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Love Island gets physical, as UK fans push YouTube audience

Producers warn contestants over a brawl, but UK fans can't get enough of Love Island Australia.

Physical aggression is usually grounds for getting the boot from a reality TV show, but it may be just what producers have been waiting for with Love Island.

Last night Eden and Grant had to be pulled apart after Eden and Erin decided to save Jaxon and evict Justin. It’s the stuff of high intensity when your whole world is a 24 / 7 villa and your TV reputation. Tonight the show is teasing “A Storm Erupts.”

Nine Network spokesperson told TV Tonight, “As with any group suddenly living in close quarter, tensions can sometimes be vented. Production staff immediately entered the villa and contestants were given off-camera one-on-one sessions with a psychologist. We are confident if they have any concerns or wanted to leave they were given every opportunity to tell us. We feel comfortable with the process taken by production to ensure the safety and welfare of contestants. It is of paramount importance, and the mood and behaviour of all contestants has returned to normal.”

Warning: language

But all the intensity and rockin’ bods is driving an international audience. The show doubtless has a bigger audience in the UK than Australia. Of the show’s sensational 74 million YouTube views and climbing (yes, seriously). That must be the fast-growing YouTube channel for any Australian-made show ever.

Yet only 15% of them are Australian viewers according to Nine.

The show is a winner for Nine on its digital platforms, if not necessarily broadcast. Episode 1 at 9Now is now up to 220,000 viewers in Video Player Measurement , bringing the total multiplatform audience to 746,000 viewers nationally. The 9Now audience represents 52% of the total 9GO! / 9Now audience.

So can you attract enough revenue for content if it has a global footprint?

Last week Nine group content strategy director Lizzie Young told the Mumbrella360 conference, monetising the traffic in Australia remains a challenge with YouTube’s low CPMs. But the UK audience is part of the strategy.

“It does have the additional benefit of being able to monetise,” she said. “For us we can also monetise internationally which is really important, particularly with a show like Love Island. So here in Australia it’s in its first year but in the UK it’s in its fourth season and the third season went crazy, so we knew if we put Love Island up we would get a portion of audience from the UK and we could monetise that.”

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