New format Bachelor looks to bring ‘bigger more diverse audience’ to brands locked out of sport
The Bachelor Australia on Ten is premiering tonight with a new format, location and three diverse bachelors looking to find love.
Speaking with Mumbrella, Paramount ANZ’s national sales director, Lisa Squillace, said the network has the potential to transform summer for brands after it took a bold move to peg the dating series against sport for the first time.
(L-R) Von Hofe, Mcintosh, and Malucelli.
“I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Australia consistently beat sport and was an option for brands locked out of reaching summer audiences due to sporting deals,” said Squillace. “Not only have brands seen the opportunity that entertainment in summer can bring, but audiences have also always responded well to an alternative to sport.”
“Bachelor fans can expect a vastly different experience in this season of The Bachelors and it will appeal to a broader age range than ever,” she added.
In terms of expanding the show’s reach, Squillace said: “The Bachelors’ core audience has generally been people 16s to 39s, who passionately engage with the show beyond broadcast, on social media.
“Bach Nation outperforms its competition on social media in engagement and minutes viewed and even does well while it’s off air. It was amazing to see the reaction of clients as they were handed a rose by Felix, Jed and Thomas.”
Show host Osher Gunsberg shared: “We have grown this format into the current day’s legacy franchise, it’s one of the most successful franchises on the planet. I really do believe that this season will resonate with a much larger and more diverse audience.
“One of the most talked about shows is about to hit summer in a way audiences have never seen, and we’re excited to see how they respond.”
Speaking with the network’s Executive Producer, Tim Ali, he claimed that changing the format will bring in a larger and more diverse audience than ever before.
“The Bachelor is a very particular franchise that we need to still pay homage to what it is and its originality and its conception,’ he said, adding, “But we’ve changed as much as we possibly can without making another show.”
The Bachelors Australia season 10 cast.
“We’ve always put up as this perfect obtainable kind of man with no flaws, whereas the three guys that we’ve bought into this show, we’re not saying that they’re damaged, but, they’re not perfect,” he said. “The stories that evolved through us setting this format out are extremely progressive. And they are genuine, real stories and real issues that are very representative of what’s happening in today’s world.”
During an interview with Mumbrella after Paramount ANZ revealed its 2023 content slate late last year, Beverley McGarvey – executive vice president and chief content officer – was asked what the broadcaster will do if its new formats do not perform.
“Every show is developed in a different way. I think we’re starting to see our audience have an appetite for new formats,” McGarvey said. “We only launched one big new format in 2022, Hunted, which did really well, and we’ve still got three to come this year, and multiple new shows next year.”
With triple the suitors, Ten said it was the perfect opportunity for the network to move the bachelor’s headquarters to the Sunshine State. Hosted by Günsberg, The Bachelors Australia is made for Network 10 by Warner Bros. International Television Production.
The Bachelors Australia will air at 7:30pm tonight on Ten and 10 Play.
The show’s most recent season in 2021 saw Ten go back to the formula of bringing in an unknown bachelor, 31-year-old pilot Jimmy Nicholson, after bringing across Survivor contestant Locky Gilbert for 2020’s season, and former Wallabies star Nick Cummins in 2018.
The 2021 Bachelor finale with Nicholson brought in a metro audience of 629,000 metro viewers, while the premiere saw 621,000 metro viewers tune in.
The 2020 season, which was delayed due to COVID, brought in 681,000 metro viewers in its premiere episode, with the season featuring Survivor’s Locky Gilbert. The season concluded with 890,000 metro viewers watching the winner announcement.
In 2018, former Wallabies player Cummins, delivered the program’s best opening ratings as 950,000 metro viewers watched the first episode, and 1.241 million witnessed him not pick a partner at the end of the process.
2019’s season of The Bachelor, fronted by media-unknown, astrophysicist Matt Agnew, launched to 828,000 metro viewers and had 1.17 million viewers tune in to see him make his final decision.
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