Ten dominates with Biggest Loser and MasterChef

Tim Burrowes

April 28, 2009 1:24

Ten’s excellent start to the TV ratings week has continued with The Biggest Loser finale delivering the network its first 2m+ audience of the year, and a strong debut for MasterChef Australia too.

As a result, Nine’s Underbelly suffered its worst showing of the series.

The finale of the Biggest Loser clocked up an audience of 2.1m, by far the best performance for Ten from any show so far this year, according to preliminary TV ratings from OzTam. The Network’s programming strategy of sandwiching new show MasterChef Australia between two parts of The Biggest Loser also worked, with the new show picking up an audience of just over 1.4m.

Meanwhile, Underbelly – the second from last episode of the series – found itself in the unusual position of being only the fourth most watched show of the night, with 1.7m viewers.

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.

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2 COMMENTS

Sydney 28 Apr 09

Underbelly continues its downward trend due to a rushed production schedule and a bungled delvery strategy, in its desparation for ratings. Congrats nine – more signs of s dying network……..

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LaurenMC 28 Apr 09

Loser and MasterChef were just the best shows on TV for last night for me. And I can catch Underbelly on Apple TV later in the week. A great win for TEN and I hope a positive start for MasterChef. Sarah Wilson – a natural.