News

Celebrity Masterchef audience increases and John Safran returns to the ABC

Ten’s Celebrity Masterchef audience was up on last week and edging closer to its series high of 1.4 million while across at the ABC,  John Safran’s new comedy-documentary series premiered and was followed by only a few complaints.  

According to initial OzTam data almost 1.3 million viewers tuned in to watch fashion designer Alex Perry, comedienne Wendy Harmer and cricketer Simon Katich battle it out in the Masterchef kitchen in the fourth episode of the series.

Last night’s audience was the biggest since the show’s debut three weeks ago and is up on last week which pulled just under 1.1 million.

Over at the ABC, John Safran’s Race Relations drew in a crowd of 706,000 and took a 34 per cent share of the male and female 25-39 demographic.

The premiere episode involved Safran sniffing underpants he had stolen from women of various nationalities in an attempt to discover why he was attracted to women of European/Asian descent.

Yesterday, Kim Dalton, ABC’s director of television warned TV viewers to think carefully before they settled in to watch the show at 9:30. He wrote in an article on The Punch, “This ABC program is not for everyone. It was not designed to be. By scheduling the series at 9.30pm and attaching an M warning the ABC is signalling that this is challenging fare. John Safran’s Race Relations contains material that some viewers will disagree with or find distasteful.”

But an ABC spokesperson told Mumbrella this morning they had only received five complaints as of 10:30am. Dalton said: “”We are thrilled the show has appealed to such a strong audience, both male and female, in the 25-39 demographic. We expect the program will reach an even bigger audience over the next 24 hours as people access the show on ABC2 at 9pm tonight, and watched via ABC iView and online downloads.”

But the night went to Nine with Two and a Half Men at 7:30 taking out top spot with 1.3 million. It’s 7pm show pulled in 1.2 million.

Nightly network shares:

Nine: 26.5%

Seven: 24.8%

Ten: 23.6%

ABC1: 16.2%

SBS1: 3.8%

GO!: 1.9%

ABC2: 1.8%

ONE: 0.9%

SBS2: 0.3%

 

Top 15 shows:

  1. Two and a Half Men – 7:30pm – Nine 1.3m
  2. Seven News – Seven 1.3m
  3. Celebrity Masterchef – Ten 1.3m
  4. Two and a Half Men – 7:00pm – Nine 1.2m
  5. Today Tonight – Seven 1.2m
  6. Spicks and Specks – ABC 1.1m
  7. NCIS: Los Angeles – Ten 1.1m
  8. RPA: Where Are They Now? – Nine 1m
  9. A Current Affair – Nine 0.991m
  10. City Homicide – Seven 0.989m
  11. Money For Jam – Nine 0.982m
  12. Medical Emergency – Seven 0.971m
  13. Nine News – Nine 0.969m
  14. Home and Away – Seven 0.957m
  15. ABC News – ABC 0.934m
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