PRESS RELEASE
ABC TV has ended the 2013 ratings year as the number 3 network with a prime-time share of 14.6% (up from 13.6%). ABC TV has experienced the largest increase across all networks.
ABC1 is the number 3 channel in prime-time with a share of 10.9% (up from 10.2% last year). The channel has increased its share in each city. ABC1 is number 2 in Perth.
ABC2 prime-time share is 2.2% (up from 2.1%).
ABC News 24 prime-time share is 0.9% (up from 0.7%).
Top Programs
– The top ABC TV program this year was the FLEET REVIEW SPECTACULAR on 5th October (1.7 million) across both ABC1 and ABC News 24.
– GRUEN NATION (1.3 million peak audience) and GRUEN PLANET (1.2 million) were among the ten most viewed ABC TV programs.
– Most popular dramas included THE DOCTOR BLAKE MYSTERIES (1.3 million peak audience), MISS FISHER’S MURDER MYSTERIES (1.1 million), CLIFFY (1 million), and PAPER GIANTS: MAGAZINE WARS (945,000).
– Compelling documentaries this year included WHITLAM: THE POWER AND THE PASSION (1.1 million), KEATING (1 million), CLIVE JAMES: THE KID
FROM KOGARAH (995,000), ABBA: BANG A BOOMERANG (965,000), and REDESIGN MY BRAIN WITH TODD SAMPSON (988,000).
– Thursdays have proven popular on ABC1 with a line-up of Australian comedies including UPPER MIDDLE BOGAN (1.1 million) and IT’S A DATE
(986,000).
-JA’MIE: PRIVATE SCHOOL GIRL achieved a five city peak audience of 1.1 million and is very popular on ABC iview with 1.8 million plays across 6
episodes so far.
– We also celebrated the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who on Sunday 24th November. The live broadcast of DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR
on ABC1 at 6.50am (AEDST) achieved a 5 city metro overnight average audience of 443,000 viewers and a total TV Share of 37.1%. The 7.30pm repeat broadcast achieved a 5 city metro average audience of 1.1 million viewers and a total TV share of 17.3%. Across both the live and repeat broadcasts, the program reached 1.6 million viewers, or 10.2% of the 5 city metro population. To date there have been more than 120,000 plays of the program on ABC iview.
ABC2
ABC2’s 7pm-midnight share of viewing is steady at 1.9% among total people but up among younger viewers aged 25-49 years (2.2%).
ABC2 showcased fresh original Australian content this year including PLEASE LIKE ME (peak audience of 219,000), HEAD FIRST (peak audience of 291,000).
ABC News 24
The ABC provided the most watched coverage of the 2013 FEDERAL ELECTION night, simulcast on ABC1 and ABC News 24. Election night coverage (7-Sep-13) achieved a metro average audience of 624,000 on ABC1, increasing to 951,000 combined with ABC News 24.
ABC News 24 achieved its top ever primetime share on 2013 Election night with 6.4%. Record daytime share was achieved on 7 November with 6.2% (US Election). The day of the Australian Election followed closely with 5.6%.
In the week of the election (1-7 Sep), ABC News 24 achieved its highest ever reach with 3.3 million metro viewers – 21.1% of the metro population.
Across the week of the LABOR LEADERSHIP CHANGE (23-29 Jun), ABC News 24 achieved a reach of 3.3 million metro viewers – 20.8% of the metro population.
Coverage of the Labor Leadership change is among the top ABC News 24 programs this year. The top ABC News 24 program in 2013ytd is LABOR LEADERSHIP NEWS CONFERENCES (26th Apr) with an average audience of 344,000 and total TV share of 5.8%. The program was simulcast on ABC1 and ABC News 24 with a combined average audience of 1.1 million.
ABC4Kids and ABC3
ABC4Kids retained its position as the most popular channel among preschoolers 0-4 during day-time with a viewing share of 50%.
ABC3 is still the number one channel among children aged 5-12s with a share of 21% followed by ABC4Kids with a share of 17%.
ABC iview
ABC iview, Australia’s most popular online TV catch-up service, continued to grow this year.
ABC iview achieved a new record of 19 million program plays in October.
In addition to JA’MIE: PRIVATE SCHOOL GIRL and DOCTOR WHO: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR, the most played programs this year included THE TIME OF OUR LIVES (124,000 program plays per episode), THE CHECKOUT (104,000 per ep) and UPPER MIDDLE BOGAN (100,000 per ep).
Source: OzTAM metro consolidated data, wks 1-48 2012 vs wks 1-46 2013, & Webtrends data.