Neck and neck as second half aligns

It didn't all go Seven's way last week but the network managed to fall over the finish line -just.

Seven scraped in with 27.8% to Nine's 27.1% and TEN's 23.3%. The ABC had 16.6% and SBS 5.2%.

Seven won Sunday, Monday, Tuesday and Friday night, while Nine took Thursday and Saturday and TEN Wednesday. Seven had wins in Adelaide and Perth but Nine took out Sydney, Melbourne and Brissy.

This week Seven's top show were Medical Emergency and RSPCA Animal Rescue, with its favourite Border Security under challenge from Australian Idol. Next best were News and Today Tonight, Home and Away, All Saints, Better Homes and Gardens, The Incredibles and Grey's Anatomy. As a season finale Grey's was well down on the 2006 season end but it had Midsomer Murders and Idol as competition. Meanwhile there are scheduling holes in Wednesdays (it came third) and Thursdays for Seven and Shark has not launched well on Mondays. The network will be looking to local products Kath & Kim and City Homicide to lift its second half of 2007, as Seven has always done well with Aussie content.

Nine's best was again Sea Patrol, with 60 Minutes losing ground to Aussie Idol. It's a delicate position to be in as the foxy ladies take up the fight this week too. There was a strong performance from Backyard Blitz, due in part to no Jamie Durie on Seven this week (Nine should now view losing him as a mistake). Other raters were News, Getaway and A Current Affair. Nine has for some time had trouble with its post 8:30 timeslot. This is now seeping into its 7:30pm timeslot too. Shows including Things to Try Before You Die, Queen's Castle, 1 vs 100, Cold Case, CSI are all hovering at around 1.1m or below. Nine needs to pay particular attention to poor Mondays when it has the opportunity to promote the coming week.

TEN will be pleased that Australian Idol is holding up well. But it was again Thank God You're Here that was the week's strongest show, and House is a big winner, perfectly winding up as The Chaser eyes a return (House will also have new episodes later this year). Otherwise the news for TEN was confined to NCIS. Their Simpsons, Law and Order and Rove figures were nothing special. Despite the strong outing for Idol, TEN was also beaten by the ABC on Sunday.

It was Midsomer Murders that buffeted the ABC once more. More good figures were delivered by Spicks and Specks, Worst Jobs in History, News, Enough Rope and Brat Camp.

Mondays is still SBS' best night.

Ratings Week 33
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First Review: Hot Spell

When I was a kid there was no Australian Idol for budding performers. And there certainly weren’t any TV spelling bees around, I would have kicked arse. A.R.S.E –arse.

Since the feature documentary Spellbound (US 2001), the sport of grammar has gripped America. The latest hit series, Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? is about to undergo a localized production, produced and hosted by Rove McManus for TEN. But it’s SBS that is getting in first with Hot Spell.

Hosted by Michael Tuohy, this half hour series is being programmed in an intensive, round-robin style schedule at 6:00pm daily for ten consecutive nights. Designed as an ‘Idol for Spelling,’ teams of little kids aged 9-13 auditioned in cities across the country. Fittingly, under the considered tone of the national broadcaster there is no Dicko or Kyle berating kids. No, everyone’s a winner here, it’s just that some are more winning than others. And like Idol, some score the chance to go to Sydney for the official finals. Funny that Canberra wasn’t seen as the brains centre of the country, maybe that’s being kept for a Porn Idol? P.O.R.N –Porn.

The kids in these finals are all too good for their own boots. They look like little Delta Goodrooms, spelling everything from Pernicious to Artesian. They’re even tested on the differences between Stationary and Stationery. Yikes.

The format wheels through a variety of challenges entitled Speed Spell and Buzz Off, on a set that marries a stylized classroom with a live audience. Amongst the contestants is a concerted push for multiculturalism, including Sameer from Melbourne and William Y. from Sydney (he reckons all the other players, “should just get chicken pox so I can win”).

Hot Spell is refreshingly addictive. If you’re tired of Ed Phillips being super smooth in Temptation or Andrew O’Keefe never shutting up in Deal or No Deal, this show is for you. It’s easy to play along at home and find out no, you’re not smarter than a fifth grader. Thankfully, I did eventually beat them all at their own game. Just. Except I don’t have any of their precociousness. S.U.C.K.E.R.S –precociousness.

Hot Spell screens 6:00pm nightly from Aug 24 on SBS. Read more...

Idol judge harassed

Australian Idol's Mark Holden says he may have to call in police to put a stop to harassment from aggrieved contestants.

Holden says rejected contestants are phoning his house in the early hours of the morning.

"My wife keeps picking up the phone. The people are always asking to speak to me," he told the Herald-Sun.

Then again, nothing like having a news angle to plug a show under attack from Kath & Kim. Read more...