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TV Tonight Awards 2009: The year of Shaun Micallef

The votes are in.

Readers have spoken on their best and worst television for 2009 in the third annual TV Tonight Awards.

The winners: Shaun Micallef, MasterChef and Packed to the Rafters.

Over 1000 surveys were completed this year, and there were some definite trends. Some choices were clear decisions, others were tight races.

Several “winners” were also “losers” elsewhere, showing a divided audience, and a number of populist shows proved their mettle by staying ahead of underdogs.

Shaun Micallef won both Favourite Male and Most Underrated Performer, while Talkin’ ‘Bout Your …

December 09: ABC3, Todd Lasance, Charlie Sheen.

December:

7TWO for Tassie / Darwin, ONE for Mildura.
Seven’s FlashForward “leaked” to US
Three Rivers in cardiac arrest
Secret Millionaire episode held over debt complaints
Seven loses C7 appeal
Nine loses ACA defamation case
Rumour: Logies for Queensland (again)
Animation company in restructure
Hey Hey cast waiting for the call
Nine confirms Cops LAC drama
ABC kisses and makes up over Lambert

ABC3 launch
Government reviews Aussie content on digital channels
Billy wins Channel [V] Presenter Search
Foxtel adds iPhone application
Prank on Rudd at ABC3 launch
Hey Hey inks 20 episode deal
Elliot ends the Rollercoaster ride
Wendell Sailor …

October 09: ‘Jackson Jive,’ Don Lane, Letterman, Good Game, All Saints

October:

2.1m as Hey Hey thumps MasterChef
Matt LeBlanc signs for ‘dumbed-down’ sitcom
Top Gear airship mishap
Comedy Channel series slims down to special
Hot Seat beats Deal (for real)
Chris Lilley lands joint ABC, HBO, BBC series
Sunday Arts gravitates to online
Letterman admits affairs with staff

Josh Lawson for US comedy series
Nine pulls Hey Hey repeat
Angry Hey Hey fans call for Nine boycott
GO! has official launch
Sacked WIN boss takes legal action
Nine News crew rattled in Indian report
Nine says Daryl asked to drop repeat
NRL final scores 2.41m
Letterman: “My wife has …

April 09: SuBo, Deal v Hot Seat, IceTV victory, Talia wins Dance

April:

Naylor will cuts son from family estate
Andrew G to front Idol solo
‘Fugly’ creator calls it quits
Minister Conroy for sale on eBay
Guiding Light switching off
Profits tumble at TEN
Dateline scoops coup
Gavin & Stacey star collapses from exhaustion
Girls turn it on for Ladettes auditions
Andre Rieu in Ramsay Street

The very scholarly Kerry O’Brien
Leckie sells network shares
Game on. It’s Eddie v Andrew
Star Trek premieres at Opera House

Fennessy brothers to Shine for Murdoch
TEN backtracks on House promise
Neighbours producer: Lack …

ABC News up in summer

For the third night in a row, ABC News has won the 7:00 slot.

On Tuesday, following the Liberal Party leadership spill, it reached 1.17m. It again won last night with 1.05m well ahead of Australia’s Funniest Home Videos on 790,000, How I Met Your Mother on 753,000 and The 7PM Project on 714,000 -at least TEN is now holding its own against commercial rivals.

Summer figures continue to remain modest, with Seven News the night’s top show on 1.25m.

But it was Nine’s share that delivered with a very strong 31.0% thanks to …

1.3m for Celebrity MasterChef

Celebrity MasterChef finished on a positive note as the night’s top show with nearly 1.3m viewers last night.

Swimmer Eamon Sullivan took out the title from Kirk Pengilly and Rachael Finch after a two hour cook-off which saw all the former contestants gathered for the final scores. The figure was a long way from the finale of the original MasterChef Australia -in fact it was a long way behind weeknight episodes in the original season’s closing weeks.

But it did improve on the weekly celebrity version and peaked at 1.73m, easily winning its …

Say bye to variety for me

The Noughties will end with a nail in the coffin of variety after Rove McManus announced he was winding down his show last Sunday. It closed a ten year chapter for the genre with a string of Logies, A-List guests and live memories to take home. Without any advance warning it also didn’t pull the kind of figures such a farewell deserved. Both the night and the week went Seven’s way for the second last week of the ratings season.

The Seven Network won Week 47 with a big 30.0% ahead of …

Are we there yet?

Are we there yet? Just two weeks to go until the 2009 ratings end, with a baby Rafter, a new Idol, a Celebrity MasterChef, and a first Apprentice all due. Audiences are already showing signs of switch-off as numbers diminish -either from fatigue, daylight saving, multiple entertainment choices or all three. But they are hanging on for Julie Rafter whose motherly condition ensured she was the week’s top show. And Seven again won the week.

Seven Network won with 30.1% over Nine’s 26.3% and TEN’s 19.8%. The ABC had 18.0% and SBS …

John Safran’s Race Relations

SPOILERS: Back in April John Safran created headlines when he was reported as undergoing a crucifixion in The Philippines. AFP reported that an Australian, identified only as John Michael from Melbourne, was nailed to a wooden cross in Kapitangan town, near Manila. The ABC defended his actions within the context of his documentary style. It was described as “a thoughtful and challenging exploration of cultural differences and convictions — the kind of project that you expect from John Safran.”

Australians will get to see for themselves what he endured for the sake …

Race that tops the nation

Week 45 saw Seven launch its new digital channel 7TWO with a mix of broad entertainment offering. It addressed the Nine / GO! combo that had upstaged it in the last few months. In sheer audience figures the 2009 Melbourne Cup’s record 2.67m viewers was the week’s top story. It was even Seven’s biggest audience all year. But the real news of the week was actually a lot more humble: the government’s lifeline to Community Television. After a lengthy campaign it will begin to dual-cast on analogue and digital some time …

All the drama of Week 44

In Week 44 viewers bid farewell to All Saints after 12 seasons across 11 years. The 70 minute episode ensured the show departed with its reputation intact and possibly signalled the end of an era of long running weekly dramas. It finished on 1.5m viewers -time will tell if Packed to the Rafters ever comes close to its legacy. Seven, which has been top-heavy in local drama with an embarrassment of riches, won the week and with the introduction of 7TWO today may have ended a winning run by the Nine …

Variety the spice of Nine’s life

In the week that Seven announced its new digital channel it lost another week to Nine and its GO! channel. Nine’s win included its tribute to a favourite son, Don Lane. On the back of the Hey Hey reunions it was another reminder its audience loves Variety. It was also a week in which the networks trumped one another in the publicity stakes. After the ABC launched ABC3, Seven stole its thunder the next day with 7TWO, which was subsequently trumped that afternoon by Nine winning Top Gear.

The Nine Network won …

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