Week 30 of ratings was good news and bad news for the Seven Network who released a mid year report of bumper revenue but then lost a bitter courtcase over the demise of its C7 brand.
Unfazed, it went on to take out the weekly ratings once again with a 27.2% win to Nine's 25.9%, TEN's 23%, the ABC's 17% and SBS' 6.9%.
Seven won Monday, Tuesday and Friday nights, Nine scored Sunday, Thursday and Saturday and TEN again owned Wednesday. TEN managed to lift its share this week which is just as well as Big Brother comes to a close but it was the ABC which upstaged the commercials with their moments of glory.
Border Security managed to sneak ahead of TEN's Thank God You're Here as the top show of the week. Seven's locally made observational shows continue to be its most popular products. RSPCA Animal Rescue is proving a new hit, while Medical Emergency and Surf Patrol are all performing terrific business. Other strong shows include Seven News, Today Tonight, Grey's Anatomy, All Saints, Home and Away and the last Where Are They Now? The return of Criminal Minds was hardly spectacular but not enough to worry yet. It will be joined by Shark next week. Despite glowing reviews, the Lost finale wasn't so hot in figures.
Aside from Sunday's News, 60 Minutes returned to form as Nine's favourite show, just ahead of Sea Patrol still doing good business despite a slight drop. Getaway, National Nine News, Backyard Blitz (should Nine have axed this?), 1 vs 100, ACA and Without a Trace also did well. Recently launched Things to Try Before You Die is already levelling out against the tough fight from RSPCA Animal Rescue. 20 to 1 did poorly against the ABC and Seven, almost beaten by SBS.
TGYH was great guns for TEN's Wednesday, boosting figures once more for House. Big Brother is all but over, and it was the Friday Night Live game that attracted the biggest audience. But it was the revitalised Neighbours that really had TEN smiling, passing the 1m mark on its first night. Let's see how it fares long term. Rove's NY stint didn't fare much better than other weeks. The Simpsons put in more good yards, the same week as their movie premiere. Torchwood is slipping each week, but is likely to pick up viewers this week on the back of BB ending. TEN also bumped Pirate Master this week, as CBS axed in entirely in the US.
The ABC is vexing the commercial networks in unexpected ways. Midsomer Murders' fantastic result surpassed Seven's Grey's Anatomy, Nine's CSI and TEN's noisy Rove NY broadcast. Equally it won many fans for its emotional profile of Belinda Emmett on Australian Story, creating major headaches for Nine and TEN. Next up were Spicks and Specks, Worst Jobs in History, Silent Witness and ABC News.
Top Gear was SBS' best, coming within 1,000 viewers of Nine's 20 to 1. If not for Australian Story it would have beaten Nine.
Ratings Week 30
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