The year's final of any TV series is usually the most watched episode, whether that's in sport, reality, talent quest or drama. The exceptions this year have been The X Factor, which peaked at 1.5 million but managed only 1.2 million for a finale in which the Minogue sisters sang a duet, and The Beautiful Lie, which started with 540,000 viewers in the mainland capitals and ended with 425,000.
The ABC must be regretting its decision to let The Beautiful Lie's narrator (Sarah Snook) admit, in the opening voice-over, that she was going to die at the end. Just because you're communicating from the afterlife doesn't mean you're allowed to reveal spoilers.
Fargo, the best drama currently on television, continues to attract just 181,000 viewers, but apparently does well enough on catch-up and timeshift to allow SBS to promise it will show series three next year. The most watched drama currently on television is New Tricks, with 882,000 viewers. This might suggest that the drama fans who have not yet shifted to a streaming service tend to be in the over-55 age group.
The 7 million Australians who have access to Foxtel are, as usual, mostly watching sport (V8 supercars at Phillip Island, in particular) and The Simpsons, but they are also embracing the new series of A Place to Call Home, The Walking Dead and Gogglebox, which draws 138,000 viewers on the Lifestyle channel on Wednesdays, and 643,000 on Channel Ten on Thursdays. Yes, people do watch a TV show about people watching TV shows.
OzTAM estimates these were the most watched shows in the mainland capitals in the week ending November 24:
1. The Block (Nine), 1.23 million
2. The X Factor winner announced (Seven), 1.20m
3. Nine News Sunday (Nine), 1.16m
4. 60 Minutes (Nine), 1.15m
5. Seven News Sunday (Seven), 1.12m
