Seven’s 800 Words most watched non-news show but comes third across the demographics
The Erik Thomson drama 800 words was the most watched non-news show of Tuesday Night pulling 1.027m metropolitan viewers, but struggled across the main advertising demographics.
800 Words cast Melina Vidler, Erik Thomson, Bensen Jack Anthony,
The Seven drama won its 8.40pm timeslot but in the key demographics of 16-39, 18-49 and 25-54s had a smaller audience than Nine’s 7.30 and 8.30 programming The Block and The Big Bang Theory.
Oztam overnight metro data also shows that many Australians are choosing to watch the drama series later with 800 Words the most timeshifted program of last Tuesday adding an additional 235,000 viewers in a week.
I have no words!
800 words is fair to middling television, and like fair to middling race horses that win races, it would do much worse in better company, but seems to be rather buoyant floating where it does, with lesser vessels on a sea of sludge.
Ratings mania has seen the hopefuls crammed together in prime time and the rest of the space filled with repeats and cheap old schlock.
800 words is called drama/comedy by its guardians, but I think this is because they probably don’t understand that the Soapy melodrama sometimes played for laughs, is not quite the gem that they, and I, would like it to be.
This series is so oddly half pretty bloody good, half corn. With nothing in between. Like turbulance, you’re have a cruisey ride when suddenly – boomf! boomf! – then back to 40,000. Maybe that’s what the market likes.
The folks back in Inverness (Scotland) where Erik Thomson hails from are vaguely proud of their ‘local boy’ making vaguely good