| News ratings in Australia | |
|---|---|
 | |
Television news ratings in Australia are collected by three main organisations:OzTAM in metropolitan areas, Regional TAM in regional areas serviced by three commercialtelevision networks, and in areas with two commercial networks,Nielsen Media Research Australia. Ratings are collected for 40 weeks during the year, excluding a two-week break duringEaster and ten weeks over summer. The majority of locally produced news and public affairs top the rating charts week after week.
Throughout the early to mid 1980s,Ten Eyewitness News,Network Ten's newscast was the leader in news in the markets of Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, mainly because it was the only news service inAustralia at the time that was broadcast at 6.00pm, as all the other network's aired their newscast at 6.30pm or 7.00pm, and also because their news service went for one whole hour (a format which remains in use as of today). In descending order,National Nine News,Seven National News,ABC News andWorld News Tonight, all lagged behind Ten.
Falling viewers numbers in the mid-1980s, particularly across the eastern seaboard, led theSeven Network to relaunch both its programming and its news service, which was renamedSeven Nightly News, as part of the network's growing alignment (in terms of branding) with the US network NBC – taking on both the name and well-known theme music (The Mission, composed by John Williams) of NBC's flagship news program,NBC Nightly News. During the worst period of low ratings,Seven Nightly News was forced to move their news to 6.30 pm becauseNational Nine News was too strong in the ratings. Shortly after the 1991 creation of the Seven Network as a company, a national populist current affairs programReal Life was launched, presented by former ABC reporterStan Grant. It replacedDerryn Hinch's current affair program called Hinch which aired between 1987 and 1991 until moved toNetwork Ten for another 2 years.Real Life continued until 1995, when it was replaced by state-based editions of the current programToday Tonight.
In 1987,National Nine News began over-takingTen Eyewitness News in the ratings. By 1988, they had taken the lead and was enjoying ratings success nationally. TheNine Network, re-launchedA Current Affair in early 1988 with formerTen Eyewitness News anchorJana Wendt. ACA enjoyed ratings success under Wendt topping the 1991 Australian TV Ratings.[1] Jana left in late 1991 and was replaced byRay Martin. In 1992 Nine started the longtime slogan "Who's Who of News", using it right up until 2004. They continued to dominate until 2005.
Seven, meanwhile, started to turn their fortunes around in 2003. They picked upNine's long-time chief of news and current affairsPeter Meakin and former Nine anchor andToday newsreaderIan Ross to anchor the Sydney bulletin. By 2007,Seven News became the top news service around the nation and in every capital city in Australia; in Brisbane, the recruitment of another formerToday newsreaderSharyn Ghidella, who replacedTracey Challenor on the weekend news, and formerNine News Queensland weather presenterJohn Schluter saw them overtake the market-leading Nine bulletin for the first time in two decades.[2][3] Beforehand,Seven News only dominated in Perth, in factSeven News Perth has been the top rating bulletin in that market since the early 1990s.[4]
Since 2011, however, Seven started to slowly lose its nationwide dominance, partly attributed to the retirement of Ian Ross as anchor of the Sydney bulletin at the end of 2009, and declining ratings for the lead-in game showDeal or No Deal.[5][6] Nine reclaimed its dominance in the Sydney market in 2011, followed by Melbourne in 2012, and then Brisbane (narrowly, by 21 weeks to Seven's 19)[7] and nationally in 2013.[8][9] Their dominance continued into 2015, when they also started to claim regular weeknight victories in Adelaide, where Seven had dominated for a long period.[4][10] Seven, however, hit back in 2016, thanks to a new lead-in game show titledThe Chase Australia, which helped to lift its news audience numbers on the east coast, where Nine continues to remain dominant.[11][12]
There are three main organisations:OzTAM in metropolitan areas, Regional TAM in regional areas serviced by three commercialtelevision networks, and in areas with two commercial networks,Nielsen Media Research Australia, that measure television news ratings in Australia.
OzTAM is an Australiantelevision ratings research firm that collects and markets news rating data. It is jointly owned by theSeven Network, theNine Network andNetwork Ten, and is the official source of television news ratings data for all metropolitan television inSydney,Melbourne,Adelaide,Brisbane andPerth as well as subscription services (such asSky News Australia) on a national basis.
Regional TAM is a research firm that provides the television news ratings forregional television markets with three commercial television operators.
Nielsen Media Research Australia is an American-basedfirm thatmeasures theaudiences for areas that remain un-aggregated, and of which are today known as diary markets.[13] Nielsen Media Research began as a division ofACNielsen, amarketingresearch firm. In 1996, Nielsen Media Research was split off into an independent company, and in 1999 was purchased by theDutchconglomerateVNU. In 2001, VNU alsopurchased ACNielsen, thereby bringing both companies under the same corporate umbrella.
