Ratings for The Block 2023 have taken a huge hit as the show has lost one-fifth of its viewership amidst complaints of “toxic” on-screen behaviour.
Despite being dubbed one of Australia’s favourite reality programs, ratings for the hit renovation series are down 20 per cent year-on-year, reports The Daily Telegraph.
On September 15, Channel 7’s My Kitchen Rules took over the top spot as according to OzTAM, it garnered 622,000 metro viewers.
On the other hand, The Block had 526,000 viewers, making it the second most-watched show on Australian TV, which is a dramatic drop from its usual first-place status.
This was closely followed by Channel 10’s Thank God You’re Here, which copped 463,000 viewers and ABC’s Hard Quiz, which had 402,000.
“The collapse of The Block is seriously bad news for Nine, as it was one of their biggest shows and the bookend to the year for them,” an insider told The Daily Telegraph.
“A decline of more than 20 per cent year on year is a major issue.
“It comes hard on the heels of the failure of Rush, The Summit and Parental Guidance, the axing of Ninja Warrior and the ongoing decline of Lego Masters.
“No matter what claims its executives make publicly, Nine is now just the MAFS network,” they added.
How many views was The Block receiving in the past? In 2022,The Block‘s premiere engaged 867,000 viewers, in comparison to The Masked Singer Australia’s 598,000 and My Kitchen Rules‘ 503,000. It was also the only tentpole show to draw in over one million viewers.
Whilst the Sunday night room reveals are still performing well, the ratings for the Monday to Wednesday episodes are slipping. This has resulted in people switching over to My Kitchen Rules.
However, the numbers for the renovation series have been declining for quite some time. The last time a whopping three million people watched The Block was back in 2003 for the show’s first season.
Meanwhile, the last time more than two million people tuned in was in the season 7 finale in 2013.
Whilst 1.4 million people watched the show’s finale last year, a premiere hasn’t pulled in more than one million metro viewers since 2018.
This ratings slump comes after The Block 2023 has been slammed for enabling “disturbing behaviour” and “bullying” from contestants.
Many fans have complained that there has been more backstabbing than renovating, which is believed to be impacting the show’s ratings.
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