News ratings in Australia
News ratings in Australia are measured by three main organisations: OzTAM for major cities, Regional TAM for regional areas served by three commercial networks, and Nielsen Media Research Australia for markets with two networks. Ratings are collected over 40 weeks a year, with a two-week Easter break and ten weeks of summer break.
Over the years, different networks led at different times. In the early 1980s Ten Eyewitness News on Network Ten was the top news bulletin in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Adelaide, partly because it started at 6:00 pm and ran for a full hour. National Nine News and Seven National News followed. In the mid to late 1980s, Seven relaunched its news as Seven Nightly News and aligned with NBC branding, after which Nine gradually pulled ahead in the late 1980s.
A Current Affair was relaunched by Nine in 1988 and became a ratings success in the early 1990s. Nine used the slogan “Who’s Who of News” from 1992 to 2004 and kept a strong lead for years. Seven began turning the tide in 2003, hiring key Nine anchors to boost its Sydney bulletin. By 2007 Seven News was leading nationwide, with regional wins changing as reporters and anchors moved around.
Nine regained dominance in Sydney in 2011, followed by Melbourne in 2012, Brisbane in 2013 and nationally in 2013, with Seven making a comeback in 2016 helped by The Chase Australia boosting its east coast numbers. Nine continued to be strong in several markets, including Adelaide in 2015.
OzTAM is jointly owned by the Seven Network, the Nine Network and Network Ten and is the official source for metropolitan ratings, including national coverage of subscription services like Sky News Australia. Regional TAM provides regional ratings for markets with three networks, while Nielsen Media Research Australia measures markets with two networks and began as ACNielsen, later becoming part of VNU before operating as an independent company.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 21:35 (CET).