133 Comments to “Week 38”

1. Craig says:

   September 22, 2008 at 8:43 am

   I think one of the tings eroding viewer numbers for some shows is the fact people know or expect them to come out on DVD within a year, would Underbelly have got those numbers if viewer knew the day after the final the DVD would go on sale?

   David since other ask I thought I would too. V8Supercars, how are they doing in the ratings?
2. David Knox says:

   September 21, 2008 at 2:31 pm

   Guys please keep comments brief. I don’t want to impose a word limit…
3. Spunkymonkeycaesar says:

   September 21, 2008 at 2:25 pm

   I know this response is well overdue but here goes anyway:

   RichoTB I agree with you, some factual series’ such as those you mentioned are worthwhile. However, there’s a limit is there not to how many factuals people can tolerate at the one time?! Don’t get me wrong Seanie, as I don’t have a problem with factuals as I do like a good factual series such as Getaway, however I don’t like being continually bombared with them by the networks, nor do I like factuals that harm people, a race or a country’s reputation, which Boarder Security sets out to do in my opinion, cashing in on cultural misunderstandings, whilst sensationalising the facts and in turn blowing them out of proportion! – Jerome I don’t deny for one second that factuals especially Boarder Security are successful, however this is why I think it is a terrible shame millions of Australians choose to watch Boarder Security over an intelligent David Attenborough series, of which causes now harm whatsoever to anyone or anything! I think though it is nice meanwhile to have programs such as Wipeout and Hole In The Wall which people can laugh at rather than continually view serious factuals.

   Seanie I never once said Fringe or The Mentalist could win Nine the year, and yes Jak and Jerome Nine pulling off this years ratings year is doable. Seanie you said: “They [Nine] have holes all over their schedule”, well if Nine fill the holes in their schedule with shows such as The Mentalist and RPA etc… then that is thus why Nine pulling off this years ratings year is doable. There is 10 more ratings weeks left of this year (Correct me if I’m wrong) and Seven has a 9 week lead (4 of them thanks to the Olympics), so if Nine start winning from now or about now then I can’t see why them pulling off this year isn’t doable. Jak you wrote when talking about Packed To The Rafters “most other series don’t sustain the apeal for as long as it has already” well as has already been discussed it’s still early days for Packed To The Rafters, only 4 episodes into their 22 episodes of the first season, but just to put it out there Underbelly’s entire 13 Episodes of the first series maintained its appeal for the entire duration of the series.

   - Spunkymonkeycaesar
4. Nick says:

   September 21, 2008 at 11:50 am

   Far out, the Thursday/Friday/Saturday programming hav been a real mess lately
5. George says:

   September 20, 2008 at 8:37 pm

   Hey David, what has Neighbours been rating this week? It only appeared on the list once this week!
6. David Knox says:

   September 20, 2008 at 7:59 pm

   Oh for the days when print copies matched what’s actually on air.
7. Craig says:

   September 20, 2008 at 7:21 pm

   Here in QLD my TV Week still has paycheck for Friday night, but I now notice it’s also listed for tonight. I guess they only decided on the ENCORE of Fringe after it was printed.

   Personally I doubt it will help much as I can’t remember seeing any advertising for it. Did they promote the encore much?
8. David Knox says:

   September 20, 2008 at 3:39 pm

   It’s Sunday in Melb 9:30 replacing Crime Inv Australia. Pushes final Footy Classified back to 11pm.
9. seanie says:

   September 20, 2008 at 3:04 pm

   The Fringe encore is on tonight in Mel/Ade/Per. Pretty poor numbers for the AFL. This same game last year got around 1.6mill (IIRC). Very strong figures in Melbourne though, but I think some of the other state teams would have had to make the finals to pull similar numbers to last year. lol at ACA beating TT by only 30k without TT being shown in Perth. Better Homes did well in only 3 states with strong competition too.
10. bindi says:

    September 20, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    craig, paycheck is on saturday night not friday night, they are still advertising it. that encore of fringe was planned ages ago, but there is another one tomorrow night david? what show is getting the boot for that? coz that is definitely not showing up on my EPG or on online guides like yahoo7 or the channel 9 one. that really will annoy people.
11. David Knox says:

    September 20, 2008 at 11:48 am

    Craig Nine might like to but it doesn’t work that way. There’s another repeat tomorrow night.
12. RichoTB says:

    September 20, 2008 at 11:44 am

    Wow that encore of Fringe flopped pretty badly, even by encore’s standards. Nine could have easily gotten twice that number by showing a random movie.
13. Craig says:

    September 20, 2008 at 11:38 am

    Well I knew nothing of it until I changed channels and was wondering what day it was LOL

    Now with Fringe repeat getting 337k is that new viewers or returning viewers? I guess we’ll never know.

    David will ch9 be looking at combining those numbers to give it 1.3mill for the week?
14. Benno says:

    September 20, 2008 at 10:06 am

    I wouldn’t say desperation, an encore (repeat if you will) is a smart idea – only one, but having inconsistencies in scheduling is not very smart at all.
15. Craig says:

    September 20, 2008 at 7:39 am

    David can you please let us know what the ENCORE screening of Fringe got in the ratings Friday night instead of Paycheck which they were still promoting Thursday night.

    Does this smell of desperation from ch9?
16. Rutzie says:

    September 20, 2008 at 3:52 am

    Does anyone know if Seven is going to fastrack My Name Is Earl because it returns in the U.S. on the 25/9.
17. Nick says:

    September 19, 2008 at 11:01 pm

    Yeh ur probably right kat, those few eps with joey and rachel seem weird, being an obsessed friends fan too. Tonights was a laugh and the ones coming up are great. I was thinking, channel ten should advertise each episode singularly, every night, not just random clips from various eps n say , ‘ur friends r on ten’. They could giv a brief promo on the story line, say guest stars r in it. theres an episode coming up with christina appelgate, they could do a little promo n say shes in it to get viewer interest, but i guess it would seem very stupid to do that with a series thats already had its run, but who cares, friends is a worthy show.
18. Kat says:

    September 19, 2008 at 5:18 pm

    wow; what a drop in the Friends ratings! Maybe it was because that episode, the whole Joey/Rachel thing, irks people out. Personally as an obsessed fan I found there little trist a lame plot line since they had to fill the season since their ‘relationship’ only lasts for I think three episodes and then they’re just friends automatically again.

    Great numbers for Fifth Greater. I wonder if it had anything to do with Hamish & Andy? They were definitely the best of the night That poor first woman was useless.
19. RichoTB says:

    September 19, 2008 at 5:00 pm

    Ahh that makes sense Rutzie. I thought it was an abnormal drop, considering figures for the 2nd ep are usually around 800,000
20. Alex says:

    September 19, 2008 at 4:59 pm

    Hey David…. Do you know what Blue Water High got?

    Thanks
21. Rutzie says:

    September 19, 2008 at 4:03 pm

    RichoTB the Ghost Whisperer episode that got 600,000 was a repeat so that’s probabaly why there was a big dropoff from the first episode.
22. RichoTB says:

    September 19, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    Wow The Strip sure bombed this week. It only got slightly more viewers than Rush. As for Ghost Whisperer doing 600,000, thats abominable, luckily in 2 weeks’ time its being replaced with some superior shows.

    And now Friends is only doing slightly better than Taken Out is in the 6pm slot. Hmmm
23. Benno says:

    September 19, 2008 at 3:18 pm

    David, you said that ABC doesn’t supply ratings results. I thought that OzTam did all the ratings work and data supply, and has little network involvement?
24. Craig says:

    September 19, 2008 at 2:47 pm

    Well I’m not buying the Canal Road DVDs as first I like the show but it’s not worth it for 2 eps when I have the other 11 recorded in 16×9 and 2nd the DVD for some insane reason is in 4×3 even though the show was made and broadcast in HD 1080!

    Back on the ratings topic – it’s interesting that Friends and Taken Out got similar ratings numbers but here was Neighbours?
25. Ant says:

    September 19, 2008 at 2:46 pm

    good figure for 5th grader
26. Benno says:

    September 19, 2008 at 2:23 pm

    Perhaps that is nine’s blatant attempt to get more sales for its canal road dvd by holding off eps, as Craig mentioned.
27. jak says:

    September 19, 2008 at 1:57 pm

    Brilliant idea Rutzie
28. Rutzie says:

    September 19, 2008 at 1:45 pm

    David do you know if DWTS is going to be on the Sunday the NRL Grand Final is on. Maybe Seven could move it to Thursday for that week to see how it rates and use the Grand Final as the reason for it moving there, and if it rates well leave it there for the rest of the series.
29. David Knox says:

    September 19, 2008 at 1:30 pm

    Jane ABC doesn’t supply ratings results, sometimes it’s an art to assemble to say the least. If they had made the Top 15 they would have been listed as Catalyst and 7:30 Report was today.
30. Craig says:

    September 19, 2008 at 1:26 pm

    Summer time pisses me off more than the rating period , look at shows like Psych, yes it didn’t rate well be it’s the NON ratings period and it was gone after a few eps and now banished to 10HD.

    ITA the for the year it looks like 7 has it, I’ve noticed some new network promos to the affect.

    So The Strip slipped from 3rd down to 11th loosing more than 200k viewers, is this another Canal Road? BTW is there any news if we’ll see the last to CR without having to buy the DVD?
31. JaneC says:

    September 19, 2008 at 1:15 pm

    If Hollowmen: 931,000 / VSM: 743,000, why don’t they come up on your ratings Top 20?
32. jak says:

    September 19, 2008 at 12:37 pm

    RichoTB and Spunkeymonkeyceaser – There is absolutely no way Channel 9 will win the next 9 weeks of ratings, that’s absurd. They will no doubt put up a good fight by programming lots of Two and a Half Men but none of their American imports are going to save them.

    The suggestion that they are not thinking about their programing by putting on the shows they are putting on is ridiculous. That is exactly what 9 are doing. Thats why the shows you have mentioned aren’t on, because they don’t or wont rate.

    Pushing Dasises has been held over because they know it is not going to get the numbers they need to justify their advertising rates. Even if it is a good show, they are not going to forgo the ratings that some of their other crap shows get like Wipeout and Hole in the Wall to put on something that while probably critically acclaimed is not a ratings draw card.

    Thats why the Sopranos and West Wing got banished to late night. They’re too niche, where as the current crop of factual series are about mass appeal.

    The Mentalist, Fringe, Chuck – not a single one of them is going to do bobkis for channel 9’s ratings this year (The Mentalist at best will do its best), because although they’re all probably good shows our market is so much smaller so while their niche audiences in the States might be massive a niche audience here is unjustifiable for premium timeslots.

    Of course Packed to the Rafters will go down eventually but probably not this year. It will be in its second series when we’ve had a summer away from it. That is natural for any series, its not because there is anything wrong with it. Most other series don’t sustain the appeal for as long as it has already.

    And the suggestion that taking McLeods Daughters off air was not the best idea is totally wrong. Yes it has a following but Channel 9 is a business. They know it has fans so they’ll screen it in summer when it wont be dragging down their bottom line. The number of people that don’t care about that show has outweighed the number that do so its been moved. Business decision, plain and simple.
33. James says:

    September 19, 2008 at 8:25 am

    Do you know what the ratings for south park & the mighty boosh
34. Craig says:

    September 19, 2008 at 6:56 am

    Did you find Chuck interesting Craig? Yes it’s a good show just a pity it’s not on here yet.

    Speaking of shows being held held over by the networks Pushing Daisies, did anyone else see Ellen where Kristin Chenoweth did a walk-on to promote the S1 DVD, ch 9 take note!
35. RichoTB says:

    September 18, 2008 at 7:58 pm

    Did you find Chuck interesting Craig?
36. Kat says:

    September 18, 2008 at 6:38 pm

    personally i loved Ramsay; one of my fave episodes it was a late one tho and I think most viewers would have switched off during/after Fringe.

    I had very high-hopes for fringe since it had JJ Abrams’ involvement but it was generally pretty ordinary. I wanted the main character Olivia a little less teary-eyed and more stoic like most of JJ’s lead female characters in his past shows. Josh Jackson was the best, IMO, very enjoyable to watch him. Since it was the first episode; im eager to tune in again to see if they make improvements.

    still one of the better things I’ve seen premiered this year
37. Craig says:

    September 18, 2008 at 6:30 pm

    Benno I hope fringe makes it here, it looks interesting and back to something like the X files and not one of the million cop or medical shows out there.

    I must ask again, why was our copy 10 minutes shorter than the final pilot that aired in the US?

    IMO the reason the sneak peeks got such high ratings is they were deliberately stuck between shows that rated, it was nothing more than a 2 minute promo with and Australian voice over and by the time people realized this it was over, leading strait into the next show. They gave away the same thing on DVD in TV Week but without the voice over. BTW the most interesting thing on that DVD was The Strip behind the scene sneak peek.

    I’m loving Kenny’s World! and love the fact it beat Fringe int he ratings, so David no news on when Fringe will go, maybe we should run a pool LOL
38. msd says:

    September 18, 2008 at 6:03 pm

    I accidentally saw this week’s episode (no.3) of Rush while flipping channels and liked it. Not sure why I missed the first two weeks, it just didn’t register. Then I caught up on the series by watching Ep 1 & 2 in full on the ch 10 website. (Smart move by 10) I hope they stick with it because I think it needs time to build; most people who watch it have good things to say and stick with it and/or tell others. It actually reminds me of Police Rescue – a good, solid Aussie drama with a quality cast. It’s much better than The Strip.
39. may says:

    September 18, 2008 at 5:53 pm

    David what happened to Hollowmen on Wednesday night????
    Its not listed there at all??? Normally they are around the 1M level?
40. Jerome says:

    September 18, 2008 at 5:52 pm

    spunkymonkeycaesar, (yes i realise that that comment was ages ago)

    how can you possibly say that it is ‘doable’ for ch9 to win every single week of the year from now on, especially as 7 has been winning the past few weeks by a whole 4%.

    At the moment ch9 have NO spectacular rating shows whereas 7 has PTTR, city homicide, find my family and all of the factuals (call them crap as you may but you cannot deny that they are successful) and their upcoming American shows cannot not save them (especially if fringe is anything to go by)

    neway. whoa i knew that fringe was overrated but i didn’t think that it would go that bad.

    and to everyone above that is trying to sugarcoat it – for a premiere those numbers are atrocious, i cannot see those numbers ever raising esp. against house and crim minds and that it is sci-fi-ish (sci-fi always seems to start high and only go downhill from there- and this one didn’t even start high)
41. Rutzie says:

    September 18, 2008 at 5:42 pm

    Bondi Rescue: Bali failed once again. Ten either have to pull it all together or switch Kenny’s World to 7.30pm and see if that improves both their ratings.
42. Benno says:

    September 18, 2008 at 5:21 pm

    I am definitely aware of the shared timeslot Craig. I thought it was interesting to note such a huge increase, around 50%, from the previous week. I gave nine the benefit of the doubt and gave it 5 weeks, but now i think probably 3 (unless heaps of people saw the leak online, and more will tune in next week).
43. RichoTB says:

    September 18, 2008 at 5:16 pm

    I’m not over serial dramas, I just don’t trust Seven to show them properly after they hold over episodes after 8 months past their US airdate, and put them in terrible timeslots like 10:30pm. You’re probably right about the rest of Australia though. Factual series, police procedurals and trashy current affairs shows seem to be all the rage right now.

    As for Fringe, I expected figures of at least 1.4 million after the “Sneak peeks” rated so highly and the abominably high amount of advertising Nine did in hopes it would pull huge figures. But 935,000? It’ll probably drop even more next week when House premieres, to something like 700,000- 800,000. As for the show itself, I thought the pilot sucked, although it might get better in future eps

    BTW I caught Very Small Business last night, its awesome. Its like an Aussie version of The Office, except a bit more crass.
44. Sephiroth_FF says:

    September 18, 2008 at 4:48 pm

    See channel 9? See what overexposure does to a show? Fringe didn’t even make the top ten! If that’s how it debuted this week, I can just imagine how it’ll do next week.
45. Nick says:

    September 18, 2008 at 4:43 pm

    interesting how Lost pulled over 2 million viewers when it premiered couple of years ago, and now Fringe from the same creator, couldnt get past the million. I guess Aussies are over these serial dramas, evident with Losts’ ratings earlier this year
46. Craig says:

    September 18, 2008 at 4:40 pm

    Those are still respectable numbers for Hollowmen and VSB

    Benno the problem with House and Fringe here is they are in the same time slot, as I said before I give Fringe 2 weeks before it’s moved or gone!
47. Stavros says:

    September 18, 2008 at 3:58 pm

    Dan(previous comment)
    I’m glad people are finally over Gordon Ramsay, couldn’t see what the fuss was about in the first place, maybe some people just get a kick out of hearing bad language but not me.

    Er Dan, People are NOT over Ramsay, ok? If you don’t like bad language, don’t watch it- it is that simple. I am sick of people winging about Ramsay and his mouth.
    No people don’t get a kick out of watching someone swear, people watch Gordon Ramsay because they enjoy his shows. SIMPLE!!!
48. Humus says:

    September 18, 2008 at 3:49 pm

    LIFE`s back sweeeet!!!
49. Ben says:

    September 18, 2008 at 3:42 pm

    Fringe was a disappointment – just doesn’t live up to the hype.

    I’m worried about Rush’s ratings – it’s a great show, with action adn storytelling that we haven’t seen for some time on our screens.

    I agree with Andy – it’s up against some very tough competition. I hope Ten don’t dick around with it’s time slot too much. I’d hate to see it get burried after the late news.
50. David Knox says:

    September 18, 2008 at 3:35 pm

    Hollowmen: 931,000 / VSM: 743,000
51. Benno says:

    September 18, 2008 at 3:33 pm

    *correction: house got 14.4 million viewers
52. Jenna Bunter says:

    September 18, 2008 at 3:32 pm

    David, can you tell me the Very Small Business and Hollowmen ratings for last night? Did they hold from last week?
53. andy says:

    September 18, 2008 at 3:09 pm

    yes rush is a fantastic new show. i think ten would be pretty happy with its 1m (or thereabouts) figures. i mean, when you take into account that it is in the 9.30 slot, and it is up against an already established aussie drama in all saints (which gets a massive lead in too). Also, most people tend to be really fussy with new dramas (ie. fringe), let alone australian dramas

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