Tell Us What You Watch, And We'll Tell You Who You Are
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday December 7, 2002
Unless you are Pauline Hanson or Dannii Minogue, you find pleasure in every new proof that Australia is a diverse society. What a boring place this would be if everyone had the same tastes. So the annual exercise of slicing the television ratings into demographic fragments offers an opportunity to rejoice in our differences. What follows is the national mosaic.
Let's begin with the gender divide. Australian men enjoy footy; Australian women enjoy racing. Women are curious about Michael Jackson; men are curious about how the twin towers fell down. Men like to laugh at a yobbo showing his bum crack in the outback; women like to laugh at sexy singles drinking coffee in Manhattan. Women want to fantasise about beautiful gardens; men want to fantasise about driving fast. And both wonder how smart they are.
In other words, the results for the year show that the most watched programs by males in the mainland capitals included lots of AFL, NRL and soccer, the documentary 9/11, All Aussie Adventures, the Bathurst 1000 and The National IQ Test, while the female favourites included the Melbourne Cup, Michael Jackson's Face, Friends, Better Homes Garden of the Year and The National IQ Test.
Next, the generation gap. Australians under 40 were besotted with Big Brother, but rapidly lost interest in Celebrity Big Brother, while the over-40s were only mildly curious about both sorts of housemates, and preferred footy, soccer and The National IQ Test. The geriatrics were more curious about Michael Jackson than the groovers were. They also had the attention span to stay longer with the spy serial 24. The shows that most held the groovers' attention were The Simpsons, The Secret Life of Us and Rove Live, all on Ten. And the gerries, being gardeners and renovators, were addicted to lifestyle shows, allowing Seven to do well with viewers over 40.
And now the city splits. Of course, Sydney and Brisbane watched the biffo while the other capitals watched the aerial ping pong. But who knew that Brisbane had such loyalty to royalty? It rated the Queen Mother's funeral far higher than any other city, while Perth preferred Michael Jackson, Sydney referred Brian Henderson, and Adelaide loved Bruce Willis (or Haley Joel Osment) in The Sixth Sense.
There's also a difference in sense of humour: Sydney and Melbourne are urbane and international (Friends among their top three regular shows, Malcolm in the Middle in their top 10) while Perth and Adelaide like it broad and rustic (All Aussie Adventures in their top five).
The ABC did best in Melbourne (Kath & Kim) and Perth (Arthur, King of the Britons), while Nine owned Sydney (with 15 shows in our top 20, five of them permutations of rugby league) and Ten owned Adelaide (13 shows in its top 20, seven of them permutations of Aussie rules). Seven had a bad ratings year (though it improved in the second half) but found most comfort in Melbourne, with seven programs in the top 20, of which four were permutations of the Commonwealth Games. Variety is the spice of Australia.
Footnote: This column predicted a year ago that Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone would sell fewer tickets than Shrek. We were wrong by $10 million. This year's prediction is that Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets will be the top movie for 2002, ahead of The Fellowship of the Ring ($46 million), Attack of the Clones ($33.5 million) and Spider-Man ($30.5 million).
We're confident in this prediction because, like many other Australians, we're obliged to see the new Harry Potter at least twice to catch details we missed the first time like author J.K. Rowling as a witch (when Harry hits Knockturn Alley); the wrong-way shadow of Dobby on Harry's cupboard; the painting of Gandalf among the wizards in Dumbledore's office; and the return of Gilderoy Lockhart (pictured) after 10 minutes of credits.
And if you happen to know the punchline of the Japanese golfer joke told by Uncle Vernon, please tell us at ddale@smh.com.au
TV
Sydney's top shows, November 24 - 30
Audience 000s
1 Brian Henderson's Last News (9) 770
2 Hendo Toasted And Roasted (9) 701
3 60 Minutes (9) 606
4 Nine News Saturday (9) 564
5 This Is Your Life (9) 527
6 Renovation Rescue (9) 506
7 Who Wants To Be A Millionaire (9) 495
8 24 - Final Episode (7) 487
9 Location, Location (9) 484
10 Getaway (9) 477
11 Nine News Sunday (9) 472
12 A Current Affair (9) 455
OZTAM
FILMS
Last weekend's box office
$ million Total
1 - Harry Potter Chamber Secrets 10.64 10.64
2 1 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 1.09 20.11
3 2 Ring .87 4.78
4 5 The Banger Sisters .61 2.08
5 4 Crackerjack .60 6.11
6 3 Changing Lanes .58 1.93
NIELSEN EDI
VIDEOS
Top selling videos, last week
1 Star Wars EP ll
2 Ice Age
3 Spider-Man
4 Monsters Inc
5 Tarzan & Jane
6 101 Dalmations 2
GFK MARKETING
CDs
Top selling albums, week ending Nov 25
1 3 The Last Time (John Farham)
2 4 Let Go (Avril Lavigne)
3 2 Best Of 1990-2000 (U2)
4 6 8 Mile (Soundtrack)
5 1 Up (Shania Twain)
Top single Born To try (Delta Goodrem)
ARIA
DVDs
Top selling DVDs, last week
1 Star Wars EP ll
2 Spider-Man
3 Blade 2
4 Fellowship Of Ring 4-Disc Set
5 Gone In 60 Seconds
6 Ice Age
GFK MARKETING
© 2002 Sydney Morning Herald
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