After pulling huge numbers while Australians were in lockdown, network flagship shows are once again showing signs of disappearing audiences.
Oh dear, Australian commercial TV’s horror year just got more horrible last night, with new seasons of Ten’s MasterChef Australia and Nine’s Lego Masters both slumping into flop territory from the get-go.
For that we can blame COVID — or this year’s absence of lockdown and siege-like conditions. MasterChef‘s national audience of 853,000 for the season launch was 45% lower than 2020’s 1.56 million, which had been the strongest start to a series for five years. Last night was the worst start for years, failing to even make the national top 10.
Nine’s Lego Masters saw its opening audience slump as well — from 1.64 million a year ago to 1.11 million last night. The 530,000 loss was a fall of nearly a third. It seems that rather than the 2020 figures representing a comeback for these show formats, they were simply a COVID-driven aberration. The 2021 figures may signal a return to the trend of falling audiences as seen in 2018 and 2019.
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