TV Ratings Wrap: Seven wins, Nine and Ten competitive on demos

As the reality TV battle gets fully under way, we take a look at how the free-to-air networks are holding up in the fifth week of 2017.

 

Last week saw the launch of Ten's I'm a Celebrity... Get me Out of Here, Seven's My Kitchen Rules and Bride and Prejudice, and Nine's Married at First Sight.

 

The figures, compiled with OzTam data by Channel Nine, highlight the state of play ratings-wise. At a glance, Seven’s overall commercial share for the week was boosted significantly by the Australian Open men’s final in which Roger Federer took out the crown over Rafael Nadal in five sets.

The ratings year officially kicked off on Monday with Seven's My Kitchen Rules and a solid line-up before and after dominating the evening. However, as the week progressed, Nine's Married at First Sight helped propel its main channel to within a whisker across the key demos of 25-54s and 16-39s as the week progressed.

Nathan Cook, GroupM's investment director in Melbourne, tells AdNews media buyers expected My Kitchen Rules to perform best in terms of audience, but Seven would be disappointed at the drop off in audiences YOY, which on some nights have been about 30% less than corresponding episodes.

 

“They've had a lot more competition this year from Married At First Sight and I'm A Celebrity, and last year Nine gave them a bit of a free kick up to Easter,” Cook says.

 

“I think Married has really cemented an audience and has been able to grow this. It's more credible [than other Married At First Sight Versions] and not car crash TV, with some great stories and good insights.”

On Tuesday, there was less than 3% audience share in 25-54s and 16-39s separating the two rivals during prime time.

Married at First Sight was up an average of 40.9% among 25-54s, 73.5% among 16-39s, 38% among grocery buyers and 23.2% in total people compared with its programming last year.

Ten's I'm A Celebrity helped Ten also produce an uptick in audience share from Tuesday to Thursday, in which it beat both Seven and Nine in 25-54s and 16-39s on the night MKR and Married At First Sight weren't on.

Cook believes that Ten's I'm A Celebrity has also performed admirably given the strength of shows it is up against.

Ten's growth in prime time  between 6pm to 10.30pm is 13% in under 55s, 10% in 25 to 54s and 6% in total people and this is the largest week five audience it has had since 2012.

It shows that MKR isn't likely to have it all its own way this year, which can only be good for advertisers and viewers.