The Checkout rings up ratings but Seven wins

SEVEN nabbed another ratings win as one of its British sitcoms fired and another fizzed, and ABC1's The Checkout rang up some ratings.

THE Seven Network nabbed another nightly ratings win as one of its British sitcoms fired and another fizzed.

The broad British comedy series Mrs Brown’s Boys continued its strong run on Australian TV as the highest-rating entertainment program of the evening with 993,000 viewers.

This was despite the program on debut before it - another old-style British sitcom Citizen Khan - only averaging 653,000 viewers. But the two shows and another 945,000 viewers for Border Security: International, secured Seven another win.

Seven had a 21.8 per cent channel share in the metro markets ahead of Nine’s 20.4 per cent, ABC1’s 14.4 per cent and Ten’s 13.0 per cent. SBS One was up to a 5.2 per cent share.

Nine News was the top-ranking show nationally according to preliminary OzTAM figures, with an audience of 1.222 million, ahead of Seven News’ 1.15 million. Nine News won in the three eastern capital cities.

ABC1’s strong night was led by ABC News, which ranked third with 1.061 million, and the consumer affairs program The Checkout, which has grown steadily to 822,000 viewers - the kind of figure that might have worked wonders anchoring ABC1’s listing Wednesday comedy schedule.

On Nine, Top Gear’s good start to the year waned with 623,000 viewers while the differing fortunes of the NRL and AFL Footy Shows continue. A national average of 742,000 was underpinned by 338,000 viewers in Melbourne, ranking it second in that city only behind A Current Affair. Its Sydney audience of 175,000 ranked it equal 13th for the night with Hot Seat.

OZTAM OVERNIGHT RANKINGS, APRIL 18
1 NINE NEWS Nine 1,222,000
2 SEVEN NEWS Seven 1,150,000
3 ABC NEWS ABC 1,061,000
4 MRS BROWN'S BOYS Seven 993,000
5 A CURRENT AFFAIR Nine 988,000
6 TODAY TONIGHT Seven 945,000
7 BORDER SECURITY: INTERNATIONAL Seven 945,000
8 HOME AND AWAY Seven 905,000
9 THE CHECKOUT ABC 822,000
10 ABC NEWS UPDATE ABC 815,000
11 THE FOOTY SHOW Nine 742,000
12 7.30 ABC 728,000
13 HOT SEAT Nine 659,000
14 CITIZEN KHAN Seven 653,000
15 TOP GEAR Nine 623,000
Copyright in the data is owned by OzTAM and may not be used or reproduced without permission.