Despite the right royal hype, Australian viewers not all that wild about Harry

We’re over Harry.

Prince Harry’s interview has come and gone, and as far as viewers in the UK, US and Australia are concerned it was all a bit ho hum. The time of the year actually adds to the lacklustre ratings performance of the interview — the UK and UK are in peak winter viewing — and solid audiences are available to watch programs they want to see. In Harry’s case that was not the outcome — in the UK 4.1 million people watched the ITV interview, which was not very good as it was beaten by the Sarah Lancashire series Happy Valley with 5.2 million viewers (UK ratings figures show that was up 200,000 on last week). 

In the US, the 60 Minutes interview was watched by 10.52 million viewers — an OK but not brilliant outcome, but also much lower than the 17.1 million who watched Harry and Meghan being interviewed by Oprah in 2021 (the UK interview figure was only a third of the ratings for the Oprah interview in that country).

In Australia the interview on Seven started at 7.30pm, ended around 9.15pm and averaged 738,000. Again, not brilliant but it was the most watched program from 7.30pm onwards. However, it was less than half the 1.78 million who watched the Oprah interview on Ten in March 2021. I think we are Peak Harry for the moment, and Meghan is not a contender either.

The 738,000 (no streaming figures here yet or from the US and UK) for the Harry interview saw Seven win the night. The average was lower than the 839,000 who watched the return of Home and Away from 7-7.30pm. Harry fatigue, no doubt. 

The start of the new-look Bachelors Australia (yes, plural) in high summer averaged 405,000 for Ten for the launch out of ratings. Ratings Spakfilla, really. It did, however, lift Ten above the ABC into third spot nationally in total people and the main channels.

Network channel share:

1. Seven (33.1%)
2. Nine (26.9%)
3. Ten (17.5%)
4. ABC (14.9%)
5. SBS (8.0%)

Network main channels:

1. Seven (22.1%)
2. Nine (17.2%)
3. Ten (11.5%)
4. ABC ONE (10.5%)
5. SBS (3.5%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. 7mate (5.7%)
2. 7TWO (4.3%)
3. Gem (3.2%)
4. 10 Bold (3.0%)
5. 10 Peach (2.5%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.405 million
2. Seven News 6.30pm — 1.394 million
3. Nine News — 937,000
4. Nine News 6.30pm — 928,000
5. Home and Away (Seven) — 839,000
6. 7pm ABC News  — 817,000
7. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (R, Seven) — 745,000
8. A Current Affair (Nine) — 744,000
9. Harry: The Interview (Seven) — 728,000
10. 7.30 (ABC) — 615,000

Top metro programs: none with a million or more viewers

Regional top 5: Seven News, 513,000; Seven News 6.30pm, 495,000; Home and Away, 320,000; The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 290,000; 7pm ABC News, 264,000.

Losers: if you didn’t want Harry, it was Netflix/Prime/Stan/Disney+ etc for you.

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News 6.30pm — 899,000
2. Seven News — 892,000
3. Nine News — 705,000
4. Nine News 6.30pm — 695,000
5. 7pm ABC News — 553,000
6. ACA (Nine) — 514,000
7. Harry: The Interview (Seven) — 487,000
8. 7.30 (ABC) — 422,000
9. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 327,000
10. Ten News First — 230,000
11. The Project 6.30pm — 170,00
12. SBS World News — 129,000

Morning (national) TV:

1. Sunrise (Seven) — 370,000/225,000
2. Today (Nine) — 252,000/166,000
3. ABC News Breakfast — 140,000/144,000
4. ABC News Mornings — 231,000
5. The Morning Show Summer (Seven) — 186,000
6. Today Extra Summer (Nine) — 122,000

Top 5 pay TV programs:

1. Cricket: BBL (Fox Cricket) — 177,000
2. Cricket: BBL (Fox Cricket) — 152,000
3. Cricket: BBL The Big Break (Fox Cricket) — 150,000
4. Cricket: B4 The Bash (Fox Cricket) — 58,000
5. Cricket: BBL Post Game (Fox Cricket) — 56,000