In the battle to secure the eyeballs of US drama fans it was newcomer, Seven’s The Blacklist, that won leaving the return of Homeland with less than half-a-million viewers.

At 8.30pm 1.596 million people tuned in to watch the premiere of The Blacklist on Seven. Just 445,000 people turned to Ten to see the much hyped return of Homeland.

Ten did stream the first episode of season three online yesterday. Figures revealing the audience for the broadcast which lagged just 15 minutes behind have not yet been released.

But Ten told B&T it was “very happy with the early online viewing numbers we have seen for the episode”. Time shifted viewing, via personal video recorders, won’t be available until next Tuesday, October 8.

The average time shifted viewing for Homeland last year was 165,000 per week.

Ten’s primetime broadcast may also have been the victim of piracy, with the Homeland episode leaked online a full month before its broadcast in the US.

The drama was 12^th in 25-54s and 12^th in under 55s, according to OzTam’s preliminary metro ratings. The Blacklist was top of both demographics.

The return of Scandal on Seven, at 9.30 pm, won its timeslot with 605,000 viewers.

Seven won the night, commanding a 35.2% share of all free-to-air viewers with 28% of that to its primary channel.

Ten took a total 14.3% with just 9% going to the network’s primary channel. The result is behind the ABC’s total 20.9% and its main channels 14.7%.