By James Manning

Mediaweek has also released separate podcasts on PodcastOne with both Pete Evans and Manu Feildel.

Listen to the podcast here or on iTunes.

Working with format co-creator and first executive producer Rikki Proost

Pete: Rikki is a well respected and much loved executive producer. He’s wonderful at creating concepts and bringing them to reality (pardon the pun). He’s a true master of the genre. It is always a privilege to catch up with him and I owe him a debt of gratitude for giving us this opportunity.

When I did the audition I think I got the job the first day. I then did a chemistry test with another host a couple of days later, but it didn’t feel right.

I hadn’t met Ricky yet, but I looked at the call sheet and rang him up. [Evans call to Proost] “We haven’t met, and thanks for the job. But the person we are working with, I don’t think [as a duo] we will be strong enough to go up against MasterChef. There is only one person that I know of in the country that I think would make a great partner for me.”

I’m very studious of my industry and I keep a watch on the hospitality world like a hawke and I said for this show to work you need someone like Manu Feildel.

Rikki laughed and told me Manu had done three pilots with Seven, but they had to sideline him because some people thought his accent was too strong which is why we reauditioned.

Manu and I had been mates for many, many years prior and I just knew…I like to work with big, colourful personalities when there are two of us onscreen.

Someone else like me isn’t the right formula. I love working with bold people. It allows me to be myself and be comfortable with that.

Evans didn’t always get the roles he tried out for

Pete: My first day ever on television I auditioned for Foxtel and a show called Home. It was a very simple premise – there was a landscape architect called Brendan Moar, a stylist called Shannon Fricke and then they brought me in as the cook because somebody pulled out at the last minute. I was the shyest person in the world. They asked me twice to come in because they loved the food I was doing in my restaurant.

I’ll never forget the first audition day when they had someone to train me.

They told me I was too boring. “Can you be a bit more flamboyant like maybe Jamie Oliver.” I told them the only person I can ever be is me. Now 10 years later I am still being me, so far so good!

Even the seemingly easiest things can take some time

Pete: When we arrive in the car outside a [contestant’s] home – that scene can take the longest to film out of anything. We do it about five times in and out of the car to get all the different angles. That is part of the success of the show – the high production values and they don’t cut corners.

Even ringing the doorbell can take some time. We walk up to the door, press the button and do it with all different angles. Then there is the entrance with the teams – hopefully we get that in one take. Sometimes it takes us two takes to get the angles right.

Then it is game on as we wait for the different courses.

One of us always visits the kitchen for entrée, main and dessert. Maybe they might only show one visit, sometimes none.

When the good stuff happens at instant restaurants

Pete: Manu and I leave the table for a substantial amount of time. We find the contestants open up a little bit more amongst themselves. When we are at the table it is MKR. When we leave the table to go into the kitchen, or to talk to production, that is when they can be more themselves.

Best parts of working on My Kitchen Rules every season

Pete: The first episode is always the best because we have never met the teams.

The viewers get ads leading up to the first episodes and they are getting to know the contestants. We sit down without knowing anything about them.

The first time the contestants cook for the public in challenges is always great.

The ultimate instant restaurants are also fantastic which is when they get to cook in their homes again. At that stage of the series they are right into competition mode.

The grand final of course is a highlight when we see the results of all the hard work and the experience gained across the series. This year we have changed it a little as to how the teams get to the semifinals and it is brutal. It was hard for Manu and I and a brutal way to pick the last four teams. There was so much pressure both for us, and the teams.

The lowest points are when we have to say goodbye to teams. It is very hard to tell a team they might be going home because they haven’t put enough salt on a dish. Something so petty can be the difference between winning and losing. I can be gut wrenching for us. Some people think it is all glamorous for us, but it is not as easy as they would think.

—

What are the days on My Kitchen Rules you enjoy most?

Manu: It is the day when contestants finally understand what they are there for. The first few weeks are holiday time. They are all away from their families and their work. They are meeting new people and making new friends.

We have to remind them that the instant restaurant round is actually the easiest part of the competition.

There is $250,000 to win – we are not going to give that money to just anyone.

When the people realise it is a real competition they start working their hardest and it is when they start cooking some great food.

What are the hardest days during a My Kitchen Rules shoot?

Manu: They are long days, some days maybe two challenges in a day. We might be hot, sweaty and exhausted and half of the food that you had was not great.

It is a lot more than what you see on TV. We have big responsibilities and it can be tiring.

Tomorrow: What people don’t always understand about the MKR format + trouble in the kitchen

By James Manning

Triple M head of content Mike Fitzpatrick talks to Mediaweek about the move and how the network is positioned for 2019.

To Mike Fitzpatrick, hiring Laura Bouchet for his Sydney station looked an obvious move:

“She has runs on the board and you cannot find anyone in the industry that doesn’t speak highly about her. I already knew we made the right decision, but it was nice to have affirmation from many people after the announcement was made.

“I’m sure she will be sorely missed by Jonesy and Amanda. We will make sure we look after her and she will be great for Moonman [Lawrence Mooney].”

Asked if he was lucky that Triple M could secure her services without a long no-compete period, Fitzpatrick replied: “There is no such thing as luck!”

Fitzpatrick said he hadn’t been talking to Bouchet over a long period of time. “We always intended to start the year at Triple M breakfast with Sydney content director Jamie Angel producing breakfast. It is great to have the content director getting his hands dirty working on a show. We have also got some great producers from SCA working with me and Jamie getting that show right prior to Laura starting with us.”

When asked if Bouchet’s arrival means a change of target audience at Triple M Sydney, Fitzpatrick said: “It was obvious from the show we had before we were very, very male and also nearly exclusively western suburbs targeted. That was great because it was what we needed at the time.

“The Grill Team Triple M created nine years ago was what we needed. We had been in the wilderness and we had a share of about 2.9% in breakfast. We didn’t really stand for anything, we weren’t playing rock music and we had just bought the NRL rights.

“Creating The Grill Team was a necessary move to claim back our core audience, put a flag in the sand and say this is what we stand for.

“That show is not what we need now. Our NRL coverage is 10 years old and remains #1 under 70. The audience also knows what we stand for musically.

“Our goal now is to grow our 10+ audience in breakfast. Breakfast is where all the audience comes in and we then keep them across the day. We weren’t ever going to grow 10+ with the show we had there before.

“We are still a male targeted radio station with weekend sport and rock music. But in breakfast it should be able to be enjoyed by everyone over the age of 10.”

The new Sydney show is led by Mooney with Grill Team original Gus Worland, SCA veteran the great Chris Page and Jess Eva from Sunshine Coast breakfast radio.

Fitzpatrick reminded us both Jonesy and Amanda are both ex-Triple M and very talented. “I love them both. Why wouldn’t the opposition try and take one of the reasons for that success?”

He added the role of executive producer is critical to the success of the show. “They work hand-in-hand with the talent, so you need and EP that understands and had a great relationship with the talent.”

The Moonman breakfast team were very happy with the new appointment, said Fitzpatrick.

He added that Mooney is cutting back big time on many of his commitments to focus on his Sydney radio challenge. “He’s not doing the Melbourne Comedy Festival or the Brisbane Comedy Festival. He is doing 11 shows at the Sydney Opera House which turns out to be fortuitous for the host of the Sydney Triple M breakfast show.”

Without the question being asked about where Mooney will be based (it was coming), Fitzpatrick said: “Despite what some of the press would have you believe, Lawrence isn’t doing the show from Melbourne every day. He will be in Sydney for the first couple of surveys and he is looking for apartments. He needs to be in Melbourne for some commitments and he will split his time between the two.

“He will be in Sydney a lot.”

Of the arrival of Jess Eva in Sydney to be part of Triple M breakfast, Fitzpatrick said: “She will be a fantastic long term radio player. She has not come from a reality TV background. She comes from a radio background.

“She was with SCA in regional Queensland and more recently was on the Sunshine Coast where she did breakfast for the past six years. She is a radio person first.”

Has she moved to Sydney?

“Of course! She has moved her whole family to Sydney. Including her husband Norm who is a bit like Mick Dundee at the moment – he can’t believe how many big buildings there are.”

Triple M around the network: Brisbane

The Brisbane station had a great end to 2018 with a record share.

“Moony likes to downplay his role in that. The reality is that the Triple M breakfast show has great bones with Robin Baily and Greg Martin. Newcomer Nick Cody is great. He lives in Brissie and his strike rate is very high. He will be a long-term prospect too for Brisbane. We ended last year with a record result. It was heartening we did it via a slow, steady build over 12 months, which indicates we got the strategy right.

I don’t expect to have a 14.1% in surveys one and two this year, because you can’t change your breakfast show and stay #1. I certainly expect it to be competitive though.”

Triple M Melbourne’s Hot Breakfast

“I was very happy with the growth at Triple M Melbourne. They have had one of their best books in a long time. We have really managed to reinvent that show with Wil Anderson coming in. After eight years it needed a freshen up.”

Fitzpatrick admitted there were a few soft surveys last year. “But we didn’t just replace Mick Molloy with Wil. It changes everything when you change a person. We also realised the show we need now is not what we needed when we built the show nine years ago. Eddie understands that too and sees the need to keep the core promise that we will keep the audience in touch with everything happening in Melbourne. He also sees the need to broaden the audience and not just focus on football.”

Adelaide’s Triple M

“We had consistent figures across the year and we were consistently winning the workday, but unfortunately we ended dropping a little in the last two surveys.

“There is no reason that won’t come back in 2019.”

Triple M’s new networked drive show with Mick and Jane

“Kennedy Molloy has been hugely successful in Brisbane and Perth. It is growing in Sydney with some good recent results.

“In Melbourne, it is taking a little longer than I would have thought although we ended the year above 7%. It is a very tough market in drive. There is still room for growth and we are only a year in. No show works in a year anywhere…no matter who you are.”

Southern Cross Austereo turned on the hospitality for a number of clients and the breakfast team, inviting them for pre and post-show drinks and tickets to one of Mooney’s 11 Opera House shows.

Mooney had the Playhouse Theatre rocking with laughter in much the same way his new Sydney home rocks its audience with its playlist. His An Evening With Malcolm show is nearing the end of its national tour and the centrepiece of the show is a TV chat program hosted by Malcolm Turnbull.

There are just a few shows left at the Opera House and Mediaweek advises readers they should move quickly to get tickets!

Supporting Mooney in the audience last night was not just his new executive producer, but his colleagues from breakfast Gus Worland, Jess Eva and Chris Page with some of their production team.

Also on hand was Sydney content director Jamie Angel who SCA’s Mike Fitzpatrick notes elsewhere here today is current “getting his hands dirty” producing the breakfast show with a 4am start.

Others from SCA at the gig were head of marketing Nikki Clarkson, head of radio sales Sydney Carla Vella and head of direct sales Lyn Barp.

Carla Vella with Lyn Barp, Nikki Clarkson and Jamie Angel

Others at the gig included former SCA exec now with CRA, Jaime Chaux, and always busy journalist Melissa Hoyer. Also attending was former Triple M breakfast production guru Richard Mortlock.

—

Top Photo: Laura Bouchet with Gus, Pagey and Eva

Network 10 has recruited from the north, south, east and even from the West Indies to bring a stellar line-up of celebrities who are super excited to show off their foxtrot, rumba and waltz on the all new Dancing With The Stars.

Premiering Monday, 18 February at 7.30pm, the 11 illustrious hopefuls will be rhinestoned and sequined within an inch of their lives, ready to deliver the sparkliest season yet.

And, for the first time in Australia, Dancing With The Stars will see a male celebrity paired with a male professional dancer. Shane Jenek will undertake rehearsals as himself but come show time will perform under his drag pseudonym, Courtney Act.

Courtney, a triple threat who has been practising her dance moves relentlessly, said: “My balls…of my feet have been very sore. I’m used to high heels hurting but my feet are killing me already.”

And joining Courtney, Samuel Johnson, Sir Curtly Ambrose and Cassandra Thorburn are another seven stars.

From fitness moguls, chefs, comedians and lifesavers, will they have what it takes to shimmy, sparkle and spin their way to dancing glory, all in the name of charity?

Here’s what they had to say:

Michelle Bridges, Fitness Expert

“At a wedding recently, I was on the dancefloor all night to the point where I busted my heel and like any good Aussie girl, I threw my shoes into the corner and kept going!”

Denise Scott, Comedian and TV Presenter

“People do like to cheer on the underdog. Surely being the oldest in something doesn’t make you an underdog, it just makes you old.”

Olympia Valance, Actress

“I’ve watched the show every year and I wanted to try something that I’ve never done before. How cool would it be to whip out a freaking tango at a salsa bar?”

Jett Kenny, Competitive Lifesaver and Model

“My sister who has danced her whole life told me to go and get basic lessons, but I saw it as more of a challenge to start from scratch.”

Miguel Maestre, Chef and TV Presenter

“Everyone is looking at me like this bowl of jamón rolling around the dancefloor!”

Constance Hall, Author and Social Media Sensation

“I was surprised when first approached but then I realised ‘no of course they want me there, everyone needs someone to laugh at.’ That’s their angle so I’ll give it to them.”

Jimmy Rees (aka Jimmy Giggle), Children’s Presenter

“My family are very excited, I think they have high expectations for me which I’m trying to lower.”

Dancing With The Stars is hosted by Grant Denyer and Amanda Keller.

Seven Studios UK joins Seven West Media’s growing content creation group, along with Great Southern Film & Television (Auckland), Slim Film & Television (London), Seven Studios Australia and 7Beyond (Los Angeles).

See also:Seven exits UK production biz as Screentime parent Banijay acquires 7Wonder

Pattison is currently head of entertainment North at BBC Studios, where he is responsible for several long running series including A Question of Sport. Since starting in that role he has executive produced Top of The Box for Channel Five and co-created BBC daytime series The Boss and Home Is Where The Art Is. Prior to his current role he was creative director of development across BBC Studios.

During his career, Pattison has co-created and produced numerous formatted series including You Are What You Eat, Show Me the Monet, Secret Location, Food Chain, Word Play and School of Silence, as well as producing the series of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? which included the first two millionaires and the infamous cheating major. He also ran his own company, Lucky Day Productions, as part of the Zodiak Media Group.

Seven West Media CEO Tim Worner said: “We are very pleased to be opening the doors of Seven Studios in the UK with Damon, whose record as an outstanding creative executive and leader speaks for itself. He has consistently generated fantastic ideas and executed them with great success. At Seven Studios UK he will have the benefit of an IP flow from our entire group’s creative output which is already finding a growing global audience.”

Pattison said: “The opportunity to work for an international broadcaster of such repute was too good a chance to miss. It’s an incredibly exciting opportunity, and I look forward to working with such a strong creative team to develop and produce new content at Seven Studios UK.”

7Beyond, which recently celebrated its fifth birthday, continues to go from strength to strength with its top rating My Lottery Dream Home moving into season 8, and new commissions from HGTV and Discovery.

See also: Inside the 7Beyond US joint venture

GSTV recently took home numerous honours from the New Zealand television awards for both scripted and unscripted projects, and its award-winning observational documentary The Casketeers has been a global hit.

Seven Studios Australia continues to create hit formats with My Kitchen Rules now produced in 13 international territories. Having launched a number of new titles on the Seven Network over the past year, it is currently co-producing Zumbo’s Just Desserts with Netflix.

Beginning round one, Fox Footy will show every game of every round of the 2019 NAB AFL Women’s third season live, including finals and the grand final with no ad-breaks siren to siren.

Fox Footy’s commentary team made up of expert analysts, players and coaches will be ready for the first bounce of the blockbuster between new club Geelong and Collingwood this Saturday February 2.

“I’m looking forward to joining the Fox Footy team and seeing the game from another point of view. I can’t wait to see how the skills and tactics of the players and coaches have changed and I am excited to dissect this with viewers at home,” said Bec Goddard.

Game days will be hosted by Sarah Jones and Kelli Underwood, with Fox Footy’s Katherine Loughnan, Sarah Olle, Katelyn Barry, Natalie Yoannidis, Tania Armstrong plus Sharni Layton covering all the action from the boundary.

Fox Footy’s Leigh Montagna, Ben Dixon, Alastair Lynch, Chyloe Kurdas, Kate Sheahan, Ben Waterworth, Adam Papalia and Sam Hargreaves also make up the team.

For the first year ever, the league will play semi-finals with the two winners of each pool facing off in the grand final.

In December last year, AFL and Foxtel announced a partnership that will see all NAB AFL Women’s matches broadcast live on television for the next four years. The partnership formalised Foxtel’s long-term commitment to AFLW, with all matches broadcast live around the country.

In 2019 and 2020, Foxtel will broadcast every AFLW game live, including all finals matches live nationally throughout the four-year partnership.

All games will also be available live on the digital platform Foxtel and via the official AFLW Live App.

ROUND 1 AFLW on FOX FOOTY

GEELONG v COLLINGWOOD
• Saturday 2 February, 6.30pm live from GMHBA Stadium

ADELAIDE v WESTERN BULLDOGS
• Saturday 2 February, 8.30pm live from Norwood Oval

NORTH MELBOURNE v CARLTON
• Sunday 3 February, 1.00pm live from North Hobart Oval

MELBOURNE v FREMANTLE
• Sunday 3 February, 3.00pm live from Casey Fields

BRISBANE v GWS GIANTS
• Sunday 3 February, 5.00pm live from Moreton Bay Central Sports Complex

—

Top Photo: Fox Footy’s Sarah Jones

In Australia the awards were telecast on the Foxtel Arts channel.

Mandy Moore

Honored with individual awards were Mahershala Ali, Emily Blunt, Rami Malek and Glenn Close for performances in motion pictures, and Patricia Arquette, Jason Bateman, Rachel Brosnahan, Darren Criss, Sandra Oh and Tony Shalhoub for performances in television.

The award for a motion picture cast performance went to Black Panther, while the award for television drama and comedy ensemble performances went to This Is Us and The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel.

Black Panther cast

Harry Shum Jr. and Sydney Sweeney revealed the honourees for outstanding action performances during the official live pre-show.

The stunt ensemble from Black Panther was honoured for film and the stunt ensemble from Glow was honoured for television.

Tom Hanks presented Alan Alda with the 55th Life Achievement Award, following a filmed salute to one of the world’s most respected and beloved actors.

The complete list of recipients for the 25th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards as follows:

Theatrical Motion Picture winners

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
• RAMI MALEK / Freddie Mercury – “BOHEMIAN RHAPSODY” (20th Century Fox)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
• GLENN CLOSE / Joan Castleman – “THE WIFE” (Sony Pictures Classics)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
• MAHERSHALA ALI / Dr. Donald Shirley – “GREEN BOOK” (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
• EMILY BLUNT / Evelyn Abbott – “A QUIET PLACE” (Paramount Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
• BLACK PANTHER (Marvel Studios)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
• BLACK PANTHER (Marvel Studios)

Television winners:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
• DARREN CRISS / Andrew Cunanan – “THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY” (FX Networks)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Limited Series
• PATRICIA ARQUETTE / Tilly Mitchell – “ESCAPE AT DANNEMORA” (Showtime)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
• JASON BATEMAN / Martin “Marty” Byrde – “OZARK” (Netflix)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
• SANDRA OH / Eve Polastri – “KILLING EVE” (BBC America)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
• TONY SHALHOUB / Abe Weissman – “THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL” (Prime Video)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
• RACHEL BROSNAHAN / Miriam “Midge” Maisel – “THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL” (Prime Video)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
• THIS IS US (NBC)

Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
• THE MARVELOUS MRS. MAISEL (Prime Video)

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Comedy or Drama Series
• GLOW (Netflix)

The 55th Annual SAG Life Achievement Award
• ALAN ALDA

—

Top Photo: The Marvellous Mrs. Maisel cast

ABC radio station triple j summarises the voting highlights:

We always knew 2018 was gonna be a big one for Ocean Alley. The Sydney six-piece built up a solid fanbase over the 12 months prior, touring their blistering live show after claiming their first Hottest 100 entry with The Comedown at #38 in 2017. Then in February 2018, while gearing up for the release of their second album Chiaroscuro, they dropped a slinky little number called Confidence on the nation. Almost a year later, proving its mass appeal and lasting power, it topped the poll as the fave song in the 2018 Hottest 100.

triple j’s music director Nick Findlay says of the song: “Dripping with a level of sun-drenched soul that’s straight out of a 70s surf flick, Confidence proved to be such an earworm that it transcended the usual garage-ska scene and straight into the hearts of the nation. It’s a song that led the votes from day one of polling and never stopped its huge trajectory to success. Confidence is Ocean Alley at their finest and a well-deserved jam to take out the #1 spot in the 2018 Hottest 100.”

Triple j’s Hottest 100 stats:

• Ocean Alley’s Confidence marks the 15th Aussie song to hit #1 in the Hottest 100
• Ocean Alley placed with 4 songs, followed by Billie Eilish, Hockey Dad, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Post Malone and DMA’S at 3 songs each
• Ocean Alley bookend the countdown with #1 Confidence and #100 with Bones. That’s the second time ever, after Powderfinger did it in 1999 with #1 These Days and #100 Passenger
• 65 songs are from Australian artists and 21 artists appear in a Hottest 100 for the very first time
• 31 artists were first heard on triple j Unearthed and 6 songs were uploaded to triple j Unearthed in 2018
• 67 songs are from male artists, 22 from female artists, 8 from acts including both male and female artists, and 3 from artists who identify as Non-Binary or Genderqueer
• February was the hottest month with 14 songs released in that month, including 3 from Ocean Alley!
• 2 artists in the countdown had back-to-back entries: RÜFÜS DU SOL (#22 Underwater, #23 Treat You Better) and Vance Joy (#53 We’re Going Home, #54 Saturday Sun)
• Both Peking Duk and DMA’S celebrate their 5th consecutive appearance in a countdown, while Amy Shark, Cub Sport, Tash Sultana, Thundamentals, Vera Blue and Drake appear for a 3rd consecutive year
• Hilltop Hoods now have 19 songs in a Hottest 100, catching up with record holders Powderfinger and Foo Fighters (22 each)
• The shortest song is Up In The Clouds by Skegss (2:30min) and the longest song is Underwater by RÜFÜS DU SOL (5:49min)
• Music truly came from all over Australia, with regional Hottest 100 hometowns including Byron Bay, Forster, Forbes, Windang, Castlemaine, Blue Mountains, Arnhem Land, Delungra, Newcastle, Gympie and Menangle

By Trent Thomas

The Mule debuts at #1 as Clint Eastwood proves that he can still draw a crowd, and is joined in the top five by fellow debutant Green Book. These two films have taken the place of Aquaman which made $1.34m (5 weeks, $39.29m) and Mary Poppins Returns which made $1.16m (4 weeks, $17.54m). Despite slipping out of the top five Mary Poppins Returns had the highest average per screen, generating $8,163 across 162 screens.

Bohemian Rhapsody finally commenced its inevitable slide down the rankings last week, and this has continued this past weekend with the biopic coming in at #11 after making $774,656. This brings the overall total to $50.23m as it inches closer to to the $50.38m needed to enter the top 10 all-time for the Australian box office.

Noticeable films outside of the top five this week include:

#7 Dragon Ball Super: Broly– $1.32m (First week)
#9 Storm Boy– $904,936 (Two weeks, $3.36m)
#10 Ralph Breaks the Internet– $800,973 (Five weeks, $19.51m)
#12 Mary, Queen of Scots- $636,796 (Two weeks, $2.59m)

#1 The Mule $1.90m

Being the top earner in its opening weekend is a good start for the film that was based on the New York Times’ article The Sinaloa Cartel’s 90-Year-Old Drug Mule by Sam Dolnick. In its first week of release, it averaged $6,123 across 311 screens.

#2 Glass $1.82m

Dropping down from top spot in its second week of release, the continuation of the story told in Split and Unbreakable averaged $5,302 over 344 screens this weekend.

#3 How to Train Your Dragon: Hidden World $1.62m

After four weeks of being in Australian cinemas, the overall Australian box office total for the Dreamworks Animation film now sits at $20.10m, after averaging $5,059 over 322 screens this weekend.

#4 Green Book $1.60m

Fresh off winning a Golden Globe and with a possible Oscar on the horizon the film based on the book The Negro Motorist Green Book, and starring Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali debuts at number four. In its first week in Australian theatres, the film managed to average $6,191 after being shown on 260 screens (the highest average in the top five).

#5 Instant Family $1.58m

After three weeks the family comedy has stayed in the top five after only suffering a 24% drop off on last weekend, while still managing to stay above the $1.5m mark, and producing an average of $5,770 over 275 screens.

Week 5 2019 – Summer schedule – Tuesday

By James Manning

FTA early evening TV news

• Seven News 1,013,000 and 960,000
• Nine News 838,000 and 810,000
• ABC News 648,000
• 10 News First 426,000
• SBS World News 125,000

Breakfast TV

• Sunrise 265,000
• Today 219,000
• ABC News Breakfast 109,000

Morning TV

• The Morning Show 125,000
• Today Extra 102,000
• Studio 10 65,000

Week 5 Reality Battle

Married At First Sight

• Monday 1,003,000
• Tuesday 955,000

My Kitchen Rules

• Monday 816,000
• Tuesday 814,000

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here

• Sunday 681,000/647,000
• Monday 676,000
• Tuesday 605,000

Seven

Seven got very close last night to a primary channel win, trailing Nine by just 0.2. Seven is able to claim a combined channel win though with a narrow lead over Nine by…0.2.

On My Kitchen Rules, the audience was steady for episode two just over 800,000. The instant restaurant from Amanda and Blake saw the first scores of 10 this year. As co-host Pete Evans told Mediaweek, there are more scores of 10 given out this year than ever before.

A second successive night of The Good Doctor was on 552,000 after 621,000 on Monday. Last night would be the smallest audience yet for the US medical drama.

Nine

After starting the week on 816,000, A Current Affair was on 677,000.

There was also an audience dip at Married At First Sight with the Monday audience down to 955,000. The program remains the leader in the timeslot and key demos though.

Nine then went with another movie – Bridget Jones’s Baby did 303,000.

10

After starting its weeknights at 7pm this week on 438,000, The Project lifted a little to 465,000. Dave Hughes returned to the show ahead of the launch of a new season of his panel show.

I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! had much going on including Luke Jacobz in a terrifying trial and then spilling the beans on Lindsay Lohan. The Tuesday audience was just over 600,000.

Hughesy, We Have A Problem helped build the channels Tuesday share with half a million staying with 10 until 10pm. The episode was #1 under 50 in its timeslot and was up 9% on the show’s 2018 average.