★★★★★ 0/5

Hunted wins new battle against Red Faces, Beauty & the Geek.

10's new reality series is off and running, as viewers are tempted by something new in the genre.

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Last night was a reset for viewers with two new reality shows on offer and one nostalgic special.

Hunted won at 619,000 metro viewers, leading in entertainment and the demos -a good result for 10 given others had a 30 minute jump start.

That was ahead of The Best of The Best & Worst of Red Faces (592,000 from 7pm), Joanna Lumley’s Great Cities of the World (488,000 from 7:40pm) and Beauty & the Geek (476,000 from 7pm).

Later 60 Minutes (383,00) edged out Mystery Road: Origin (328,000), 7News Spotlight (299,000), and NCIS: Hawaii (222,000).

Seven network won Sunday with 27.3% then Nine 26.5%, 10 20.9%, ABC 15.2% and SBS 10.1%.

Seven News was #1 at 912,000.  A repeat of Murder in the Outback managed 160,000.

Nine News (845,000) was best for Nine with a late edition at 259,000.

The Sunday Project drew 386,000 / 244,000 for 10. 10 News First was 219,000 / 191,000. FBI was 129,000.

ABC News pulled 569,000 for ABC. Compass (196,000) and Small Axe (83,000) followed.

On SBS it was SBS World News (159,000 / 127,000), Lost World of Angkor Wat (126,000) and Tour de France (110,000 across the network).

Insiders led multichannels on ABC News at 152,000.

In Total TV numbers last Sunday were:

Mystery Road: Origin: 764,000
Big Brother: 607,000
NCIS: Hawaii: 395,000
Julia Zemiro’s Home Delivery: 825,000
Wimbledon: Men’s Final: 1.3m

OzTAM Overnights: Sunday 17 July 2022

42 Responses

  2. It took 2 minutes to Google how they film it. It’s not real in any sense of the word, being shot more like The Amazing Race, and the contestants need to do things like use ATMs to make tracking easier.

  3. Wow, I watched this last night and I can’t stop laughing. This clearly is for the audience with low IQ. I mean, you would need warranties for CCTV to access these footages. There’s no way you can access CCTV from the “headquarter”. I noticed there’s glass screen between fugitives and their friends in a car. It’s all set up! I’m done.

    1. I mentioned that there were instances that were implausible and CCTV was what I was alluding to. The ease of obtaining the CCTV seemed unrealistic, but it is possible for the businesses and headquarters to assist or release the footage like that.

  4. Loved Hunted last night and can’t wait for tonight’s and Tuesday’s shows! I hope the Ratings are kept solid throughout the rest of the run, but I do agree with some of the other posters in regards to possibly the show getting a little boring as the show drags on…

  5. Watched Hunted for prob half the Episode. Good Premise but some flaws like how a camera man is running behind them making it a little obvious, the HQ where too many just standing around doing nothing makes it look like extras were added, we need more detail of how they are getting to their destinations. I might have missed it but how are they accessing CCTV Footage?

  6. Hunted is junk gave this afternoons encore viewing a go boring useless chaotic rubbish also gave this afternoons beauty and the geek encore a go which was a bit of fun where humans are actually learning from each other red faces was a great blast from the past that I never got to witness as a kid growing up young in Perth so I can’t wait for tonight’s second instalment yes I’m only 33 years old lol

  7. Being one in her forties I grew up watching Res Faces but the specials didn’t appeal to me.

    I did end up watching Hunted and it was very intriguing. Glad it did well in the ratings even though I said previously it’ll flop. I’m always happy to admit I’m wrong!

  8. That was a very chaste version of the Moulin Rouge in Paris with Joanna L last night-a subject much uncovered by both ABC and SBS docos over the years.

  9. I’m kinda surprised that HHIS stuff still rates that well, i know there’s a niche nostalgia market for it, i guess enough people over 40 still watch FTA TV. Was it even a new special or just a rework of the old ones that then went onto dvd though?

    I found Hunted interesting, but i don’t like any of the contestants so really couldn’t care less if they get caught or not. Just another reason i don’t think i want to make a commitment to watching 3 times a week anyway.

    1. Red Faces was mainly 55+ it seems as it didn’t make the top 5 in 25-54, 18-49, or the 16-39 demographics.

      Interestingly on TV Watching, Nielsen in the USA released some streaming info yesterday:

      “Streaming usage in the U.S. increased more than 21% between May 2021 and May 2022. Audiences 50-and-over led this growth. Every other age group’s share of streaming viewership decreased over the same period. For the first time, U.S. adults age 50 to 64 claimed a larger share of streaming time than those age 35 to 49 in the month of May.”

      So if that trend starts to happen/or is happening here as well, might need to be some rethinking by the Networks soon, especially given BritBox, Acorn and etc., as they would attract more 50+ here than in the U.S. I would think (yes they have a cable channel BBC America but it’s a small market)

      1. The general trend in streaming has been saturation and fragmentation. There was also a rise in FTA, basic cable viewing and even piracy is increases after it fell dramatically as new streaming services launched. As inflation rises, younger people especially are reluctant to keep subscribing to new services to get everything they want to watch. 50-64s have money and time to kill and are reluctant to catch Covid multiple times are more likely to buy more streaming services.

        1. The things both of you have said are somewhat surprising but having a deeper think, they shouldn’t be. I don’t know have any offspring & no youngins in the extended family either so not got my finger on the pulse so to speak. But i keep hearing in media that 15-25s mostly watch Tik Tok, Youtube etc or play games so wouldn’t bother with streaming TV any more than they would FTA. 35-49s would be a mixture of both i think.

          I am always surprised though by how long it seems to have taken networks, especially FTA to work out the 50-65+ demographic is a good one to market to. I think they all thought they were broke pensioners who didn’t spend $$$, forgetting about the baby boomers especially men who retired on very healthy super payments. So they can afford to splash the cash on products they see advertised on TV. Didn’t think that would extend so much to streaming though, lots still don’t like new technologies, plenty of grand kids around to talk them into it though i guess.

      1. It was Somers Carroll Productions’ show and Nine cancelled it twice. Australian Networks actually own very little in the way of copyrights, they lease most content for short periods.

          1. yes that was stupid of Nine, now they’re sure to be ‘spewing’ about it lol

  10. Hunted was great but seemed badly edited!
    No explanation of how contestants had organised to meet friends!
    Showed map of where contestants had reached at end of day 1 icluding Kyneton and Frankston but no explanation of how they got there.
    In reality people would have their mobile phones and more cash. They would also have own vehicles or stolen them.
    At least some of the contestants are smarter than the British ones, disguising themselves a bit!

    1. Was Hunted an Australian reality show? I thought it was an American drama. It had a very American look about it in the trailers and was promoted in the same way that they promote drama series. I didn’t bother watching it because I don’t like American drama

  11. I was mostly engaged with the first episode of Hunted. I then realised at the 45 minute mark, that the episode wasn’t even halfway done. I gave up at that point. I understand the economics behind the decision for our reality shows running over 90 minutes long per episode, but it really feels like everything is just dragged out so much, that the overall enjoyment of the show gets ruined.

    1. exactly, like really these networks have got some nerve expecting people to dedicate 3+ hours per week, often twice or three times that, to their show. People have other shows to watch, lives to live, it’s just getting ridiculous. I would be quite happy with 2 one hour eps per week & i think they could fit it in, they just don’t want to. Although i couldn’t say it would be better for ratings, would more people watch if its wasn’t so long.

  12. I really liked Hunted. It reminded me of the thrill of The Mole. There was an instance that I thought was implausible, though it was probable so I let it slide. I’m still on the lookout for any discrepancies. There are the moments where you feel like shouting at the TV at the teams to do this or not do that. It’s great so far and I’ll definitely be tuning in for the next episode

  13. An interesting night of television for all sorts of reasons. I was glad that Hunted did well as it seemed to be at least partly a deviation from the cooking/romance/renovation style genres we get too much of. I do however think this would have made a better drama involving criminals on the run from police or a remake of the much-filmed The Most Dangerous Game. That would inevitably have involved a closer attention to character and interactions than the wobbly cam displayed last night.

    Hunted is another example though of where the marketing really failed to penetrate. The only references to the show I saw anywhere were on this site (I am sure there was some advertising on TEN itself but I don’t watch live TV as a rule) so I think the audience may have been diminished by lack of awareness.

    Red Faces also shows the need for a modern variety program consisting of music acts / comedy / anything goes, preferably on a Saturday night, but not a Hey Hey remake – done and dusted.

      1. Haha David. Yeah I couldn’t wait for it to start so I could stop seeing the ads. But I’m a big channel 10 watcher. I’m sure 9 did the same with Beauty and the Geek which I absolutely adore. Beauty is the only reality show – in fact almost only commercial show in general – my husband watches and with me. I was surprised by how much I liked Hunted too but find it’s already getting boring where as Beauty and the Geek gets great as it goes along with make overs etc. Such a pity any of them have to go though. It is the sweetest show. I’m glad for 10 to have a hit. But beauty and the Geek is the most awesome format and show.

    2. They wad at least 1 Hunted Promo every ad break on 10 Peach & Bold. The sheer amount of promos turned me off. Plus the fact it just seemed laughable that people can disappear with cameras following there every move

    3. It was probably one of the biggest Marketing campaigns I’ve seen any network do, and it was awesome!
      The promos were epic, and everywhere.
      The billboards were incredible, and everywhere. The radio promos were brilliant, and everywhere!

      The “lack of awareness” could be your own

  14. I really enjoyed Hunted. Seeing the many ways the police can track you was quite interesting. I did’t realise they could track a modern car, or the ease to which they could access CCTV. Some of the thought and effort by the contestants to evade is also very interesting. The two guys who changed into ‘tradie’ outfits was pretty smart I thought. A good mix of people too. Will definitely be watching again tonight.

  15. Good think about that Surveillance Room is if 10/Paramount+ get the AFL they’ll be able to use it for their AFL coverage as a review centre (there’s a pic today on the AGE of the AFL Review Bunker that looks similar). The Best of The Best & Worst of Red Faces coming in second for entertainment means I guess we’ll get more, as in 27,000 behind Hunted likely won’t be seen as that bad of result.

  17. I enjoyed Hunted. I knew calling the mobile number back a big mistake. The car tracking was very interesting. Make sure u have a friend with an old car. Easier to say that now.

  18. I tried Hunted but just couldn’t keep with it ,I’ll give this evening another go but it looks like it’ll lose viewership quickly ,as for Red Faces ,Daryl it time to put it to bed.

  19. Was completely captivated by hunted and enjoyed far more than I expected.

    Will be interesting to see if the novelty wears off and how repetitive it becomes.

    1. Yeah, the key obviously for all these multi-night reality strands is if they’ll hang onto a decent audience night after night… that’s why with the new launches like Hunted there’s potentially big risk (if they soon fade away after a new nights – i.e. risk of a big multi-week flop) or high return (not just solid nightly ratings, but the potential for returning series year after year.. i.e. Block, MKR, MasterChef, etc.)
      Jury’s out on the Hunted after only a night of course but it’s got potential and good on Ten for trying something different and also not involving cooking or building stuff either!

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