Seven take 2008

As expected Channel Seven has won the 2008 ratings race as television switches to summer repeats and runs of failed programs. It was the second half of the year that took Seven to victory who finished the year with 29.5% of the audience share, followed by Nine with 26.8%. Ten finished third with 20.8%, ABC 17.4% and SBS 6.5%.

Packed to the Rafters was the year’s most popular television series which Seven launched after the Olympics and consistently captured around two million viewers every week. It will be back in 2009 and beyond judging by those figures.

Find My Family was the second most popular series followed by Underbelly. In fact all Top 10 most popular series were Australian productions which is a very good sign for our industry. Apart from Underbelly, Seven had all other nine places in the Top 10 with The Zoo, City Homicide, Border Security, The Force, Border Security (Rpt), Seven News and RSPCA: Animal Rescue rounding out the Top 10.

The figures do however not account for the fact that each production has a different number of episodes in a ‘season’.

Nevertheless this is an excellent result for Seven while Nine’s next best performing series was 60 Minutes followed by Two and a Half Men, Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares, Domestic Blitz and the David Attenbrough Series.

If the Olympic figures are removed from the ratings figures then the result between Seven and Nine is much closer. Seven with 28.5% and Nine with 27.3%.

Interstignly Nine also finished ahead of Seven in the key demopgraphics. In the 25-54's category it was Nine 28.7%, Seven 28.0% and in the 16-39's demographic Ten 29.7%, Nine 28.4% and Seven 26.4%.

So will it be Nine in 09?

With promised local versions of Ladette to Lady and Wipeout as well as new seasons of local dramas Underbelly and Sea Patrol as well as new drama, Rescue Squad, the network will be hoping to win the year.

Seven are returning all of their successful shows and will be boosting the Sunday night dual commissioning a new current affairs program, Sunday Night which has all ready signed former Nine reporter Ross Coulthard and rumours have former Nine personality Mike Munro in the hosting chair.

Seven will want to assure their Sunday and Thursday night which lets the network down while Nine still searches for a popular news lead-in. The 5:30PM slot has been troubled the network with suggestions the network will be looking for an afternoon version of the ‘Today Show’ having all ready filmed a pilot for an entertainment magazine show with Richard Reid and Georgie Parker as hosts.

If Nine are to go ahead with these plans they would be smart to launch the show early in the new year perhaps up against the Australian Open Tennis on Seven in attempt to capture this audience and gain an advantage over Seven.