110,000 285,000 354,000 184,000 147,000 140,000
6 TWO AND A HALF MEN -WED Nine 1,098,000 272,000 387,000 204,000 90,000 144,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,085,000 311,000 348,000 221,000 94,000 110,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,045,000 303,000 360,000 188,000 80,000 114,000
9 CRIMINAL MINDS Seven 1,045,000 265,000 286,000 208,000 116,000 170,000
10 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,043,000 283,000 356,000 178,000 88,000 139,000
11 SPICKS AND SPECKS ABC1 1,035,000 346,000 264,000 189,000 95,000 140,000
12 ICU Seven 1,016,000 257,000 304,000 188,000 115,000 153,000
13 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 3 Ten 1,011,000 264,000 315,000 209,000 98,000 125,000
15 COLD CASE -EP1 Nine 843,000 223,000 275,000 146,000 93,000 106,000
16 GANGS OF OZ Seven 823,000 226,000 241,000 173,000 77,000 106,000
19 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 737,000 208,000 179,000 161,000 71,000 118,000
23 BURN NOTICE Ten 614,000 141,000 229,000 101,000 75,000 68,000
24 NEIGHBOURS Ten 600,000 147,000 199,000 119,000 71,000 64,000
25 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 581,000 134,000 177,000 153,000 54,000 63,000
29 MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE Ten 503,000 145,000 165,000 66,000 62,000 65,000
40 CHANDON PICTURES ABC1 269,000 74,000 69,000 57,000 26,000 43,000
44 INSPECTOR REX SBS ONE 223,000 66,000 71,000 42,000 20,000 24,000
46 REX IN ROME SBS ONE 202,000 54,000 55,000 34,000 22,000 38,000

What Australia watched, Tuesday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,287,000 302,000 396,000 273,000 149,000 168,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,271,000 296,000 369,000 265,000 159,000 182,000
3 GREY'S ANATOMY-EP.2 Seven 1,213,000 300,000 349,000 265,000 141,000 157,000
4 GREY'S ANATOMY Seven 1,200,000 313,000 321,000 270,000 143,000 153,000
5 MY KITCHEN RULES-TUE Seven 1,182,000 340,000 352,000 234,000 119,000 137,000
6 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,079,000 265,000 398,000 215,000 84,000 118,000
7 NINE NEWS Nine 1,072,000 266,000 383,000 209,000 104,000 109,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,056,000 259,000 317,000 213,000 141,000 127,000
9 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,026,000 247,000 330,000 220,000 86,000 142,000
10 ABC NEWS ABC1 976,000 284,000 279,000 181,000 97,000 135,000
11 SURVIVOR: SAMOA -FINALE Nine 906,000 249,000 290,000 176,000 88,000 102,000
12 KEVIN MCCLOUD'S GRAND TOUR ABC1 905,000 309,000 268,000 126,000 77,000 125,000
13 SURVIVOR: SAMOA -EP1 Nine 892,000 233,000 291,000 166,000 88,000 114,000
14 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 2 Ten 872,000 245,000 250,000 175,000 84,000 118,000
17 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 786,000 200,000 205,000 176,000 78,000 127,000
21 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 577,000 160,000 154,000 130,000 58,000 74,000
30 WHY ARE THIN PEOPLE NOT FAT? SBS ONE 401,000 120,000 120,000 72,000 34,000 54,000
53 BIG LOVE SBS ONE 167,000 53,000 59,000 30,000 10,000 15,000
57 PANIC ROOM GO! 162,000 29,000 66,000 29,000 23,000 15,000
62 UGLY BETTY 7TWO 155,000 28,000 68,000 27,000 15,000 18,000
72 24 7TWO 134,000 26,000 54,000 20,000 15,000 19,000

The ratings race, updated 10 am Tuesday
Channel Ten sent out the following media statement this morning: "Due to a system error in data submitted to OzTAM, Overnight ratings data available for Network Ten today contained a number of errors.
Corrected key data - including preliminary timeslots - for your use as follows:
The Biggest Loser (19:31 - 20:38)
Total people 806,000
Good News Week (20:38 - 22:14)
Total people - 827,000
Top program rankings: All people - 16, 18-49s - 4, 16-39s - 3, 25-54s - 7
Ross Noble's Australian Trip (22:14 - 23:12)
Total people - 632,000
Timeslot winner in total people and all key demographics."

What Ten seems to be saying is that Loser had fewer viewers than they thought, while Good News Week and Ross Noble had more. Anybody care to comment on Ross Noble's show?

What Australia watched, Monday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TWO AND A HALF MEN Nine 1,519,000 399,000 525,000 305,000 112,000 177,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,389,000 341,000 380,000 298,000 175,000 196,000
3 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 1,328,000 306,000 385,000 301,000 146,000 191,000
4 THE MENTALIST Nine 1,257,000 337,000 448,000 229,000 110,000 132,000
5 THE BIG BANG THEORY Nine 1,241,000 329,000 426,000 250,000 96,000 139,000
6 NINE NEWS Nine 1,205,000 319,000 403,000 236,000 109,000 138,000
7 TWO AND A HALF MEN -RPT Nine 1,158,000 334,000 388,000 222,000 73,000 141,000
8 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 1,116,000 356,000 371,000 183,000 86,000 120,000
9 MY KITCHEN RULES-MON Seven 1,103,000 307,000 361,000 179,000 125,000 130,000
10 HOME AND AWAY Seven 1,054,000 246,000 349,000 213,000 138,000 108,000
11 DESPERATE HOUSEWIVES Seven 1,026,000 273,000 321,000 194,000 102,000 136,000
14 BROTHERS & SISTERS Seven 872,000 244,000 267,000 155,000 87,000 117,000
16 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) Ten 817,000 230,000 226,000 185,000 77,000 99,000
20 THE 7PM PROJECT Ten 674,000 162,000 208,000 143,000 65,000 97,000
21 GOOD NEWS WEEK Ten 640,000 161,000 230,000 113,000 71,000 65,000
22 NEIGHBOURS Ten 598,000 160,000 169,000 140,000 65,000 64,000
23 MALCOLM IN THE MIDDLE Ten 547,000 146,000 192,000 86,000 56,000 67,000
27 MAN VS WILD SBS ONE 444,000 151,000 124,000 72,000 44,000 53,000
28 MYTHBUSTERS SBS ONE 437,000 121,000 111,000 86,000 45,000 74,000
42 30 ROCK Seven 219,000 64,000 76,000 35,000 22,000 23,000
293 THE JAY LENO SHOW 7TWO 7,000 1,000 2,000 0 1,000 3,000
311 ALL MY CHILDREN 7TWO 5,000 1,000 0 1,000 2,000 0

The ratings race, updated 10 am Monday
Technically, the ratings year doesn't start till next week, but the stations are keen to get their claws into viewers early, and are launching their biggest shows this week. Last night Seven set a record for the year that will be hard to beat -- 2.4 million in the mainland capitals -- but Ten managed to capture a million non-tennisians and insomniacs for the relaunch of House, which had sunk to 800,000 diehards last year.

Below we break down last night's viewing by age group, and the various charts show that House seems likely to do a Lazarus act this year. Will you stay with House after last night's performance? What else will hold your attention in the first half?

What Australia watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TENNIS: 2010 AUST OPEN - MEN'S FINAL Seven 2,352,000 747,000 844,000 408,000 176,000 176,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 1,602,000 332,000 496,000 357,000 186,000 231,000
3 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - LAUNCH Ten 1,169,000 328,000 363,000 230,000 99,000 149,000
4 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 1 Ten 1,166,000 339,000 334,000 236,000 125,000 132,000
5 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 1,077,000 240,000 309,000 250,000 172,000 105,000
6 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN GAME 5 SESSION 1 Nine 1,058,000 305,000 368,000 189,000 125,000 71,000
7 HOUSE EP 2 Ten 1,040,000 278,000 288,000 238,000 119,000 116,000
8 HOUSE Ten 1,038,000 282,000 290,000 228,000 116,000 121,000
9 ABC NEWS-SU ABC1 886,000 235,000 331,000 130,000 77,000 113,000
10 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN GAME 5 SESSION 2 Nine 863,000 242,000 237,000 178,000 116,000 90,000
(OzTAM preliminary estimates, mainland capitals)

What people aged 16-39 watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN'S TENNIS: 2010 AUST OPEN - MEN'S FINAL Seven 695,000 257,000 271,000 88,000 46,000 34,000
2 HOUSE EP 2 Ten 496,000 112,000 149,000 139,000 46,000 50,000
3 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 1 Ten 493,000 129,000 140,000 111,000 55,000 59,000
4 HOUSE Ten 487,000 113,000 141,000 136,000 47,000 51,000
5 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - LAUNCH Ten 464,000 129,000 141,000 96,000 48,000 50,000
6 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 275,000 68,000 72,000 63,000 49,000 23,000
7 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN GAME 5 SESSION 1 Nine 252,000 75,000 76,000 48,000 41,000 11,000
8 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 251,000 54,000 91,000 48,000 27,000 32,000
9 HOUSE - BEHIND THE SCENES Ten 246,000 78,000 59,000 66,000 19,000 24,000
10 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN GAME 5 SESSION 2 Nine 237,000 61,000 66,000 51,000 35,000 24,000

What people aged 25-54 watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 SEVEN'S TENNIS: 2010 AUST OPEN - MEN'S FINAL Seven 1,044,000 370,000 363,000 169,000 74,000 68,000
2 HOUSE EP 2 Ten 682,000 174,000 173,000 173,000 78,000 83,000
3 THE BIGGEST LOSER (AUS) - LAUNCH Ten 670,000 173,000 206,000 144,000 59,000 88,000
4 HOUSE Ten 664,000 170,000 170,000 168,000 76,000 80,000
5 SO YOU THINK YOU CAN DANCE AUSTRALIA - AUDITION 1 Ten 663,000 162,000 196,000 151,000 73,000 82,000
6 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 600,000 128,000 185,000 133,000 72,000 81,000
7 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 502,000 115,000 146,000 118,000 76,000 45,000
8 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN GAME 5 SESSION 1 Nine 440,000 135,000 152,000 75,000 55,000 22,000
9 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN GAME 5 SESSION 2 Nine 394,000 106,000 109,000 85,000 52,000 42,000
10 HOUSE - BEHIND THE SCENES Ten 329,000 99,000 77,000 75,000 37,000 40,000

What people aged over 55 watched, Sunday
Description Total Sydney Melbourne Brisbane Adelaide Perth
1 TENNIS: 2010 AUST OPEN - MEN'S FINAL Seven 974,000 266,000 357,000 185,000 77,000 89,000
2 SEVEN NEWS - SUN Seven 787,000 155,000 229,000 188,000 90,000 125,000
3 ABC NEWS-SU ABC1 581,000 169,000 215,000 70,000 50,000 76,000
4 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN GAME 5 SESSION 1 Nine 470,000 114,000 170,000 95,000 50,000 41,000
5 NINE NEWS SUNDAY Nine 418,000 71,000 126,000 107,000 68,000 48,000
6 ONE DAY CRICKET -AUSTRALIA V PAKISTAN GAME 5 SESSION 2 Nine 357,000 84,000 106,000 76,000 51,000 40,000
7 TENNIS: 2010 AUST OPEN - MEN'S FINAL PREVIEW Seven 347,000 101,000 191,000 55,000
8 M-ROMULUS, MY FATHER ABC1 341,000 90,000 106,000 55,000 37,000 53,000
9 WHALE SHARK ABC1 333,000 90,000 101,000 54,000 29,000 58,000
10 TEN NEWS AT FIVE SUN Ten 325,000 70,000 117,000 61,000 25,000 51,000

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 09:26 AM
Comments (58)

Monday, February 1, 2010

The Tribal Mind: Preserved for posterity, the unexpected classics

To compare 21st century Australia with 20th century Australia, go to Another country.

by David Dale
Do these revelations make you proud of the tastes of Australians, or a bit embarrassed? One in every nine homes in this country owns a copy of Mamma Mia!; Love Actually is in more homes than The Lion King; Zoolander is in more homes than Twilight (despite the resemblance of vampires to male models); The Notebook (about a love that outlasts Alzheimer's) is in more homes than Australia (about a love that outlasts invasion); Dirty Dancing is in more homes than Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith; Underbelly Series 1 is in more homes than Summer Heights High, but only just.

Those insights emerge from an analysis of DVD buying habits conducted for this column by the research organisation GfK Australia. I had wondered which films and TV series over the years had evoked a desire for long term commitment instead of a one-night stand -- as in, the DVDs we bought, rather than rented.

Since Australians spend $1.5 billion a year on a form of entertainment that did not exist 15 years ago, I was curious about the libraries we've been building around our giant TV screens. GfK Australia found the 50 discs which sold the most copies since the technology landed in 1997 (when the first DVD to arrive upon our shore was Evita, starring Madonna).

The top selling DVDs of all time: 1 Finding Nemo (2004); 2 Mamma Mia! (2008); 3 Monsters Inc (2002); 4,5,6 The Lord of the Rings trilogy (2002-04); 7,8,9 Harry Potter and the ... Chamber of Secrets (2003), Goblet of Fire (2006), Prisoner of Azkaban (2004); 10 Pirates of the Caribbean (2004); 11 The Notebook (2005); 12 Shrek 2 (2004).

Except for The Notebook, those choices are films we loved at the multiplex and wanted to see again. But further down the 50 you find less familiar titles that suggest extraordinary discernment or mystifying obsessiveness. These were our unexpected icons ...

13. Dirty Dancing (2000). Somehow Australians made an emotional connection with a Jewish schoolgirl who falls in love with a WASP dance teacher in a summer camp near New York in 1963. Go figure.

17. The Matrix (1999). This film started the DVD revolution, when the geeks found a bonus feature in the form of a white rabbit that popped onto the screen during key sequences. Click your remote and you're transported to a mini-documentary on how it was made. Suddenly we knew why DVDs were better than videos.

26. Dances With Wolves (2001). Having embraced this tale of a soldier who goes native, Australians were fully prepared for Avatar.

32. Love Actually (2004): Some say silly sentimentality, some say sweet storytelling, but this film's appeal reaches beyond the DVD -- whenever it's repeated on TV, it pulls more than half a milion viewers. There must be more to it than Bill Nighy's channelling of Keith Richards.

34. 10 Things I Hate About You (2000) This is an updating of The Taming of the Shrew, in which visiting Aussie bad boy Patrick Verona (Heath Ledger) charms sulky schoolgirl Kat Stratford (Julia Stiles). Testament to the enduring genius of Shakespeare?

39. Grease (2002). This flick convinces your kids that a girl like Olivia Newton-John must take up smoking in order to attract a boy like John Travolta.

49. Zoolander (2002). This incisive expose of the fashion industry contributed many phrases to the language: "So hot right now"; "Blue Steel" and "Magnum" (looks used by models); "Eugoogoolizer" (one who speaks at funerals); "I feel like I'm taking crazy pills"; and "Have you ever wondered if there was more to life, other than being really, really, ridiculously good looking?"

Go to The DVDs Australia loved for the complete list and to Comments, below, to explain why these became classics.

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 03:28 PM
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