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First Contact debate heats up SBS, doco draws record numbers for NITV.

SBS series will finish the year as its 5th biggest show for 2016 -while a Stolen Generations doco breaks records at NITV.

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First Contact wrapped its season last night after generating plenty of discussion over its immersion in Indigenous communities.

There was good press coverage and trending on social media, if driven by the divisive remarks by David Oldfield.

Last night he suggested the show had been selective in its editing and was clearly isolated in his opinions on the experience. In some media articles he claimed the show had gone to great lengths to paint him as the voice of dissent in the series.

SBS claims the series ‘reached 1,910,000 people’ across both SBS and NITV, as the fifth highest rating program on SBS for 2016.

Meanwhile the documentary Servant or Slave, which explored the Stolen Generations discussion raised in episode 2, has drawn the highest-ever ratings for NITV at 109,000 metro viewers.

OzTAM 5 city metro numbers were as follows:

First Contact SBS / NITV:
Episode 1:  420,000 / 22,000
Episode 2: 428,000 / 54,000
Episode 3: 363,000 / 24,000
Reunion: 268,000 / 24,000

NITV:
Servant or Slave: 109,000
Awaken: 68,000

SBS
The broadcast of episode 1 on SBS attracted a combined average audience of 604,000 (420,000 Metro and 184,000 Regional), peaking at 492,000 in Metro and 254,000 in Regional. It achieved a Metro FTA Share of 13.2% and 10.8% in Regional which was up by +2.9 Share Points in Metro and +1.8 Share Points in Regional on S1 Ep1, which aired in 2014.

Episode 2’s broadcast on SBS attracted a combined average audience of 586,000 (428,000 Metro and 158,000 Regional) up +106,000 (+22.1%) on S1 Ep2, peaking at 522,000 in Metro and 250,000 in Regional. It achieved a Metro FTA Share of 12.8% in Metro and 9.4% in Regional which was up by +4.7 Share Points in Metro and +2.4 Share Points in Regional on S1 Ep2, which aired in 2014.

Last night’s broadcast of episode 3 on SBS attracted a combined average audience of 546,000 (363,000 Metro and 183,000 Regional), peaking at 443,000 in Metro and 280K in Regional. It achieved a Metro FTA Share of 11.5% in Metro and 11.3% in Regional which was up by +1.0 Share Points in Metro and +2.1 Share Points in Regional on S1 Ep3, which aired in 2014. Overall, the second series is up by 25,000 (4.5%) on the first series on SBS.

The First Contact Reunion special recorded a combined average audience of 399,000 (268K Metro and 131,000 Regional) on SBS last night.

NITV
First Contact and its additional programming also performed well on NITV, recording some record numbers for the channel. The simultaneous broadcast of episode 1 on NITV attracted a combined average audience of 48,000 (22,000 Metro and 26,000 Regional), while the simultaneous broadcast of episode 2 on NITV attracted a combined average audience of 75,000 (54,000 Metro and 21,000 Regional). The simultaneous broadcast of episode 3 last night on NITV attracted a combined average audience of 50,000 (24,000 Metro and 26,000 Regional). Overall, the second series is up by 16,000 (38.1%) on the first series on NITV.

The Awaken: First Response special recorded a combined average audience of 103,000 (68,000 Metro and 36,000 Regional), making it the third highest rating program on NITV ever. The Servant or Slave documentary broadcast on Wednesday night to further explore the Stolen Generations discussion started on First Contact, attracted a combined average audience of 156,000 (109,000 Metro and 47,000 Regional) making it the highest ever rating program on NITV.

The simultaneous NITV broadcast of the First Contact Reunion special attracted a combined average audience of 37,000 (22,000 Metro and 15,000 Regional).

Walk With Us
Following First Contact, SBS and NITV want to inspire all Australians to feel a shared pride in our Australian identity – our rich Indigenous history, our modern Australian values, and our increasingly diverse cultures.

Through Walk With Us, SBS and NITV are encouraging all Australians to dig deeper, and continue to explore our rich Indigenous history, cultures and achievements, together. Across television, radio, online and social media, SBS and NITV are continuing to share stories that celebrate Indigenous people and culture and also explore issues we face together as a nation, to contribute to greater understanding and a better future for all Australians.

Australians are also being invited to share their commitment to finding out more on social media, accompanied by a photo of their bare feet connected to the land we all share – whether they’re in the city, the beach or the bush – and using #WalkWithUs.

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