Television

ABC’s surge continues as Seven wins the battle   Author: eNews staff and agencies | Nov 5, 2007, 12:24

A win in week 38 for the Seven Network but the ABC has once again proved it is the most improved network of the year.

In fact the ABC had close to its highest audience share of the year last week with 18.1% of the audience from 6 pm to midnight.

Seven won with 28.9% (unchanged) Nine with 25.6% (25.3%); Ten with 22.1% (22.6%), the ABC with 18.1% (17.9%) and SBS with 5.3% (5.4%).

The ABC's share was just under its best for the year of 18.4% recorded a couple of weeks ago.

The broadcaster's share has been on the improve since APEC in Sydney when The Chaser did their stunt with security. The out performance of that program, Spicks and Specks and Summer Heights High lifted the network's share from under 17% to more than 17% and then 18% for the past three weeks.

In fact the ABC's audience is now at its highest level for the year.

So far this year the ABC's all people share is up to 16.6% from 15.2% last year.

It’s doing especially well in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

Its share in Sydney is up from 15.2% to 17.3%, Melbourne is up more, from 14.6% to 16.2% and Brisbane is up from 15.0% to 16.3%. The ABC's share in Adelaide and Perth is also higher, but not by anything near the improvement in the three east coast markets.

The rise in Sydney and Melbourne audiences can be attributed to its the performance of The Chaser in Sydney and Spicks and Specks, Summer Heights High and last week, the Librarians.

It also includes such hoary staples as the series of Midsomer Murders programs run on Sunday nights during the year.

The ABC has also found that its Friday and Saturday night performances, which are usually the network's best nights, have also continued to do well, along with Mondays, which have been solid but not as good as last year with Australian Story and Enough Rope down on 2006 levels.

Saturday's most watched program for instance was New Tricks, a British police program.

Wednesdays have been the best thanks to The Chaser, Spicks and Specks and other programs. Wednesday of last week it got an average 21.2% share, well above the week's average. Friday was 21.4% and Saturday 20.4%.

The ABC had four programs in the top 20 national programs last week, more than Ten or Nine.

The Chaser, Spicks and Specks, Librarians and New Tricks were the quartet. Ten had House and Idol. Nine has CSI, 60 Minutes and Missing Person's Unit.

Seven had 11, which is down a touch from what it had been recording in the past month.

Reflecting the appeal of The Chaser and Spicks and Specks, the ABC's audience in the 16 to 39 age group is up by more than 8%: Ten, the sector leader, has seen its share fall by around 9%. But Ten still has more viewers each night in this group than Seven, Nine or the ABC.

CSI, House and new Tricks were the only foreign programs in the top 20 last week.

Seven News and Today Tonight beat Nine News and ACA.

As usual, Seven won all five metro markets last week.

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