Ratings Reports

[Andy]

Seven's challenge hits the wall

The Age

19 May 2005

CHANNEL Seven's dream run ended last week when it fell to third place in the Melbourne ratings for the first time in 2005.

After a powerful start to the year, in which it often beat arch rival Nine in the national ratings and even challenged Nine for weeks in its strongest and most loyal market, Melbourne, winning one week and tying with Nine in another, last week's results showed signs that it might have become a two-show network.

As has happened most weeks this year, Seven had the two most-watched shows in Melbourne last week - Desperate Housewives and Lost. But its only other program in the top 20 was Blue Heelers, and that came 15th. Nine, however, had 13 shows in the top 20, and Ten had four. Overall, Nine had 31.1 per cent of night-time viewers, followed by Ten (25.4), Seven (24.4), the ABC (14.2) and SBS (4.8).

And the arrival of Big Brother 5 has given Ten, which trailed Nine and Seven badly in the first 11 weeks of the 2005 season, a big boost, particularly among viewers aged under 40, lifting it into second place in Melbourne last week. Big Brother knocked Seven's soapie, Home & Away, out of top spot at 7pm on weeknights, and even sent Nine's latest hit show, Super Nanny, tumbling in last week's ratings.

Seven continues to perform better interstate - it went close to beating Nine in Sydney last week - but it could be on borrowed time. With episodes of Desperate Housewives and Lost set to run out in several months, and no certain winners in Seven's inventory to take their places, the network is unlikely to continue its spectacular early season form in the remaining 28 weeks of official audience surveys in 2005.

It is confident that two new Australian dramas and a clutch of new US imports will help it maintain the pressure on Nine. But the local dramas - Last Man Standing and Headland (formerly known as Campus) - are untested, and the new American dramas that Seven will debut soon, while reasonably successful in the US, are unlikely to draw the massive audiences that Desperate Housewives and Lost have attracted.

[wanda]

I know that a lot of KK fans hung around to see the stalker story play out but have now stopped watching ....I expect a lot of Josie fans will leave too when she goes ....add to that the fact that there are Bec Cartwright fans out there and they may leave ....it's not looking good.

I am giving it a bit longer , but am not impressed by current episodes and the way the focus is story-driven rather than character driven , eg. Jesse suddenly turning psycho after years of being a good guy ....but there are certain newbies , and one in particular (Cassie) that I find so repellant that I don't know how much longer I will be able to force myself to watch , luckily I get my eps on tape and can fast forward her !!!!

[Frankie]

I know that a lot of KK fans hung around to see the stalker story play out but have now stopped watching ....I expect a lot of Josie fans will leave too when she goes ....add to that the fact that there are Bec Cartwright fans out there and they may leave ....it's not looking good.

I am giving it a bit longer , but am not impressed by current episodes and the way the focus is story-driven rather than character driven , eg. Jesse suddenly turning psycho after years of being a good guy ....but there are certain newbies , and one in particular (Cassie) that I find so repellant that I don't know how much longer I will be able to force myself to watch , luckily I get my eps on tape and can fast forward her !!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

LOL...it will be great when they invent a TV where you can fast forward..or expunge certain irrritating characters from our screens....Robbie should get cracking on this...he would coin it in...LOL

I agree with what you say.

[James Martin]

I think the show will move on, something like the stalker storyline is going to get casual viewers in, but the causual viewers will then tune out again.

Personally I like the BIG events, like the unmasking of the stalker, or the big siege, who's gonna die sort of stuff.

It will be a very interesting ime for the show. It's going through a transistional period though - especially now all the Sutherlands have gone.

[James Martin]

Yeah, in fact I think that the big brother premiere was the week of the infamous party.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The entire storyline was devised to keep the viewers off of Big Brother.

I remember Coral saying that it was H&A policy now do do a big event during BB, so watch this space!

[Jofish]

Yeah, in fact I think that the big brother premiere was the week of the infamous party.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The entire storyline was devised to keep the viewers off of Big Brother.

I remember Coral saying that it was H&A policy now do do a big event during BB, so watch this space!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

ooo, ooo, ooo, Josies secret, somebody getting married, and a muder, byut anything is better thatn BB, never understood why people watch it myself. id rather watch paint dry.

[Ryan]

Yeah, in fact I think that the big brother premiere was the week of the infamous party.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The entire storyline was devised to keep the viewers off of Big Brother.

I remember Coral saying that it was H&A policy now do do a big event during BB, so watch this space!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

In the end it just kept most viewers from watching Home and Away.

[GEAT]

The 4000th ep is in the next 8weeks

[starrychris]

Big Brother's 7pm ratings won't last wrong. It was the first week of the show. I doubt it will be rating that well in a couple of weeks time.

[Frankie]

Big Brother's 7pm ratings won't last wrong. It was the first week of the show. I doubt it will be rating that well in a couple of weeks time.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At the rate it's going, neither will Home and Away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!