Who will win the ratings battle between Seven and Nine?

Channel 9 has had a monster year so far with Married At First Sight and Lego Masters raking in huge audience numbers, while Today is still rating low. The network is locked in a tight battle with Channel 7 to see who takes home the ratings crown this year.

Despite a massive few months with top-rating shows Married At First Sight, Lego Masters and The Voice, a 2019 prime-time television ratings win is far from a certainty for Channel 9.

Crunching the numbers, Confidential understands it will be neck and neck between the Nine and Seven networks to see who takes home the ­ratings crown this year.

OzTAM ratings figures show Seven’s network of channels is just 0.1 per cent ahead of the Nine Network with a share of 29.8 per cent of the market.

The ratings year is decided by who wins overall from 6pm to midnight.

It’s a close battle between Channel 7 and Channel 9 to see who will come out on top of ratings at the end of the year.

The rival networks are split by just 0.1 per cent heading into the second half of the year. Picture: Adam Ward

MORE NEWS

Hollywood stars feel pressure to be funny all the time

MAFS’ Cyrell sets record straight on her new man

Why Hollywood actress couldn’t refuse to work with Chris Hemsworth

Who wins the year determines crucial advertising dollars and how much networks have to spend on new programs.

Seven director of network programming Angus Ross this week told Mediaweek “we are not a one-show network”.

When contacted on Wednesday, Nine program director Hamish Turner said: “The phenomenal performance of MAFS, Travel Guides, 60 Minutes and The Voice have helped give us our best ever start to a ratings year.

Married At First Sight broke their own records this year, notching almost two million viewers for the finale. Picture: Nigel Wright.

“Our back half is just as strong, with Australian Ninja Warrior, The Block and Hamish & Andy’s Perfect Holiday all still to come.

“Not to mention a month of the Ashes in prime-time as well. We have significantly added to our overnight ratings with our streaming service 9 Now which continues to provide both impressive audience numbers and revenue to the business.

“We will be the No.1 network for 2019 with all key demographics and we expect it to be a very tight race with total people.”

While Nine has delivered record numbers for MAFS and other formats at 7.30pm, some have warned it drops off for the back half of the week, which could have an impact on winning the year.

The new look Today Show has continued to struggled to get audiences to tune in.

Channel 9 has strong shows in the second half of this year but the AFL will give the Seven network a massive boost. Picture: AAP Image/Julian Smith

“There’s still a long way to go, it will depend a lot on how The Block performs for Nine,” commentator and Mediaweek editor James Manning said.

“Seven’s early evening with news and Home And Away is often the difference between the two networks. There is also still four months of AFL, which gives Seven a massive boost.”

And while not a prime-time show, Nine’s beleaguered Today show has struggled with its new look line-up fronted by Georgie Gardner, Deb Knight and Tom Steinfort.

Today ratings overall are down 24 per cent year on year, while 9am show Today Extra, hosted by Sonia Kruger, David Campbell and Richard Wilkins, is down 14.6 per cent.