Married at First Sight, returned last night on Channel Nine and 9Now. The show is one of the biggest in the country – the final episode of MAFS was one of the most watched entertainment programs of the year with a metro audience of just under 1.4m metro and a national audience of 1.816m.

In the quest to find the love of their lives, some of Australia’s most attractive and adventurous singles will hand the keys to their heart to relationship experts John Aiken and Mel Schilling, and clinical sexologist Alessandra Rampolla, who together will match them up to determine whether science really can predict true love and long-lasting romance.

Mediaweek spoke to Tara McWilliams, executive producer of Married at First Sight at Endemol Shine Australia about bringing together the show’s biggest season yet. 

The million-dollar question has always been what exactly is it that draws people in to the show. For McWilliams, it’s the unpredictability of people’s emotions.

“It’s a show that is based on a lot of emotion – and very raw emotion. It’s a show that resonates with a lot of people because you’re seeing the curtain come up on relationships, you’re being led in to see how intimate a relationship can be.

“These couples really embrace the process and experiment where they drop their guard, and they are completely them – the good, the bad, and the ugly. You never know what you’re going to get when you tune in every night because of that, and so therefore, it makes addictive viewing.”

It’s not just the viewers who have no idea what will happen next. MAFS is a highly unpredictable show, for the team behind the scenes as well. McWilliams says that took some getting used to.

“I took over in season four. As producers, we like to know: this is the beginning, then the middle, then the end. We like to know what’s happening. 

“On this show, I think the shock for a lot of us was that we’re completely along for the ride in many respects. I found that really difficult at first because you’re kind of like, ‘Oh God, I don’t know how to plan for the next day’. I’ve now completely embraced it. I love making the show that way, I love that we come in with a plan and in many respects hope that it doesn’t go to plan – because that’s what makes the show so exciting.”

Finding the Brides and Grooms

This season, 16 singles from around the country will be laying eyes on their new spouse for the very first time at the altar. When it comes to choosing who would take the plunge, McWilliams says there are multiple things they look for.

“It would be insulting to say that we are purely looking for people that are 100% genuine and only motivated by finding love, because that’s not realistic. Being on a TV show and having a million eyeballs on you is a very brave move, so you’ve got to have people who want that experience. 

“We’re looking for people that are absolutely authentic, there’s no question about that. Everyone that comes on this show regardless of what their various motivations may be, one driving factor has to be they want to meet their soulmate.

“But then also what motivates them is the experience of an experiment like this. I know that experience is a large part of why people apply to be on this show, and we’re okay with that. It’s not just about finding love, it’s an entire overhaul of their life for four months.”

See More: Married At First Sight: Everything you need to know about the brides and grooms

Working through Covid

As with all productions, MAFS has been affected by Covid-19 restrictions.

“Probably the biggest impact was on the weddings,” says McWilliams. “You’ll notice that weddings are a lot smaller, some weddings don’t even have guests because of the restrictions or the border closures. It’s a very big commitment for someone to come to Sydney and then they potentially can’t even get back into their home state for a few weeks or have to quarantine when they get home. So that had had a big impact.”

Despite needing to work around Covid-19, the always-popular Homestay Week is returning in 2022. 

“Usually we’ve had homestays a little bit earlier in the season, but we pushed it back a little bit, which actually worked great. I actually liked it better at the back end, because by that point they know more about each other. You’re more invested in what the parents will think, or what the friends and family will think given that we know more about them as well as the audience. 

“Not everyone goes to everyone’s home, and that was because of restrictions. We brought it to wherever we could go, whoever’s home we could go to, whatever made sense. Every couple does a homestay either at the groom’s or the bride’s home, and it worked! We pulled it off, everyone was safe and everything was fine. It was great.”

Getting the Nation Talking

It won’t all be drama – McWilliams says that the new season of MAFS will be breaking ground by tackling some big topics.

“What I’m really excited about with this series, in particular, is that there are a lot of hot button topics that are going to come to the forefront and are going to have the nation talking. 

“There will be some controversial things as well. MAFS is probably a bit synonymous with controversy, but there are definitely some very controversial things that happen that are going to have people really divided, and really talking about in a passionate way. 

“There are really serious conversations, some really serious topics, and some issues that I don’t think reality TV in this country has tackled before – at least not in recent memory. It’s going to be really fascinating to see how the audience responds to that. 

“It’s a cracker of a season. I’m really proud of it and I can’t wait for everyone to watch it.”

Endemol Shine Australia (ESA), a Banijay company, has announced the promotion of three staff to new executive positions.

With successful formats in production for all broadcasters, ESA is the biggest producer of television in Australia. This year those series include MasterChef Australia, Australian Survivor, Gogglebox, Big Brother, Lego Masters, Married at First Sight, Australian Ninja Warrior, Beauty and the Geek and Old People’s Home for 4 Year Olds.

Above: Tara McWilliams, Top: Peter Newman

The promotions see executive producer Tara McWilliams become director of content, joining existing directors of content Amelia Fisk and Marty Benson. McWilliams will expand her remit, overseeing a portfolio of shows across the diverse ESA unscripted slate, while retaining oversight of Married at First Sight.

David McDonald

Executive producer David McDonald is elevated to ESA head of comedy, charged with steering the company into new territory in the form of scripted and sketch comedy, as well as other light entertainment projects. He will continue to oversee Lego Masters and Gogglebox.

Sara Richardson

Executive producer, scripted, Sara Richardson has been promoted to head of scripted, as she continues to develop the company’s growing slate of scripted content.

Each will report into Endemol Shine Australia CEO Peter Newman in their new roles, which are effective immediately.

Peter Newman said, “The appointments we make today are richly deserved and speak to the talent, experience and drive of these three brilliant individuals.

“Tara is without question one of Australia’s most outstanding unscripted creatives. Her phenomenal experience and passion will now plug into even more of our exciting unscripted slate.

“Combined with his exceptional showrunner experience, David’s natural comedic talent and credentials make him the perfect choice to break new comedy ground and to lead the charge for us into this space.

“In just 12 months, Sara has shown us what an incredible talent she is, her passion for the scripted genre clearly demonstrates she has what it takes to drive our scripted business further and stands ready to deliver new, exciting projects in this important space for ESA.”

WPP announced the appointment of Simon Dingemans to its board as a non-executive director, effective immediately.

He is a senior advisor at global investment firm The Carlyle Group, with a focus on the healthcare sector as well as investment opportunities in the UK.

Prior to joining Carlyle, Dingemans was chief financial officer of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and a member of the main board from 2011 to 2019.

There, he drove extensive restructuring and change programmes that delivered significant financial and operational efficiencies. He also led a number of significant strategic transactions.

As CFO, he was responsible for leading Finance and a variety of other functions including Procurement, Real Estate and Technology, including Cyber Security.

Prior to GSK, he worked in investment banking for 25 years at SG Warburg and then Goldman Sachs, where he was managing director and partner for 10 years as a leader of their European M&A business and head of UK investment banking.

Dingemans served as non-executive chair of the Financial Reporting Council in 2019/20. He previously also served as Chairman of the 100 Group which represents the views of Finance Directors in the FTSE 100 and a number of large UK private companies.

Chairman of WPP Roberto Quarta said: “We are delighted to welcome Simon to WPP. His insight from a varied and distinguished career, combining both operational and financial experience, will be invaluable to the Board as WPP continues its transformation and strategic progress.”

Dingemans said of appointment: “WPP is the global leader in its sector with a clear strategy for continued success and value-creation. I am very much looking forward to being part of the transformation journey and supporting the future growth of the company.”

Dingemans will serve as a member of the Audit Committee upon joining the Board.

Half Dome have announced Paul Wilkinson as the head of commercial as the independent media agency looks forward to fast tracking its growth.

In the newly created role, he will be responsible for elevating the company‘s offline investment function, and overseeing all commercial client outcomes – reporting to managing partner and general manager, Tom Frazer.

Wilkinson has almost 20 years’ experience in the media industry, he was the former Spark Foundry Head of Investment, head of investment at The Media Store, and before that Amplifi ANZ.

His career began with Carat in the UK before he moved to Australia in 2012 to join Carat as business director and then head of investment. He has also been an advisory board member at SMI.

Tom said of the appointment: “Half Dome is on a mission to make media smarter for our clients, both current and future – and bringing someone into the organisation of Paul’s calibre is going to allow us to get closer to achieving this as we build out our offline capability and connect it to an already market- leading digital approach.

“His reputation in market to build and create value in previous senior investment roles across Dentsu, Spark and TMS will no doubt fast track our commercial approach in years to come. It’s very exciting times for the business,” he added.

Wilkinson of said his new role: “Half Dome is an unquestionable success story of the last three to four years, with a group of smart, ambitious media professionals leading the way in the digital space to deliver enviable levels of business growth and exceptional client results.

“So, when an opportunity came for me to join founders Tom, Joe (Frazer), Will (Harms) and the team, I could not have been more excited.

“As most people know, my background is founded in the offline space, having spent the last seven years heading up the investment functions of several major agency teams.

He added: “It’s our combined skillsets of digital expertise and offline experience that I believe places Half Dome in a winning position for 2022 and beyond, as we embark on the next phase of growth for the business, and I can’t wait to get stuck in!”

Wilkinson’s appointment follows that of Catherine Smith as Half Dome’s new head of operations in September last year. Wilkinson’s appointment is effective immediately.

IAB Australia has announced that Angus Keene, acting managing director at Twitter Australia, has been appointed as the chair of its Executive Tech Council (ETC) effective immediately. Keene replaces Pete Barry, who was recently promoted to vice president, addressability for PubMatic and has been the ETC Chair since June 2021. Keene will also become the Exec Tech Council representative on the IAB Australia board.

The IAB Executive Technology Council was launched in 2017 to take advantage of the IAB’s scale, competencies, and member base to identify and address critical issues in advertising technology innovation. It has four main priority projects for 2022: supporting mentorship, addressing the talent and careers challenges; supporting the AdTech enquiry and providing Australian privacy guidance.

The ETC includes 30 representatives from media and technology companies including Integral Ad Science, Google, News Corp, PubMatic, Xandr, Magnite, Spotify, The Trade Desk, Yahoo, Index Exchange, LinkedIn, Cartology, Quantcast, Twitter, The Guardian, Seven West Media, InMobi, Playground xyz, Pinterest, DoubleVerify, Carsales, Nine and REA,

Gai Le Roy, CEO of IAB Australia said: “Angus’ passion for developing and mentoring talent in the industry as well as his career experience working in media, innovation and tech makes him a perfect choice to guide the ETC and represent the industry at Board level. I look forward to working with Angus and the ETC continuing to deliver a first-class mentoring program, developing a range of new training programs; and of course, supporting the industry through the development of standards, education and shining a light on market innovation.” 

Angus Keene, acting managing director for Twitter Australia & New Zealand said “I am delighted and honoured to be appointed as the Executive Technology Council (ETC) representative on the IAB Board. I look forward to facilitating open communication between the board and all members of the ETC. Having more voices and perspectives within our industry will benefit our members, marketers, and agencies.”

Out of Home (OOH) signs across Australia will feature a healthy eating campaign – Better Than You Remember –  donated by the members of the Outdoor Media Association (OMA), and delivered in partnership with Health and Wellbeing Queensland and Nutrition Australia.

The four-week pro bono campaign, developed by Health and Wellbeing Queensland, is the second campaign run in partnership with government to encourage healthy eating.

The annual campaign is part of the OMA’s world-first, National Health and Wellbeing Policy that aims to meet community expectations and support government efforts to tackle overweight and obesity in Australia.

OMA CEO, Charmaine Moldrich, said: “The Outdoor advertising industry is proud to launch its second health and wellbeing campaign as part of our commitment to encourage healthy lifestyles. With this campaign, we aim to support Health and Wellbeing Queensland’s mission to ‘make healthy happen’.

“We know that Out of Home advertising is a powerful channel that influences positive behaviour. Our research has proven these outcomes, particularly when it comes to lifestyle changes.

“The post-campaign study of the first health and wellbeing campaign we ran in January 2021, Add an extra handful of veggies, showed that 86 per cent of parents who saw the ad said they were encouraged to include veggies in their meals or snacks.

“While 80 per cent said they were encouraged to make healthier choices for their children’s meals. We ran Add an extra handful of veggies last year in partnership with the Australian Government Department of Health,” she added

The Better Than You Remember campaign encourages Australians to rediscover and think differently about how they consume vegetables, and its website boostyourhealthy.com.au shines a light on how delicious veggies are, and offers tips, resources, and recipes.

Dr Robyn Littlewood, Health and Wellbeing Queensland chief executive said she was delighted to see the work with the Outdoor Media Association and Nutrition Australia come to life on signs in Brisbane, regional Queensland and across all other states in Australia.

“We know every town and city across Australia is experiencing different food supply chain issues, so we’re encouraging people to make the most of what is available by trying different ways to cook the vegetables that are available. If you can’t get your favourite vegetables, substitute it for something you haven’t tried before,” she said.

“Vegetables play an important role in our overall health and wellbeing, they provide fibre and essential nutrients, and a vegetable rich diet is both good for a healthy gut and it can help prevent and manage obesity and chronic health conditions such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

“We’re committed to addressing health issues and promoting the importance of veggies in everyone’s diet, which is why it’s so rewarding to be working with the Outdoor industry to achieve this goal,” Dr Littlewood added.

Lucinda Hancock, CEO of Nutrition Australia Vic Division said: “We love seeing veggies on billboards and believe more promotion like this is needed. Eating a rainbow of coloured vegetables can ensure people are consuming a variety of important nutrients.

“We are thrilled to be involved in this year’s campaign and provide tips and recipes that can make healthy eating tasty and accessible. This campaign is topical as you can boost your immune system by upping your veggie intake. A great annual initiative by the OMA and their members,” she added.

Moldrich concluded: “We do hope to see similar positive survey results for this second health campaign. Staying healthy and looking after yourself is more important than ever.”

OMA members participating include: Australian Outdoor Sign Company (AOSCo), BIG Outdoor, Bishopp Outdoor Advertising, EiMedia, goa, JCDecaux, JOLT Charge, Motio, oOh!media, Outdoor Systems, Paradise Outdoor Advertising, QMS Media, Scentre Group BrandSpace, Shopper, Think Outdoor, Tonic Media Network, TorchMedia, Total Outdoor Media (TOM), and Val Morgan Outdoor (VMO).

The value of the Better Than You Remember campaign is estimated at over $3 million and will be in market for four weeks, from Sunday 30 January to Saturday 26 February 2022.

QMS has announced it has signed all eight launch partners for its new City of Sydney digital street furniture network.

The partners include Australian streaming service Stan; global beverage company Diageo; worldwide luxury products group LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton; radio, digital and television media company SCA; global integrated payments company American Express; Australian telecommunications company Optus; global technology company Uber; and another global entertainment company.

QMS general manager, City of Sydney, Jemma Enright, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome all these incredible brands as an integral part of our new, world-class network and the next chapter for the City of Sydney.

“The response from the market has been strong. With these eight premium partners, our official, major, and platinum partnership levels are fully subscribed. These brands have engaged with us deeply over the past months and see their City of Sydney partnership as a highly valuable and strategic opportunity for 2022.”

The launch partners will receive category exclusive first access to the new network as it goes live until the end of May 2022 with preferential commercial positions. As such, partner advertising has commenced in line with the network roll out and will continue to ramp up over the coming months.

Stan chief marketing officer, Diana Ilinkovski, said: “As Australia’s leading local streaming service, Stan is pleased to expand our long-standing relationship with QMS by becoming a launch partner on their all-new City of Sydney street furniture network.

“Since Stan’s launch, we have been a proud partner of QMS, with their robust portfolio of digital large format and street furniture inventory playing a pivotal role in the achievement of our marketing objectives.”

QMS’ new digital network features bigger, more premium displays with 90% of the advertising inventory being digital to meet the growing demand for digital outdoor advertising and enhanced data capabilities.

Designed by acclaimed architects, Grimshaw, and built on a philosophy of using sustainable materials and smart technology, the QMS network will include more than 800 panels and deliver to accessibility and inclusivity standards, as well as comply with the City of Sydney’s Sustainable 2030 vision.

In June 2020, QMS was appointed to an exclusive 10-year agreement, plus a further five-year option, to create a reimagined network of street furniture for the City of Sydney.

The agreement will see a newly designed suite of bus shelters, kiosks, public toilets, seats, and bins replace the current furniture, most of which has been in place since 1997.

QMS CEO, John O’Neill, said: “We are working very closely with the City of Sydney on the rollout of the new network. While the ongoing pandemic has created some installation delays, we are pleased with how the rollout is progressing. It’s fantastic to see our partners’ advertising starting to appear on the network. The next few months will be an exciting time as the rollout continues and more people return to the City of Sydney to work and play.”

Nova Entertainment has announced the selection of mParticle as its customer data platform, to help drive the business’ first party data approach to support the enablement of Nova’s digital audio strategy.

Nova Entertainment’s digital audio offering has seen the business expand its platform capability to bring podcasting operations in house. In addition, Nova launched The Player, a centralised destination for audiences to access and explore the breadth of content across Nova’s radio stations, streaming, DAB+, news, podcasting, and Nova’s Red Room experiences. The selection of a future fit customer data platform to drive effective and privacy compliant management of listener data, is the next step in supporting Nova’s digital ambition.

Tim Armstrong, Nova Entertainment’s head of digital audience & monetisation explained that Nova’s digital audio strategy will deliver valuable consumer insight and enable identifiable audiences across all the business’ streaming products and implementing a robust and trusted customer data platform is the next step in this approach.

“Over the last two years there have been ongoing changes and announcements from big tech when it comes to regulations related to the collection of customer data.  Like many businesses we’ve been trying to navigate this space with open eyes whilst developing our long-term data strategy focused on new capability and meeting the growing demands of our customers. Now more than ever it’s important for us to build a robust foundation based on trust with the customer, ensuring that we treat customer data as if it were our own.  mParticle is the right platform to enable us to take that next step in our journey,” Armstrong said. 

“The demise of third-party tracking presents brands like Nova with the opportunity to invest in modern data infrastructure. Nova’s approach to developing a first-party data strategy is forward thinking and will ultimately enable the company to improve personalisation and increase engagement across media touchpoints,” said Kris Fagan, mParticle’s Vice President of Asia Pacific & Japan. 

mParticle will enable Nova to amalgamate siloed customer data from multiple sources and understand how each customer is interacting with Nova’s assets across all touch points including mobile, web and smart speakers. The business will be able to organise collections of users into audience segments defined by certain behavioural attributes and seamlessly deliver data to downstream systems. The customer data platform also allows the ability to provide personalised experiences to customers and enable deterministic targeted advertising and enable the business to quickly connect customer data to drive growth and engagement.

The selection of mParticle is the latest stage in the evolution of Nova Entertainment’s digital strategy, that is focused on developing greater understanding of our audiences across the business’ entire audio ecosystem, delivering addressable streaming audiences to commercial partners and providing a customised listener experience. 

Men’s lifestyle publication EFTM have announced the launch of its full-featured app for Android users, to complement the launch of its iPhone app last year.

This launch allows all EFTM readers to access new content in a mobile-first environment, with all new content published at EFTM.com now able to served directly to its readers via instant notifications.

The launch for Android devices completes the first phase of EFTM’s direct to consumer strategy, which began early last year in response to Facebook shutting down Australian media pages on its platform.

EFTM.com editor Trevor Long said: “For years I, like many others, had spent a lot of time and money building large audiences on our Facebook pages.

“Facebook made it very clear that it could wipe out my audience in an instant, disconnecting us from our passionate and growing audience that had specifically asked for our content.

“While that was Facebook’s right, it was an alarming reminder that we don’t own that connection to audience. I decided there and then that I needed a more direct strategy.

“That included using our email database more, but also I wanted to find a way to ensure readers know when new content was published – something that they might have found out previously via posts on Social Media,” he said.

By the middle of 2021, EFTM had launched its full featured app for iPhone. The app was an instant success, reaching well into the Top 10 News apps for iPhone regularly, and reaching strong engagement levels thanks to both the home-screen Widgets and Instant notifications enabled.

However, the search for an Android developer took some time as Trevor explained: “I wanted an Android app from the get-go, however I found it hard to find a developer who had experience in the exact features I wanted to be part of the app. All the developers were off-shore and didn’t fill me with confidence in the early discussions.

“Remarkably, my EFTM F1 Podcast co-host Harry Tucker offered to build the app, and his late night and weekend work has paid amazing dividends with an app that is exactly what I’ve wanted, and has features not yet even launched within the Apple iPhone version of our app. It’s outstanding and I’m also delighted to have been able to deliver this while developing it within Australia.

“Both apps have taken considerable time and effort alongside an investment which I think helps us stand out as an Independent media operation. It ultimately sets us on a strong course to own a direct connection to our ever-growing audience and not be beholden to the whims of other parties.

“This is something that will benefit our readers and our business. We can now make clear commitments to our sponsors and advertisers that they will reach a highly engaged audience, and we aren’t reliant on an algorithm that is increasingly stacked against businesses,” he said.

The EFTM Android app features content written content published on EFTM.com, category sliders separating content into tech, cars and lifestyle podcasts published by Trevor, EFTM ID that offers users entry into our promotions and giveaways.

It also has Ask Trev – a feature that allows users to email Trevor seeking tech advice or help which will feature in the podcast, and notifications which give users the option to choose which categories to receive Push notifications direct to devices.

LiSTNR has announced a new partnership with Australian War Memorial to create the podcast Up Close – Conversations with Modern Veterans. In the podcast, Adam Shand will help shed light on the reality of life for Australian Defence Force members. 

Throughout the series, Shand uncovers the driving factors that lead young people to enlist in the first place, the rigorous training, highs and lows of military service and what life looks like after the uniform comes off.

Across the six episodes, Shand interviews Fred Campbell OAM, former Royal Australian Navy Warrant Officer, Aunty Lorraine Hatton OAM, Quandamooka Elder of the Noonuccal and Ngughi tribes in South-East Queensland and Indigenous Elder for the Australian Army, David Nicolson, former Australian Army Trooper, and Dr Kim Morgan-Short, a former Royal Australian Air Force Reservist and a Director at the War Widows Guild, Queensland.

American journalist Bill Grueskin has been appointed as the first Alan Moorehead Journalist-in-Residence at the Judith Neilson Institute (JNI), in Sydney.

He will begin his tenure on Monday and will be in Australia for the next six weeks, working at the JNI headquarters in Chippendale.

Grueskin will be undertaking research into the impact of the News Media Bargaining Code one year on from implementation.

He will also engage with journalists and educators to share the latest training and development programmes being deployed at Columbia, and learn about Australian techniques that can be brought back to the US.

Grueskin is a professor of professional practice at Columbia University‘s graduate school of journalism in New York.

He has previously held senior editorial roles including: executive editor at Bloomberg, where he oversaw the efforts to train the global news staff on maximising the benefits of digital platforms.

Grueskin was also deputy managing editor of The Wall Street Journal and managing editor of WSJ.com, city editor of The Miami Herald; and founding editor of a newspaper on the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation.

He also holds degrees in Classics from Stanford University, and international economics and US foreign policy from Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies.

JNI’s Journalist-in-Residence program gives working journalists, as well as those involved in the production of news and factual content, an opportunity to undertake a deeper piece of work at the Institute.

The program is split into two streams, one for local journalists and news producers, named after Catherine Martin, who won the inaugural Gold Walkley in 1978 during a distinguished career, including nearly 30 years at the West Australian.

The international stream is named after writer, war correspondent and historian Alan Moorehead.

Attaching Moorehead’s name to this program speaks to the Institute’s ambition to engage with journalists around the world.

The Australian box office has had a static week with no change to the order of the top five as Spider-Man: No Way Home continues to dominate, bringing its total to $76.66m. Edging closer and closer to the $84m needed to overtake Avengers: Endgame for the #3 spot all-time at the Australian box office.

Overall, the Australian box office was down 21% after making a total of $7.63m in revenue.

#1 Spider-Man: No Way Home $1.66m

They say time is undefeated but Spider-Man: No Way Home has been putting that notion to the test after seven weeks at #1 and another dominant win. This past weekend it averaged $3,780 on 440 screens.

#2 Sing 2 $1.00m

The animated family musical continues to bob along, maintaining its #2 spot after averaging $3,227 on 312 screens. The film now has a total of $17.50m.

#3 Scream 5 $854,666

The requel to the classic 90’s slasher film, has now spent three weeks in the top five. Over the weekend it averaged $2,988 on 286 screens, bringing its total to $5.36m.

#4 Ghostbusters: Afterlife $641,279

Another requel, Ghostbusters: Afterlife has now spent five weeks in the top five after averaging $2,049 on 313 screens this past weekend. The film now has a total of $10.52m.

#5 House of Gucci $601,285

House of Gucci has also spent five weeks in the top five, thanks to its average of $2,721 on 221 screens, bringing its total to $7.85m.

MAFS, Australian Survivor, and The Voice: Generations

Total TV Ratings, January 24

I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! once again was the top non-news program in the total TV ratings, after registering an audience of 979,000 viewers, an increase of 17%.

The Australian Open was a close second with 970,000 viewers, an increase of 5%. The eighth day of competition saw local attraction Alex De Minaur go down in straight sets in the afternoon. Primetime saw Stefanos Tsitsipas win a close contest over Taylor Fritz.

On the ABC, Back Roads was up by 13% of its overnight ratings with 694,000 total TV viewers. The episode took its audience Boulia in Queensland.

Overnight TV Ratings, January 31

Primetime News
Seven News 1,041,000/1,010,000
Nine News 913,000/922,000
ABC News 652,000
10 News First 323,000 (5:00pm)/ 210,000 (6:00pm)
SBS World News 172,000 (6:30pm) 158,000 (7:00pm)

Daily current affairs
A Current Affair 665,000
7.30 533,000
The Project 234,000 (6:30pm)/460,000 (7:00pm)
The Drum 158,000

Breakfast TV
Sunrise 241,000
Today 237,000
News Breakfast 179,000

Late News
ABC Late News 59,000
SBS World News Late 68,000

Nine continued its winning streak (which now sits at 14 days) thanks to the successful premiere of Married at First Sight’s ninth season which was #1 in all key demographics. Although while Nine was the top primary channel (25.4%) and network (32.0%) last night, MAFS was down year-on-year for its launch with 869,000 tuning in. This was also the lowest audience for a launch since 2017.

MAFS previous launch audiences (metro):
2015: 1,143,000
2016: 769,000 (First series that year)
2016: 769,000 (Second series)
2017: 826,000
2018: 914,000
2019: 1,006,000
2020: 1,154,000
2021: 964,000
2022: 869,000

The first two weddings saw Selin and Andrew then Tamara and Brent tie the knot. It didn’t take long for the show to commence with the drama as Brent was repulsed by feet and Tamara was repulsed by the way he handed her a knife. 

On Seven, Home and Away returned for the year with 537,000 viewers before the three-night event series The Voice: Generations launched with 529,000 viewers. The episode saw the first set of blind auditions as the coaches started to fill their teams with family units. 

While The Voice: Generations was the number #3 ranked metro non-news program it was actually #1 in regional with 349,000 as opposed to MAFS’ 289,000 viewers. This led to Seven having the #1 regional share for both primary (23.4%) and network (33.2%).

On 10, The Project had 234,000 (6:30pm) and 460,000 (7:00pm) as the show covered Citipointe Christian College’s policy against LGBTIQ+ students and spoke to I’m a Celebrity winner Dylan Lewis.

Following the project was the launch of Australian Survivor with 608,000, which was #2 for its timeslot and also all key demographics. 

Like MAFS, Survivor was also down year-on-year after its season premiere in July of last year for Brains v Brawn which had 752,000.

The episode saw the debut of the Blood v Water format, as the contestants entered in pairs with their loved ones. However, it did not take long for the first twist of the night as the contestants found out that they won’t be competing WITH their loved ones but AGAINST them. 

The episode saw the Australian Survivor debut of Sandra, a legend in the American format, but it was her daughter Nina who took centre stage after engineering the blindside of returning player Andy. Briana was also able to flush out Chrissy‘s immunity idol during tribal.

On the ABC, Back Roads saw guest host Paul West take 439,000 viewers to Eyre Peninsula’s rugged west coast.

The top program on SBS was Heritage Rescue with 94,000 viewers.