SMI has reported Australia’s media agency market has ended its strong run of seven years of consecutive growth, as an unexpectedly difficult December quarter ensured total bookings for calendar year 2019 were back 5.3% from last year’s record result to $6.8 billion.

In contrast, advertising demand was stronger in NZ in CY2019, with the Rugby World Cup and local elections helping lift the value of Kiwi agency spend by 0.5% from CY2018 to $NZD1.03 billion, which was just $NZD52 million below the record spend achieved there in CY2017.

In Australia advertising demand worsening (demand fell 6.4% in the last six months of the year compared to 4.2% in the first six months). Demand then fell further in the December quarter with total spend back 7.9%, but was back a lesser 6.9% for the month of December.

But SMI’s AU/NZ managing director Jane Ractliffe said SMI’s forward booking data – which shows the future value of actual confirmed ad spend – is providing a more positive outlook, especially in Australia.

“We can see that for the month of February the value of Australian agency expenditure is already at 79% of the total achieved in February 2018 (when Digital media bookings are removed as they are often paid retrospectively), and that data was extracted from the payment system on January 30,” Ractliffe said.

“In NZ, the forwards for February are slightly lower at 74% of the value of last year’s February ad spend but their forwards for March are similar to Australia’s with the value of the market already 50% booked.”

In Australia, all major media are reporting lower December quarter and CY2019 bookings but Outdoor and Cinema are both reporting higher ad spend for the month of December (up 4.3% and 19.5% respectively).

And for the first time this month, SMI has split out ad spend to the largest 10 Digital content publishers from the ‘long tail’ of Digital websites. This has highlighted the ongoing strength of the larger Digital publishers as their total bookings for the year are collectively 5.8% higher while spend to long tail websites fell 35%. Total Digital bookings for the year were back 0.9%.

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Photo: SMI noted outdoor ad spend was up in December

Want to find out what happened next? Then download her new podcast So, I Quit My Day Job.

“I’d been a publicist my whole career, but while working for Nova’s Fitzy & Wippa show I quit,” writes Mahoney who has returned to PR, briefly, in her longish press release announcing her new project.

“Not because they are a pair of divas and made my working life hell, far from it. In fact, Tom Hardy aside, they are about the only people I would get up that early for, five days a week! No, I quit because I wanted to become a writer.”

Mahoney’s podcast is a collaboration with www.whimn.com.au. Launching today, each episode is promising to be part personal journey update, and part interview.

“From overcoming doubt, to coping with rejection, avoiding the fridge, and adapting to life without an IT helpdesk – I will cover it all openly, honestly, in my self-deprecating style. A podcast that travels the bumpy road to achieving your dreams and speaks to those who have successfully made the leap.

“Joining me every week will be some incredible guests who share their success stories. Some of the names you will know; Tash Sefton, Jason Dundas, 3 Birds Renovations and Samantha X while others you won’t but they have made incredible career pivots. From flight attendant to funeral home, hairdresser to crime scene cleaner and glossy magazine highflyer to baby whisperer. Each episode will be accompanied by a story on www.whimn.com.au where you can find out more about my guests.”

“This is a podcast that hits all those cliche boxes – it’ll make you laugh; it’ll make you cry and fill you with dinner party-worthy tales. It’s the perfect dose of career inspiration sprinkled with humour and heart. We’re excited to see what unfolds for Cath and can’t wait for you to join her on this wild ride,” said whimn.com.au editor Eliza Cracknell.

So, I Quit My Day Job is produced by Darcy Milne and his company Pro Podcast Productions. Milne is an award-winning audio producer and by day is the “the pots and pans” aka Nova’s Kate, Tim & Marty’s sound producer.

More about Cathrine Mahoney and her new podcast on Thursday in Mediaweek’s Podcast Week column.

As part of this new mandate, the next chapter of Handlin’s illustrious 50 year career will be to continue expanding Sony Music’s portfolio of new business verticals in Australia and New Zealand while successfully continuing his reputation to develop local artists and break international acts. He will celebrate his 50th year in the Australian company in May.

Today, Sony Music Australia has announced several further exciting staff appointments and promotions across the creative divisions of the company.

Marietta Ouzas has been promoted to Senior Manager of A&R and Marketing. Marietta personally identified and helped sign Tash Sultana and Tones and I to the Australian company, who have both in their own right, gone on to achieve incredible success. Marietta now formally joins the A&R team based in Melbourne and will play a key role in expanding the local roster as well as A&R select artists. This is in addition to Marietta recently taking on co-management responsibilities for Tones and I, together with the team at Lemon Tree Music and Artists Only, following her instrumental role in the development of Tones’ career. She joined Sony Music as an intern in 2013.

Mo Komba has joined the team as Senior A&R Manager, based in Melbourne. Mo started his career as an artist in the group Diafrix who were the first African Australian group to be played on youth radio network, triple j. He brings to the company a diverse background, a proven track record and authentic A&R ability, in addition to being a songwriter, producer and engineer as well as co-founder of the Alt. Music Group. 

Mo Komba

Marietta and Mo report to Pat Handlin, VP of A&R for Australia and New Zealand.

In addition to these Australian A&R announcements, Jaden Parkes has been promoted to Director of A&R for the company in New Zealand, jointly reporting to Kim Boshier (Managing Director of New Zealand) and Pat Handlin. Jaden will lead the A&R team based in Auckland as well as continue to A&R his own roster of New Zealand artists including TEEKS, Mitch James, Paige, Matthew Young and Maala. Jaden joined the company in 2012.

From the Sydney based marketing team, senior level appointments have been made to both the Australian and international divisions.

Petrina Convey’s role has been expanded as Vice President of Cultural Marketing & Artist Development and Head of Urban Music, Asia Pacific, reporting to Denis Handlin. Petrina will be working closely with specific international and Australian artists across genres and marketing teams (as well as the A&R team for Australian artists) to help develop and tell artist stories creatively and effectively by creating culture around artists with events, moments and content. This is in addition to Petrina’s Asia Pacific head of urban role. Petrina joined the company in 2016.

Petrina Convey

Grant Donges has been appointed as Vice President of International Artists Marketing and Communications, reporting to Denis Handlin. In addition to Grant’s existing responsibility for the Communications and Artist Relations team, he will now also be responsible for the division marketing the company’s diverse and expansive international artist roster, working closely with Sony Music’s labels and affiliates around the world. Grant joined the company in 2001.

Grant Donges

Ian Grady has been appointed Senior Director of Marketing, jointly reporting to both Wayne Ringrow and Grant Donges. Now in his 14th year with the company this year, Ian has decided to focus exclusively on the marketing of specific artist projects across both the Australian and international artist roster, building on the successes and relationships that he has formed with artists and their teams throughout his time with the company.

Sony Music veteran of 25 years, Wayne Ringrow, in addition to his Australian artists marketing and artist management responsibilities, will oversee New Zealand domestic artists marketing, based in Sydney, reporting to Denis Handlin and working closely with Kim Boshier.

Kim Caley, having joined the company in 2005 and previously holding senior roles in Promotions, has been appointed Senior Director of Marketing and Media Planning. Kim is responsible for the day-to-day management of the international artists marketing division and its staff, reporting to Grant Donges. She will also oversee all aspects of the company’s media planning and buying strategy, working closely with the leadership team of the company including the heads of marketing as well as all media partners.

Martin Harris has this week joined the Sydney international artists marketing team in January as Director of Marketing, reporting to Kim Caley. Martin worked at Sony Music in London with the company’s RCA label for six years and most recently held the role of Senior Marketing Manager. He has also worked with some of the company’s biggest international artists on the RCA label and their UK campaigns.

A new leadership team for the Promotions division of the company was also announced.

Tammy Hofbauer

Tammy Hofbauer has been appointed as Director, National Promotions (based in Sydney) and Fenella Wagener (based in Melbourne) appointed as Director, Promotions & Media, Victoria, and both will co-manage the National Promotions team, reporting to Dan Nitschke (General Manger, Media Strategy & Business Development). Tammy will be responsible for the operations, processes and planning for the national team, as well as continue her role with national radio events and radio relationships; whilst Fenella will add key National radio relationships and research to her role that also includes media, business partner and brand relationship management across Victoria. Tammy joined the company in 2008 and Fenella joined last year.

Fenella Wagener

Rachel Jones-Williams has been promoted to Senior Manager, National Promotions & Communications, reporting to Dan Nitschke. Rachel joined the company last year and is primarily responsible for the day-to-day relationships for the company and impact at triple j, as well as community and alternative media. Rachel has also assumed responsibility for the communications strategy for several artists and JV label partner artists.

Strengthening the company’s presence in Queensland, Claire Morrissey has been promoted to Senior Manager, Promotions & Media, Queensland, reporting to Fenella Wagener. In addition to her radio, media and business partner relationships, Claire is responsible for overseeing all of the company’s activity across the State of Queensland. Claire joined the company as an intern in 2016.

Claire’s announcement coincided with the company confirming that it will be relocating to new office premises in Brisbane, which will be completed in the next few months. The new vibrant, creative space will include a studio writer’s room and creative content filming space that is in the heart of the creative hub of Brisbane. More news will come on Sony Music’s premises move soon.

Finally, Sony Music this week welcomed 13 new interns (pictured above)  to the company across Australia and New Zealand. The Sony Music Academy is a 12 month paid program with interns working in all divisions of the company, and located in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Auckland. With a tremendous amount of interest in this year’s program, applications for the 2021 program will open in August this year.

In summing up these staff appointments, Denis Handlin, Sony Music Entertainment Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Australia and New Zealand, said: “These recent promotions and appointments are much deserved as our talented employees develop in their careers. I am very proud of the team we have at Sony Music Australia and the culture that we have created in our company for not only our artists, but our respected workforce as well.”

Crook’s remit will include major sporting properties including AFL and NRL broadcasts and shows on the Triple M Network, as well as metro and regional show partnerships such as Carrie and Tommy and Hughesy and Ed in drive on the Hit Network, amongst many others.  The team will also be responsible for corporate partnerships such as Hit Network’s RnB Live, V8 Supercars and event programming such as Concert In The Clouds.

Crook has 18 years’ experience working in sales and sport and was previously national head of sport sales at SCA, where he led the national sports sales team. Prior to joining SCA, Crook has worked with Mindshare as head of investment, the City of Melbourne as commercial team manager, Sports & Entertainment Ltd as national sales manager, Nine Network in senior sales positions and earlier in his career was group sales manager at SCA.

SCA national head of radio sales Nikki Rooke said: “Over the last two years Trevor has done a great job of leading the national sport sales team to deliver outstanding results in all areas. He brought a fresh perspective to our commercial sport product and worked collaboratively with internal and external stakeholders to innovate our offering to sponsors, driving retention and longer-term partnerships.

“The new Sport and Partnerships division will bring a formalised, proactive approach to all new and existing partnerships to ensure we continue to deliver the best outcomes for our clients and maximise the revenue potential of our considerable suite of premium assets.”

Commenting on his promotion, Crook said: “It’s been fantastic to bring my experience working in sports sales and also at a media agency to SCA to help build our sports team. I’m really excited about expanding my role to bring together sports and all our other partnerships into a unified and pro-active team who can provide clients with market-leading opportunities.”

The new apps are in final stage of development and will be released within the next few weeks.

Ticker has signed a partnership that will allow live programs and on demand shows to be watched on all Apple and Android devices.

Ticker CEO Ahron Young said: “Over the last five months we have built the network from the ground up, listening to our audience, partners and sponsors. Now we are ready to hit the big screen. I believe in TV-everywhere. And that’s what Ticker is.”

Mediaweek TV on Ticker

Viewers will be able to download the apps and watch the programming for free.

Ticker programming included Mediaweek TV weekly with James Manning and Ahron Young at 1pm Tuesdays and on demand.

“From the outset, our programs and on-screen graphics were designed to be viewed on any sized screen. We are currently live 24/7 on our website, our iOS app, as well as through Twitter, Facebook and Youtube Live,” Young said.

Ticker content views hit new highs in December and January, across multiple platforms and social media. Demographic research shows most viewers are aged 18-45.

“My ambition was to create a network dedicated to young professionals and entrepreneurs. Not the CEOs, but perhaps the next CEOs. Business doesn’t just happen on the trading-room floor or boardrooms. We champion the start-ups and medium sized enterprises around the country,” Young added.

Ticker launches Canberra bureau and announces new staff

Ticker has established a Canberra bureau, headed by journalist Daniel Pizarro, who will detail how politics impacts on business – live every morning from Parliament House.

Rick D’Andrea also joins Ticker as program director and producer, while Ryan Jon now leads Ticker’s digital and social media strategy, as well as hosting On The Download.

Ticker announces commercial and partnerships director

Experienced sales and commercial manager Jed Bertalli joins Ticker as commercial and partnerships director, building on Ticker’s current 21 programs in production, and continuing to develop new partnerships.

Ticker doesn’t air commercial breaks, however, programs have integrated sponsorship, with the sponsor’s logo featuring throughout the shows in the graphics and on the studio plasma.

“We’ve developed a way to make television sponsorship accessible to small and medium-sized businesses. We handle all the production and distribution, to make sure their message is heard by the exact people they’re targeting. The results have been outstanding so far.” Young said.

“We have a massive few months ahead with a huge announcement to be made over coming weeks. The start-up community has embraced us as a resource to help show what Australian business can achieve.”

As Campbell departs, CEO Rory Callaghan has promoted executive producer Johnny Lowry to a new role.

Establishing Screentime in 1996 with Des Monaghan, under Campbell’s chairmanship the company has been responsible for some of Australia’s most iconic and award-winning television including the Underbelly franchise, the world’s first music reality competition Popstars, and more recently Anh’s Brush With Fame, Hughesy We Have A Problem, Pine Gap, Anzac Girls, Cloudstreet, Janet King, Playing For Keeps, RBT as well as the highly anticipated Informer 3838.

Bob Campbell said: “Screentime has exceeded all the expectations Des and I had for it 23 years ago when we set it up. It has been built on the hard work and creativity of a lot of people, as well as great partnerships with our shareholders. Under Rory’s leadership, I have every confidence of Screentime’s continued success.”

Johnny Lowry (pictured) has been promoted to head of non-scripted, where he’s overseen Anh’s Brush With Fame, Hughesy We Have A Problem, Trial By Kyle, The Driving Test, Nazeem Hussain’s Orange Is The New Brown and the upcoming SAS Who Dares Wins.

Lowry said: “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed working with Screentime Banijay over the last four years and I look forward to further contributing to its ongoing success.”

Meantime, SPA’s CEO Matthew Deaner has commended the achievements of departing Screentime executive chairman Campbell, upon the news of his retirement:

“Over the past two decades Bob has been an active part of our membership, serving as vice president of the SPA Council, as well as speaking at Screen Forever on multiple occasions – including taking part in flagship conference session, ABC’s Q&A Live, in 2017 – and sitting on our Drama Advisory Panel.

“Having previously acted as CEO of the Seven Network, Bob was also a valued voice in SPA’s policy discussions, providing exceptional insights and a wholistic perspective that could only be gleaned through years of experience in varied high-level industry roles.

“We wish Bob well as he enters this next stage of his life and look forward to continuing to work with Screentime as it enters a new frontier.”

Beginning with Richmond’s first ever AFLW match on February 7 against Carlton, Fox Footy will show every game of the home and away season and finals live, with no ad breaks siren to siren.

Four new teams entering the AFLW means more games, more storylines and more highlights, with Fox Footy boasting an influx of current players to bring it to the living rooms of footy fans.

Collingwood star Chloe Molloy, Western Bulldog Izzy Huntington, West Coast premiership player Will Schofield, Brisbane captain Dayne Zorko and Fremantle defender Alex Pearce headline the contemporary cluster of current day stars in the Fox Footy team.

Fremantle’s Kara Antonio and Alex Pearce, plus Olympic Hockeyroo-turned-AFLW-player Georgie Parker will also be critical members of the coverage.

GWS’ inaugural captain Amanda Farrugia will inject further intelligence into Fox Footy’s AFLW broadcasts, which will be bolstered by gun commentators Anthony Hudson, Adam Papalia, Leigh Montagna, Kelli Underwood, Ben Waterworth for the 2020 season.

Collingwood ruck Sharni Layton will return, as will Adelaide premiership coach Bec Goddard.

Fox Sports’ Sarah Jones, Katherine Loughnan, Natalie Yoannidis, Sarah Olle, Tania Armstrong, Katelyn Barry, and Chyloe Kurdas will join the coverage as will experts Ben Dixon, Brad Johnson, Alastair Lynch, Bob Murphy and Matthew Pavlich.

All the soon-to-be brides met at their Hens night, and the grooms at their Bucks night. We learned that finance broker (and perhaps body builder) Hayley likes to talk – a lot – and girl-next-door Connie revealed she is incredibly awkward around the opposite sex. 

Hens night: Vanessa and Natasha

At the Bucks night, 30-year-old real estate agent, Ivan, caught our eye when he was disagreeing with the eccentric alpha-male Michael. The argument? Whether or not you should kiss your bride at the wedding ceremony.

After the relationship experts visited the Hens and Bucks nights to officially commence the experiment, we saw two beautifully-coordinated weddings for Poppy and Luke, and Cathy and Josh. 

38-year-old photographer Poppy has two-year-old twin boys and a broken heart after her husband left her for another woman. Raising two boys alone, Poppy is resilient, humorous, and dreaming of that ‘white picket fence’ life again in her future. 

Luke, the 38-year-old maintenance supervisor (FIFO), became a dad at 21 and has two teenage daughters. He’s kind, he’s domestic, and just like Poppy, he’s looking for that second chance at love. 

Poppy and Luke’s wedding

Their wedding was in Bilpin, NSW, and while Luke had a beer to calm the pre-wedding nerves, Poppy poured a bourbon and coke into a wine glass. With her young ones in the back of her mind, it almost seemed like Poppy might not go ahead with the day.

They met at the ceremony and read their vows while giggling in a nervous fashion, however Poppy still didn’t seem convinced on remaining calm and with an open heart with the thought of leaving her boys behind.

After a bumpy start to their reception with tears and no eye-contact from Poppy, she had a pep talk with some friends outside on taking the reigns of this experience and dropping any thoughts that might derail her journey. From that moment onwards, she and Luke laughed the night away with jokes about getting more grog from the bottle-o and playfully fighting about ‘who gets which side’ of the bed. 

Over at Cathy and Josh’s stunning wedding ceremony in Wyong Creek, NSW – surely even more of a wedding hotspot now – we heard some goofy vows in the form of rhyme from Josh, and we heard brave, meaningful vows from Cathy. They both seemed pleased with first impressions, and Josh even told producers he thought she was perfect for him, and that she was ‘him with a wig on’. 

Cathy and Josh’s wedding

Their flirtatious banter kept the night rolling in a smooth fashion and they even shared a long kiss when sitting outside of the reception with an outdoor firepit when they both revealed they are ‘crushing hard’ on the other. Did it feel like a real-life romance comedy? Yes, it sure did. 

Tonight, we’ll encounter two more weddings; one of them being a same-sex marriage between two women. Will these brides (and groom) find true love?

Launches don’t get much better than this. Highlights for Nine returning Nine series:

• MAFS builds year-on-year audience with all key demos and Total People
• Highest launch episode ever of MAFS
• National audience: 1,492,000 (Metro 1,154,000 Regional 338,000)

Previous launch audiences metro:
2015: 1,143,000
2016: 769,000 (First series that year)
2016: 769,000 (Second series)
2017: 826,000
2018: 914,000
2019: 1,006,000
2020: 1,154,000

The sixth season of I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! changed the shape of summer television viewing, scoring an average national audience of 1.13 million across the season, up 6% year-on-year and its best result since 2017.

From its first episode on 5 January to its thrilling conclusion last night, the 2020 season proved that many Australians want a premium entertainment alternative to the traditional summer sport on other television networks.

In addition to showing strong growth on 10, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! recorded growth across all platforms – including a record audience for the series on 10 Play – and was a hit on social media.

Highlights of the 2020 season included:

• National total average audience (including seven day TV and broadcast video on-demand): 1.13 million, up 6% year-on-year.
• Capital city total average audience: 856,000, up 10% year-on-year.
• National TV average audience: 1.08 million, up 4% year-on-year.
• Capital TV average audience: 786,000, up 6% year-on-year.
• 10 Play (seven day BVOD) average audience: 56,000, up 44% year-on-year.

This year’s season reached 9.56 million people nationally and posted record commercial shares, including in under 50s and all key age groups (16 to 39s, 18 to 49s and 25 to 54s):

Under 50s: 39.0%, up 11.4 points year-on-year.
25 to 54s: 36.6%, up 9.5 points year-on-year.
16 to 39s: 33.4%, up 10.1 points year-on-year.
18 to 49s: 36.9%, up 10.4 points year-on-year.

Jungle fever was rife on social media, with the season achieving its highest ever interactions across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Total interactions lifted 23% year-on-year to 1.24m interactions overall. The 10 Speaks podcast, The Reality Bite: Jungle Nights, achieved the highest number of listens within its first 24 hours out of all 10 Speaks podcasts.

Network 10’s chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said: “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! is a key part of our strategy of providing premium family entertainment year-round and giving viewers a clear alternative at the start of the year.

“Our decision to launch the new season a week earlier than the 2019 season proved an incredible success. Across its first week, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! brought viewers to commercial TV, increasing viewership by 6%.

“That success continued throughout the season, as the show broke digital and audience share records for the series,” she said.

Last night’s The Winner Announced segment, which saw Miguel Maestre take the crown as King of the Jungle, was watched by an average national audience of 1.23m, peaking at 1.37m. Including the Grand Finale, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here lifted 14% year-on-year.

McGarvey added: “I want to thank our brilliant cast and crew for their commitment and passion, our incredibly talented hosts Dr Chris Brown and Julia Morris, the wonderful team at ITV Studios Australia and everyone at 10, especially our executive producer Stephen Tate, for their incredible efforts. Congratulations on another amazing season.

“Finally, to our brave celebrities, thank you for putting it all on the line out there and congratulations on surviving the jungle!”

Network 10’s chief sales officer Rod Prosser said: “I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! has proved to be a successful summer entertainment alternative for brands and advertisers. No other show can deliver the scale of integration I’m A Celebrity has delivered, and I’d like to thank this year’s sponsors Carnival, Origin, McDonalds, Bedshed, Open Universities Australia and all our other partners for working with us to be as creative as our imaginations have enabled us to be. We’ve enjoyed working with you across the season and have loved seeing your campaigns come to life in fun and innovative ways.”

At the start of the 2020 season, Network 10 pledged to match the money raised for the chosen charities of the celebrities and donate the amount to state fire services and other organisations supporting the Australian bushfire relief efforts.

There were two new releases this week that entered the top five with World War II film Midway ($1.14m), and horror sequel The Grudge ($695,437) taking the place of Bombshell (four weeks, $4.93m) and Jumanji: The Next Level (six weeks, $44.89m).

It was a fairly quiet weekend at the box office making $12.65m which equates to a 27% decline on last weekend’s total.

#1 Bad Boys for Life $2.09m 

The third film in the Bad Boys franchise has continued its strong run in Australian theatres averaging $5,959 on 351 screens this past weekend.

#2 1917 $1.67m

The Sam Mendes World War I film continues to perform well in the midst of its Academy Awards push as it averaged $5,624 on 297 screens this weekend bringing its total to $16.64m. The movie was a big winner at the BAFTAS.

#3 Midway $1.14m

The second war film to make the top five this week is based on Pearl Harbour and the battle of Midway and stars a large ensemble cast of Ed Skrein, Patrick Wilson, Luke Evans, Aaron Eckhart, Nick Jonas, Mandy Moore, Dennis Quaid, Tadanobu Asano, and Woody Harrelson. The film averaged $4,068 on 282 screens in its first weekend of release.

#4 Dolittle $1.105m

In its third week of release, the latest rendition of Dr. Dolittle is edging closer to the $10m threshold with a total of $9.60m. The film averaged $3,598 on 294 screens.

#5 The Grudge $695,437

The latest entry to The Grudge franchise and the first since 2009 has made it into the top five in its week of release averaging $4,091 on 170 screens.

Nine has segued seamlessly from the Australian Open fortnight of victories into the start of TV’s #1 reality show – Married At First Sight. The show’s seventh season started with two weddings on the first episode with over 1.1m metro watching the ceremonies and the aftermaths. Add in the regional and streaming audiences and the total number will surely be closing in on 2m.

Also doing well on Nine last night was the return of A Current Affair after a fortnight off. The audience of 772,000 saw a MAFS preview.

Later in the evening Nine was in British Royal Family mode with Harry and Meghan: A Royal Crisis on 566,000 followed by a repeat of Diana: The Day the World Cried on 260,000.

Nothing wrong with Seven News audiences last night where the metro total was over 1m for the hour.

Home and Away did well too with 630,000 to start the week after an average of 419,000 against the tennis last week.

It was My Kitchen Rules: The Rivals that needed to lift after a poor launch on 498,000. The numbers did climb, but only ever so modestly, to 517,000. A couple of more poor performances will mean its average audience could be locked around 500,000 unless the channel reveals some major newsworthy scandals.

Returning US dramas followed: 9-1-1 on 427,000 and then S.W.A.T. on 188,000.

10 has replaced I’m A Celebrity with Survivor and the 24 players on Australian Survivor: All Stars attracted a launch episode audience of 624,000. The 90-minute opening took a while to get to the action and it ended with the surprise elimination of a former winner. While the program didn’t launch as well as previous Australian Survivor episodes, Network 10’s chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said: “We’re pleased with the audience for the first night of Australian Survivor: All Stars. On a very competitive night, it performed well in our key target market of under 50s and generated excellent year-on-year growth in its timeslot. The new season is fantastic and we can’t wait for viewers to see how it unfolds.”

Elsewhere on 10 The Project did 516,000 after 7pm and then after 9pm Hughesy, We Have a Problem was on 265,000.

The ABC had a big night on a primary share of 14.7% with the return of Four Corners and Q&A. However both programs were outrated by the little show that causes some industry angst, Media Watch. As Paul Barry started with a News Corp and Sky News examination, the audience was sitting on 633,000, winning its timeslot and outrating many programs last night.

Four Corners was hosted by Hamish Macdonald and featured frightening bushfire video and incredible stories of survival with 592,000 watching. One reason it may not have done better is some may have found it too harrowing to relive some of the recent fire crisis again.

Q&A saw Macdonald back on duty in front of a big audience to talk bushfires and where to now. The episode ran close to 10.45pm and did 484,000 which is the biggest audience for some time and perhaps amongst the best ever.

The return of The Royal Family Affairs & Infidelities performed best for SBS with 178,000.

The audience for the Super Bowl might have tipped over 100,000,000 in the US. It is a very different matter here with 134,000 watching on ESPN and 390,000 national watching on Seven. The halftime show on Seven did 449,000 national.