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
• War for prime time begins with MAFS, Survivor and The Voice: Generations
• MAFS is still top dog, but down year on year
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.
An additional 157,000 people streamed MAFS on 9Now, for a total national audience of 1.315 million. 94,000 viewers live-streamed the episode on 9Now – a year-on-year increase of 54%. While 62,000 caught up with MAFS on 9Now after the program aired – an increase of 25% year-on-year.
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.
Senior vice president, content and programming, 10 ViacomCBS, Daniel Monaghan, said: “The highly anticipated and exhilarating premiere of Australian Survivor: Blood V Water is off to a fantastic start! We’re really pleased with how it performed last night, up against some tough competition. #2 in its timeslot, #2 in under 50s, 25-54s and it had the biggest live stream launch ever, proving that it is unmissable television.
“The reaction and engagement of viewers was exactly what we hoped for. The dynamic of the theme – Blood V Water – heralds a thrilling dilemma, a gameplay that everyone can relate to. But throw in unbreakable bonds, emotional manipulation and supreme twists, our survivors will be forced to manoeuvre their way through unprecedented social games. But, in their quest to become the sole survivor will blood prove to be thicker than water?”
National sales director, 10 ViacomCBS, Lisa Squillace, said: “This new season of Australian Survivor: Blood V Water is off to a terrific start. It was #2 show in 10’s key demographics of under 50s and 25 to 54s and had its biggest live stream launch ever.
“With such a powerful franchise, we have had both new and returning clients take up sponsorships on the show allowing us to create bespoke, innovative and highly engaging opportunities across our liner and digital landscape capturing viewers’ attention.
“I would like to extend our sincere thanks to our partner, TEQ and sponsors KFC, Isuzu and Set for Life for giving us the opportunity to showcase their brands. We are delighted that we have been able to provide the best foundation for our clients and their brands within the Australian Survivor franchise.”
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.