There was an absence of strong hometown support for the Nine Network's telemovie Schapelle.
Less than 24 hours before the convicted drug smuggler walked out of a Bali jail, the telemovie attracted a national "five-metro" TV audience of 1.022 million viewers on Sunday night to be seventh overall behind the mini-series INXS: Never Tear Us Apart (1.974 million).
However, just 144,000 watched Schapelle in Brisbane, where the ratings catchment includes the Gold Coast, and it was only the 10th most watched show in the Queensland capital city market.
Slotting in before Schapelle in the Brisbane region were 60 Minutes (172,000), Network Ten's Sochi Games Early Evening (182,000) and the Seven Network's local afternoon travel series The Great South East (146,000).
Schapelle was supposed to air on Monday but Nine took a risk and slotted the telemovie against INXS to capitalise on her pending release.
INXS: Never Year Us Apart was second in the Brisbane region with 322,000 viewers.
Current affair series Sunday Night, which featured an interview with Rachelle Louise, the girlfriend of Simon Gittany who threw his fiancee to her death over a balcony, was number one in Brisbane with 377,000 viewers.
