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MasterChef launches to 1.16m viewers

TEN's gamble to launch MasterChef early has paid off, with the show winning its timeslot and pulling 1.165m viewers.

2013-01-21_1040“We won the slot, we won the slot, we won the slot, we won the slot….”

TEN’s gamble to launch MasterChef: The Professionals early has paid off, with the show winning its timeslot and pulling 1.165m viewers.

More significantly, it lifted TEN’s network share to a respectable 21.8%, still third for the night but finally well ahead of the ABC. It also topped all three key demos.

The series featuring Marco Pierre White and Matt Preston has been TEN’s biggest gamble so far this year, slated for three nights this week and three weeks ahead of the start of official ratings. After an horrendous 2012, TEN really needs MasterChef to connect to draw viewers back to its tarnished brand and to serve as a launch pad for its other new content.

It kicked off the show a week ahead of My Kitchen Rules and two weeks before The Block on Nine. No doubt the rain setting in on the cricket 5 minutes before MasterChef began was also a timely boost.

So far the show has attracted positive reviews and was also trending on Twitter last night. Aside from hygiene questions about Matty’s hat being worn in the kitchen, and complaints about White’s repetitive dialogue, viewers seemed to like what they saw.

Tonight the show has a team challenge involving diners on a Melbourne tram.

Meanwhile it was Nine who topped the night with Nine News on 1.5m viewers, but given the show started late those numbers are yet to be adjusted.

Seven easily won the night on a very strong 35.8% network share.

Sunday 20 January 2013.

25 Responses

  1. I find this show really depressing. UK Version 10 times better than this. Why they always follows american version e.g. Top chef – too much drama!!!!!

    And we prefer Michel Roux Jr anytime. Thank god, we have pay tv – currently also showing Masterchef Prof UK.

  2. It was ok, but there is too much ‘back story’. They need to make it more like the UK version (which an Australian, Ash Mair, won last time) where they actually concentrate on the cooking…..after all that’s what it is, a cooking show!!

  3. I never got into any of the previous Master Chef shows. But i hate to admit that the annoying ads we have been seeing over the summer got me intrigued enough to watch the first ep, and I found it compelling enough to watch the whole way through. As for Marco spouting orders at least three times each, surley it must be some kind of OCD?

  4. Really disappointed in this last night. It’s Hell’s Kitchen without the swearing!

    Everything about it looks exactly the same, even down to the French maitre d’.

    Surely they could have come up with something new. The kitchen, the restaurant, the whole lot looked Exactly the same. So disappointing.

  5. I know not Everybody was Interested in the Australian Open and The Rain Washed 4th ODI between Australia and Sri Lanka, but i’m Pleased that Ten was able to Lure Viewers Away from Both Networks and Attract an Awesome Result.

  6. So, we’re in a non-ratings period, when the networks usually show us the previous year’s flops and repeats, and yet we now know that Masterchef pulled in 1.16m viewers.
    I’ve said this before, but why do they classify summer as a non-ratings period, then meticulously work out how many people are watching anyway?
    Confused…

  7. The real risk comes when MKR starts, though Channel 7 haven’t list the time in the EPG yet.

    Then we shall see how Channel 10 can compete with an evening lineup. Channel 9’s ratings will still be tied to the cricket for a couple of weeks.

  8. You always have to have at least one person who annoys the bejesus out of viewers, and he’s obviously it. (It’s like MKR, if you’ve seen the promos you already know who everyone’s going to hate!)

    I only watched an hour because I had to watch Upstairs Downstairs on the ABC, so missed who was eliminated. Not that I’d know him / her, they’re all so new.

  9. I liked it…enjoyed watching a commercial kitchen…thought they did well as everything was unkown….the young guy in the hat struggled all along…I felt…even if he had not done that before…as a professional…he should have been able to follow a menu…and have some idea of how long they would take to cook….maybe they had to have someone to send home…but he had a good attitude…I am sure he will do well…:)

  10. Yes last night wasn’t that risky because people would like something new to watch. Masterchef was only up against 7’s upskirt shots of Ivanovic and Radwanska and a cricket series that hasn’t excited (and got cancelled anyway).

    Next week it is up against the Men’s final. Ten is hoping that enough people will either skip the first set or flick between Masterchef and the tennis for it to keep momentum.

    It will be an interesting test of how important watching a contest show live is. So that you stay current and don’t fall behind on episodes or chat with friends.

  11. Oh dear! am I going to be the only one out of step with my comments about this masterchef series.

    When I ask if this is the “One Bridge To Far” for Ten’s Masterchef Convoy:In an early press item, it stated we have had the amateur home chefs, the celeb’s, and the kids, and now we have the experienced to take to the kitchen, giving me the impression that they were going to show us all, just how it is or should be done.
    Perhaps there is time for some late editing for a name change to the “Unprofessionals”, as thats the impression The Proffessional Series has given me so far.
    In fairness to David Knox I will not comment directly about what was proudly broadcast to 1.6 million viewers, and will only ask what other Professional Chefs and Regulators think about their expectations in regards to good food handling pratices, and the preparation and the dress requirements in regards to head covering to name just one instance.
    Landline recently aired a segment, that showcased a hydroponic herb and condiment growers enterprize that supplies many professional kitchens both nationally and internationally, where the staff in the packing and sorting area paid strict attention to the quality and hygine personal(dress) and product( regulatory requirements?), and this was at the point of initial distribution, not at the point of preparation and consumption, and there was not a Tatty Old Hat(that could have been put down on who knows what surfaces) nor an uncovered head to be seen among those packers.( or Yuck could this be the source of some secret herbs and spices)

  12. I liked it, and was glad to have something else besides bloody cricket and tennis to watch. Can’t wait till ratings time so all my shows come back, and some new ones too. And that stupid hat annoyed me too. I wondered how it wasn’t getting in his way. I was wondering why he was allowed to wear it and since nothing was said, he must have had prior approval to wear it.

  13. It’s funny because you clearly have different expectations of them due to the professional status. So when things go wrong it’s more, “you idiot” that normal masterchef.

  14. I missed it because our signal drops out in bad weather and I was really looking forward to it. To add insult the cricket was cancelled and nobody of interest to me was in the tennis last night.

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