Seven beats in Nine in 2021 ratings with 38.6pc share of the market

Seven has toppled Nine, taking out the coveted title of the country’s No. 1 television network for 2021 — but the battle between the ratings giants was tight.

Seven has toppled Nine, taking out the coveted title of the country’s No. 1 television network for 2021.

After conceding the mantle to Nine in 2019 and 2020, Seven was quick to announce the win on Saturday, with the network boasting a 38.6 per cent share of the market — just ahead of Nine’s 37.7 per cent.

The battle between ratings giants was tight, with Nine also highlighting wins in key demographics.

Rita Ora’s inclusion as a judge on The Voice saw the show become a ratings success. Picture: Nicholas Wilson

After playing Nine at its own game by doubling down on big marquee ­reality programs, Seven dominated a year bolstered by its coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games.

Despite it being a hugely disruptive year for TV — with multiple programs and sporting events postponed due to Covid-19 — both Seven and Nine still managed to lure big numbers for many of their programs.

Married At First Sight did well for Nine …

… but The Bachelor sank for Ten.

Reality TV was a big winner for both networks, with Seven’s top performers including The Voice, boasting an average of 1,850,000 viewers nationally, and Farmer Wants a Wife, which had a national average audience of 1,253,000.

Nine’s best performers were Married At First Sight, which had an average ­national audience of 1,347,000, and The Block, which pulled a national ­average audience of 1,222,000.

Seven’s year was bolstered by its coverage of the Tokyo Olympic Games. Picture: Getty

Network Ten’s Oprah Winfrey exclusive interview with Prince Harry and ­Meghan Markle was a huge win for the network, with more than 1.78 million viewers tuning in to watch the explosive two-hour special.

It was rumoured to have cost the network $400,000, but was one of the highest rating non-sports programs of the year.

RATINGS WINNERS ... AND LOSERS

HITS

• The Tokyo  Olympics (Seven)
• The Voice (Seven)
• Lego Masters (Nine)
• Big Brother (Seven)
• SAS Australia (Seven)
• MAFS (Nine)
• The Block (Nine)
• Have You Been Paying Attention? (Ten)
• Oprah with Megan and Harry (Ten)
• The Newsreader (ABC)

MISSES

• The Bachelor (Ten)
• The Weakest Link (Nine)
• The Bachelorette (Ten)
• The Masked Singer (Ten)
• Makin’ It Australia (Ten)
• Ultimate Tag (Seven)
• SAS: Hell Week (Seven)
• Big Brother VIP (Seven)
• Celebrity MasterChef (Ten)
• Holey Moley (Seven)
• Amazing Grace (Nine)

Media Week editor James Manning said the overall ratings win was a contentious topic and often disputed by the two top networks.

“The claims of who is No. 1 are always carefully crafted,” Manning said.

“Seven is claiming No. 1 overall, while Nine claims to be No. 1 where it matters for advertisers – audiences aged 25 to 54. Both are right.”

A trend noticed this year was that established formats including Big Brother and MasterChef worked for the networks, however, spin-offs failed to lure eyeballs.

“When offered second variations of each franchise (audiences) backed away,” Manning said.

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