Plate of Origin was a format without an anchor (and viewers treated it so)

As a pun from Seven, Plate Of Origin was weak and rather obvious — it was a weak attempt to trade off the most-watched program on TV (rival Nine’s rugby league three State of Origin games a year).

But Seven powered on regardless – it had a duo of high-priced former MasterChef judges in Matt Preston and Gary Mehigan and former My Kitchen Rules judge Manu Feildel.

The MasterChef duo had been signed at great expense and Manu was hanging round after MKR bombed this year. Plate of Origin smacked of an unnatural idea — a format without an anchor — and viewers responded.

Its debut episode attracted 965,000 national viewers (667,000 in the metros and 298,000 in the regions).

It was beaten by The Block (1.38 million for the room reveal and 1.28 million for the lead up. 

Shetland on the ABC with 980,000 beat it as did Vera (which followed) with 1.05 million. 

The Block beat Plate in the demos as well.

Seven has episodes tonight and tomorrow to try to build a base. If viewers drop tonight and tomorrow, it will be goodbye to the series.  

It was a weak debut (again) for Seven, just as My Kitchen Rules and House Rules returned in 2020 with weak numbers which then fell. Seven’s main channel just beat the ABC’s 18.4% to 18.0%. With a lead of nearly 400,000 viewers at 7pm, Seven’s night fell away rather than improved, or even held on. It was a weaker performance than the previous Sunday with Farmer Wants A Wife’s second-last episode dominating (1.4 million viewers).

Insiders on ABC TV 674,000 and equal 10th nationally for a fourth Sunday in a row. So much for all the juvenile sniping at David Speers.

In regional markets: Seven News, 582,000, 7pm ABC News, 400,000, The Block — room reveal winner, 365,000, The Block, 336,000, Nine News, Vera, 332,000.

Network channel share:

1. Nine (30.1%)
2. Seven (26.2%)
3. ABC (22.1%)
4. Ten (12.5%)
5. SBS (8.9%)

Network main channels:

1. Nine (21.4%)
2. Seven (18.4%)
3. ABC (18.0%)
4. Ten (7.4%)
5. SBS ONE (5.8%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

1. GO (4.0%)
2. 10 Bold (3.5%)
3. 7mate (2.9%)
4. 7TWO (2.4%)
5. ABC Kids/Comedy (2.2%)

Top 10 national programs:

1. Seven News — 1.75 million
2. The Block — Room Reveal Winner (Nine) — 1.38 million
3. Nine/NBN News — 1.36 million
4. The Block (Nine) — 1.28 million
5. 7pm ABC News — 1.24 million
6. Vera (ABC) —1.5 million
7. Shetland (ABC) — 980,000
8. Plate Of Origin (Seven) — 965,000
9. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 677,000
10. Insiders (ABC, ABC News) — 674,000

Top metro programs:

1. Seven News — 1.17 million
2. The Block – Room Reveal Winner (Nine) — 1.02 million
3. Nine News — 1.03 million

Losers: Ten — just weak

Metro news and current affairs:

1. Seven News — 1.19 million
2. Nine News — 1.03 million
3. 7pm ABC News — 837,000
4. 60 Minutes (Nine) — 456,000
5. The Sunday Project 7pm (Ten) — 362,000
6. The Sunday Project 6.30pm (Ten) — 306,000
7. Ten News First— 288,000
8. SBS World News — 161,000

Morning (National) TV:

1. Insiders (ABC, ABC News ) — 674,000
2. Landline (ABC) — 445,000
3. Weekend Sunrise (Seven) — 426,000
4. Weekend Today (Nine) — 295,000
5. Offsiders (ABC) — 245,000
6. Sports Sunday (Nine) — 202,000

Top five pay TV programs: 

1. AFL: Carlton v Collingwood (Fox Footy) — 254,000
2. NRL: Melbourne v Manly (Fox League) — 184,000
3. NRL: Canberra v Canterbury (Fox League) — 177,000
4. Supercars Townsville (Fox Sports) — 134,000
5. AFL: Gold Coast v North Melbourne (Fox Footy) — 122,000