Nine went Ninja-free last night but still hung on for a win by the slimmest of margins to rival Seven.

Nine claimed 25.1 per cent of last night’s eyeballs to Seven’s 25 per cent. Ten just hung on for third with 20.5 per cent but had the ABC – with 19.2 per cent – hot on its heels. SBS reached double figures with 10.2 per cent.

On a quiet night of TV, Seven’s The Single Wives proved the evening’s clanger, managing a mere 375,000.

With Ninja and House Rules on hiatus, MasterChef (863,000) won the battle of the entertainment shows arguably by default.

Seven’s 6pm news bulletin was the most watched show of the night with 1.007 million. Nine’s version couldn’t crack the million-mark, posting 972,000. In the post-news current affairs shows, ACA had 795,000 and Ten’s The Project pulled 515,000.

Home And Away (652,000) and The Chase (623,000) were the other standouts for Seven.

Ten’s Instinct didn’t do well, managing only 398,000.