masterchef tv ratings
The MasterChef Australia judges (Image: Ten)

MasterChef’s revival in Australia was confirmed last night with a stunning surge in viewers to levels that reminded of past glories. Two million people watched the winner’s announcement. The lead up — the final cooking business — also rated solidly with 1.64 million nationally.

The program did well in the metros with 1.52 million for the winner and 1.26 million for the cooking lead up.

The winner’s announcement was the most-watched program on the night with an audience nearly 700,000 more than 2019’s lacklustre 1.3 million. The winner’s announcement and lead up were the top two programs in metro markets.

So it was Ten’s night and a payoff for revamping the long-established format, and a big message to hesitant Seven which also tried to refresh its lacklustre franchises My Kitchen Rules and House Rules for 2020 — and failed dismally. MasterChef of course killed  ’em in the demos.

Whether the figures do much for Ten’s long-term benefit remains to seen. And you have to wonder why Ten is returning to the MasterChef Junior format for the first time since 2011. That lasted just two seasons before being killed off by poor ratings.

In the regions it was Seven News, 683,000, Seven News 6.30, 637,000, MasterChef winner, 477,000, The Chase Australia 5.30pm, 405,000, Home and Away, 393,000.

Network channel share:

  1. Ten (27.5%)
  2. Seven (26.9%)
  3. Nine (23.1%)
  4. ABC (16.2%)
  5. SBS (6.4%)

Network main channels:

  1. Ten (22.1%)
  2. Seven (19.2%)
  3. Nine (17.3%)
  4. ABC (12.4%)
  5. SBS ONE (3.7%)

Top 5 digital channels: 

  1. 10 Bold (3.6%)
  2. 7mate (3.2%)
  3. 7TWO (2.8%)
  4. Gem (2.2%)
  5. ABC Kids/Comedy (2.0%)

Top 10 national programs:

  1. MasterChef — Winner (Ten) —2.001 million
  2. Seven News — 1.992 million
  3. Seven News 6.30 — 1.798 million
  4. MasterChef — Grand Final, Part 2 (Ten) — 1.644 million
  5. Nine/NBN News — 1.475 million
  6. Nine/NBN News 6.30 — 1.422 million
  7. 7pm ABC News — 1.256 million
  8. A Current Affair (Nine) — 1.119 million
  9. The Chase Australia 5.30pm (Seven)— 1.065 million
  10. Home and Away (Seven) — 1.043 million

Top metro programs:

  1. MasterChef — Winner (Ten) — 1.523 million
  2. MasterChef Grand Final – Part 2 (Ten) — 1.261 million
  3. Seven News— 1.210 million
  4. Seven News 6.30 — 1.161 million
  5. Nine News — 1.154 million
  6. Nine News 6.30— 1.112 million

Losers: None, really — Ten’s MasterChef grand final meant no real losers.

Metro news and current affairs:

  1. Seven News— 1.210 million
  2. Seven News 6.30 — 1.161 million
  3. Nine News — 1.154 million
  4. Nine News 6.30— 1.112 million
  5. 7pm ABC News — 883,000
  6. A Current Affair (Nine) — 769,000
  7. The Project 7pm (Ten) — 677,000
  8. 7.30 (ABC) — 656,000
  9. Media Watch (ABC) — 471,000
  10. Four Corners (ABC) — 455,000

Morning (national) TV:

  1. Sunrise (Seven) — 473,000/275,000
  2. Today (Nine) — 334,000/229,00
  3. News Breakfast (ABC, ABC News) — 332,000/223,000
  4. The Morning Show (Seven) — 259,000
  5. Today Extra (Nine) — 200,000
  6. Studio 10 (Ten) — 70,000

Top five pay TV programs:

  1. AFL: Adelaide v St Kilda (Fox Footy) — 183,000
  2. AFL: Post game (Fox Footy )— 90,000
  3. Alan Jones (Sky News) — 73,000
  4. The Bolt Report (Sky News) — 68,000
  5. Credlin (Sky News) — 67,000