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The dark side of Sue Johnston
For over ten years Sue Johnston has been playing psychological profiler Dr Grace Foley in the BBC’s Waking the Dead.
Ahead of the Australian premiere of Series 8 on the UKTV Channel, she told TV Tonight why she had stuck with the role.
“It’s because it’s such a great character and so different from other characters that I get the chance to play. Most roles I play are mothers or appendages of women,” she says. “We usually play wives, daughters, mistresses, grannies.
“What’s great about Grace is you don’t know whether she’s a wife …
Drama the winner in Timeshifting
Another peek into what’s going on in Timeshifted viewing lays in an article in today’s Australian.
It notes CSI and Midsomer Murders have so far topped the list of shows recorded and viewed later on digital video recorders.
OzTAM has been tracking the shows people record and watch later since December 27. Audiences have risen by 2.7 per cent under the new system.
CSI: New York attracted an additional 60,000 viewers. ABC3’s Jibber Jabber leapt from 33,000 live viewers to 71,000 including the full week’s viewing.
“The extra ratings could mean the difference …
Birth for a nation
The final week of the ratings year is over and it was a Rafters baby that defeated singing Idols, Celebrity Masterchefs, new Apprentices, Geeks and Robbie Williams. Seven enjoyed a clean sweep of Week 48, winning all 7 nights, 3 key demos and all 5 cities -it was almost a microcosm of 2009, but this year Nine has seen to it that it didn’t quite enjoy that triumph.
The Seven Network won Week 48 with 31.3% over Nine’s 26.8% and TEN’s 21.3%. The ABC had 15.2% and SBS 5.4%.
GO! had 3.1% over …
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 …
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 …
Sport wins the ratings trophy
If 2009 has been remarkable for one thing, it has been comic tone put under the spotlight. But in a week when our sense of humour was questioned once more, it was sport that ruled the week. The NRL Grand Final topped the week with 2.41m viewers, ahead of Hey Hey the Reunion. Both were Nine properties and gave the network a decisive victory -its fifth successive win.
Nine finished with 31.1% ahead of Seven’s 26.2% and TEN’s 19.6%. The ABC had 17.8% and SBS 5.3%.
Nine won 3 key demos 16-39, 18-49 …
NRL final scores 2.41m
The 2009 NRL Grand Final topped 2.41m last night pushing Nine to a big win for Sunday.
The match was significantly higher than the 2008 final of 2.07m. In Sydney 1.11m viewers watched on, while Melbourne had 650,000 -more than Brisbane’s 535,000.
Nine says it peaked at 3.09m viewers.
But in Melbourne, talkback callers today were angry over Nine’s switch to Nine News before the Presentation to the Storm team. In reality, the Presentation was never scheduled in that city. But at a time when the Anti-Siphoning List is being reviewed, it furthers the …
Variety back on the box
Australian viewers sent a clear message to television executives this week: they want variety back on the box. Over two million viewers cheered for Hey Hey the Reunion on Nine, which demonstrated a remarkable ability to recapture its magic, with many declaring it a return to old-fashioned entertainment. So smooth was the return, it will go down in TV history as one of television’s great reunion specials. Week 40 was a particularly brutal fight in television with a string of new shows launching. By the time the bell rang, Nine had …
Sunday’s magic million
What’s this? Big brand shows landing under the 1m mark on a Sunday night? And we’re not even in daylight saving yet.
60 Minutes, Australian Idol, 20 to 1, Rove, Rescue: Special Ops, Talkin’ ‘ Bout Your Generation (rpt) all landed under the magic million mark last night.
The hits were over on the ABC and Seven.
Midsomer Murders surged to another 1.48m, Border Security had 1.42m, The Force took 1.41m. Sunday Night won with 1.32m, and even the ABC’s Yellowstone doco defeated 60 Minutes and Idol at just under 1.1m viewers.
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