Rekindling brought heartache to many punters who put their money on the favourites at the Melbourne Cup, and the race that stops the nation would’ve had Seven’s executives smiling only a little. 

Almost 1.8 million viewers tuned in to Seven’s coverage of the Melbourne Cup yesterday,  according to OzTAM’s five-city metro figures.

Unsurprisingly, Melbourne had the most viewers with 849,000, followed by Sydney (377,000), Brisbane (255,000), Perth (202,000) and Adelaide (114,000). 

The overall figure excludes regional viewers, as well as those who watched Rekindling seal victory from their office or at the local watering hole.

The 1.8 million also doesn’t factor in the streamers, with Seven clocking 350,000 concurrent streams on 7Live – up 22 per cent on 2016, and making it the biggest streaming event of the year so far. 

However, Seven’s streaming success seemingly had an impact on TV broadcast figures, with this year’s Melbourne Cup recording the lowest-ever audience.

Promos for The Good Doctor during the Melbourne Cup coverage helped the Seven show win the primetime slot with 1.19 million viewers, and finish streaks ahead of Nine’s The Big Bang Theory and the ABC’s Keeping Australia Safe. 

Seven’s new show, Instant Hotel, also tasted success, winning its slot with just 695,000 viewers against Nine’s Family Food Fight, the ABC’s 7.30 and Jamie’s Quick and Easy Food on Ten. 

As a result, the Seven network finished on top overall with 32.8 per cent market share, followed by Nine (26.4 per cent), Ten (17.4 per cent), the ABC (15.4 per cent) and SBS (8.1 per cent).