Love is blind: The Checkout takes a pop at online dating

By AdNews | 11 April 2014
 
The Checkout

Online dating websites took a big hit on The Checkout last night, with the show highlighting the number of dodgy online profiles.

The ABC's show claimed up to 10% of profiles on dating websites can be fake – using a figure from a Wall Street Journal article – and Aussies wasted $25 million on dating scams in 2013.

eHarmony's “scientific approach to matching” via its extensive questionnaire also came under fire, with The Checkout stating: “There is no peer reviewed or independent research to suggest that personality tests or algorithms on any dating site work.”

The Checkout's F.U. Tube segment also picked on eHarmony – this time its subscription fees, showing that when you “review your matches for free”, as the website's strapline says, you only get to see names. To see people's photos, you have to pay a subscription fee.

The Checkout won 825,000 viewers across Australia's five metro areas last night, placing eighth in the free-to-air TV ratings chart.

But with no The Block: Fans versus Faves or My Kitchen Rules, it was a night of news domination.

Seven's Home and Away was the highest ranking non-news show, winning an audience of 922,000 across Australia's five metro areas.

The ABC's Janet King also made the top 10, according to preliminary overnight ratings figures from OzTam, in ninth spot with an audience of 820,000.

Nine News was the most-watched program, with 1.171 million viewers. Seven News followed, with 1.136 million.

Completing the top 10 was Nine News at 6.30 (third spot with 1.059 million viewers), Seven's Today Tonight (fourth with 1.011 million), ABC News (sixth with 846,000), Nine's A Current Affair (seventh with 827,000) and ABC News Update (10th with 776,000).

Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.

Have something to say? Send us your comments using the form below or contact the writer at adnews@yaffa.com.au

Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au

Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.

comments powered by Disqus