In their mid-year ratings reports last week, amid their respective triumphant declarations of free TV domination, both Seven and Nine* boasted about the performance of their standout shows. Married at First Sight remains a viewer magnet. The AFL and cricket are reliable drawcards. But what might surprise you is the attention paid to several key game shows. Nine hailed the premiere season of its shiny prime-time production, The Floor, hosted by Rodger Corser, as “a ratings smash and the highest new format launch in VOZ (broadcast and digital viewing) history”, adding that it attracted a national total TV audience of 1.4 million per episode. That makes it more popular than 9News and A Current Affair. Seven claimed that its prime-time offering, The 1% Club hosted by Jim Jefferies, had a national audience of 1 million – 11 per cent up from last year. Meanwhile, in the zone that precedes primetime, quiz shows have long fought a pitched battle as lead-ins to the main news bulletins, slots seen as strategically important. That remains true even as the significance of the nightly news is being scrutinised, given the number of people who now receive their news throughout the day online. Nine trumpeted Tipping Point, hosted by Todd Woodbridge, as “the undisputed No.1 afternoon game show, with a national total TV audience of 845,000 per episode (up 11.2 per cent year-on-year).” Though it was once a close contest dominated by The Chase Australia, that show, hosted by Larry Emdur, is now a runner-up, averaging 638,000 viewers.