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Jamie’s American Road Trip

Jamie Oliver is such a luvly bloke. Unassumin’, ‘umourous, ‘avin a bit of a laff. The fact that he can cook like a lil’ ripper is just the icin’ on the cake.

For his latest series, Oliver sets foot in the US of A, criss-crossing the nation in a bid to find real American food. No greasy fries and hot dogs here -he is determined to break the stereotypes of fast food and excess. I kinda feel he’s gonna need all the help he can get to pull it off.

In the first …

Airdate: Q.I.

So successful was Stephen Fry in America that the ABC is rushing his UK panel series Q.I. (Quite Interesting) to screen.

The questions on Q.I. are so difficult that panellists almost never get one right. So Fry, as the Supreme Fiendish Question Master, gives points for interesting answers, regardless of whether they are right or not (some viewers likened Glenn Robbins’ Out of the Question to this format). Conversely, points are deducted from a panellist who gives, “answers which are not only wrong, but pathetically obvious.” The game is even booby-trapped to …

September TV loves sport

Sport is surging in September. Two AFL matches roared to over 1.4m giving Seven and TEN some big victories, notably helping the latter save face after an ordinary week. NRL topped 1m at Nine and also helped the network win Sunday. But while audiences fluctuate it was GO! that again got Nine across the line to win Week 38 -the second such glory in a row.

Nine finished with 28.9% ahead of Seven’s 27.5% and TEN’s 20.7%. The ABC had 17.7% and SBS 5.2%.

Nine won all key demos 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54.

GO! …

Nine wins the week

Having two and a half channels proved a winner for Nine in Week 37. Seven’s lack of a digital channel lost it the week by the slimmest of margins to Nine -just 0.2%. The extra share from GO!, which is added to Nine’s primary share,  helped it win a week in which its biggest audience was 1.33m, a far cry from figures on Seven.

Nine won with 28.1% over Seven’s 27.9% and TEN’s 20.8%. The ABC had 17.3% and SBS 5.8%.

Nine won all three demo groups 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54. In Total …

Seven steals Sunday

The final of Dancing with the Stars was always going to do well for Seven, but it positively slammed Australian Idol into its own mosh pit last night.

Dancing took 1.57m viewers ahead of Domestic Blitz (1m), 60 Minutes (1.2m) and Rescue: Special Ops on Nine (910,000). Over on TEN Idol slumped to just 810,000 in its first top 12 sing-off and Rove just 777,000. On the ABC The Einstein Factor (585,000), Stephen Fry in America (986,000) and Midsomer Murders (1.17m) were also defeated while SBS had One Day Series on 311,000.

The …

Murder’s hit on commercial networks

Renewed and emerging hits were evident on the box last week as networks prepare to unveil fresh titles upon us once more. The biggest in the bunch was ABC’s Midsomer Murders which increased its lead to 1.48m and showed commercial networks how to win a traditional Sunday audience. Nine appears to have timed it right with Money for Jam nabbing 1.32m and the AFL passed 1.1m for TEN and 1m viewers for Seven.

But in Week 36 once again Seven won Total People with 27.8% just ahead of Nine’s 27.3% and TEN’s …

ABC causes Sunday upset

The ABC’s Midsomer Murders slammed its competition once again, snaring a huge 1.48m viewers -up from last week’s 1.26m. Together with Stephen Fry in America (1.21m), it helped lift the broadcaster to nearly a 23% share and pushed TEN to fourth for the night.

Seven held with Dancing with the Stars (1.35m) over Domestic Blitz / 60 Minutes (1.24m / 1.11m) and Australian Idol (992,00). The result was particularly harsh for TEN slipping underneath the 1m mark. Despite a peak of 1.33m it only won the 16-39 demographic. Losing 18-49 so early …

Feelgood telly wins the week

Week 35 saw the ABC reinforce its appeal when Midsomer Murders took a cool 1.26m viewers on Sunday night, winning its timeslot without any dancing or singing as a lead-in. For a new Aussie drama like Rescue: Special Ops it was particularly brutal. Meanwhile GO! did well on Sunday with a 2.8% share, allowing Nine to sing its praises before it diminished by the end of the week. TEN had reason to smile over Rush too, but cutting through it all was Seven, taking yet another week in Total People.

Seven took …

Murder on the dance floor

Sunday proved to be a telling night for many in the industry with more than a few lessons dished out by viewers.

If there was a standout performer it was Midsomer Murders on the ABC, with 1.26m viewers winning its slot and thumping the commercial competition. Nine’s Rescue: Special Ops slipped alarmingly to 878,000 in only its fourth week. The show is already set for repeat on daytimes next weekend.

As Lincoln Lewis was voted out from Dancing with the Stars (1.35m), Seven defeated Domestic Blitz 1.14m / 60 Minutes 1.04m and Australian …

Hot Seat’s bewitching week

For the second week running Nine’s ratings enjoyed a boost from GO! that blurs its performance. While all networks enjoy share from their secondary channels, in the case of Nine figures for its titles included viewers that watched shows on GO! On three nights Hot Seat beat Deal or No Deal, but how many of them were viewers for Bewitched? All will be revealed this week when the figures break out from today.

Seven won Week 34 with 28.3% ahead of Nine’s 26.6% and TEN’s 20.8%. The ABC had 16.5% and SBS …

Seven swims through topsy turvy week

It was a topsy turvy week of ratings in Week 33. While Nine had one night rising past the 30% share, TEN had another that sank below 15%. And the ABC has a new hit on its hands. That left Seven to remain steady through it all and win another week.

Seven finished with 28.0% over Nine’s 26.3% and TEN’s 21.6%. The ABC had 17.5% and SBS 6.6%.

But it was actually Nine that won 18-49 and 25-54 demos while TEN took out 16-39.

Seven won Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. Nine won …

Fight for Sunday night

Sunday night was a close race wherever you looked. All the networks had reason to smile somewhere in this morning’s figures.

It was a three-way tussle for the night between the three commercial broadcasters, with Seven just pipping the others at the post. It finished with 25.5%, just ahead of Nine’s 24.9% and TEN’s 24.5%.

While Seven News was #1 for the night, the real interest lay elsewhere.

Dancing with the Stars’ 1,301,000 beat Australian Idol’s 1,300,000 by the slimmest of margins, and as expected, the split in variety audiences improved 60 Minutes to …

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