Reality refresh turns in Nine’s favour

“It was either going to be a Sea Change or Tree Change,” Nine Programming Director Hamish Turner tells TV Tonight.

The Block has hit the ground running with viewers swarming to the Tree Change season, the first rural renovation undertaken in 18 seasons.

Screening head to head with MKR and The Masked Singer saw Nine’s juggernaut launch to 867,000 metro viewers -a significant number in the current environment.

“All three have actually had quite significant changes. But The Block is probably the one that feels it the most, because of the environment,” he suggests.

“We’re very happy. It’s come out of gates firing. We knew it was going to be a fast start to this season, especially with the walkout on Day Two. It’s delivered everything that we’d hoped.”

After 18 seasons, keeping a show fresh is no easy task. But the rural renovation has seemingly resonated with lockdown-weary viewers and provided a new-look backdrop, all captured by drones.

“The Tree Change came at the right time. It’s tapped into what we’ve seen over the last two years where people have actively made changes to their lifestyle, to reflect changing views about how people work and where they work from,” Turner continues.

“But the elements have definitely turned it up, because coming up is an absolute deluge. The whole thing just turns into an absolute quagmire!

“The Macedon Ranges are bloody cold, so you’re facing the elements, which we probably haven’t seen as much previously. Definitely, when you’re living in apartments in Prahran, you’re not exposed to it as much, whereas there’s nowhere to hide here.”

With homes on 10 acres each, this season will also include its most eye-catching backyards and landscaping including pools, tennis courts & vineyards.

While the launch lifted 16% Year on Year with metro viewers, it was even bigger with Regional viewers, rising 27% on the 2021 season in Melbourne’s Hampton suburb.

“The Block is a big soap opera”

“The Block is a big soap opera and the change in personalities talks to that, and enables it to have a freshness. But we also know that the building is a personality within its own and that has fundamentally shifted this year with the location in the country. It just opens up more depth in terms of your ability to tell those stories. For the first time, we can actually say that this is the biggest!”

The cast also has its first Muslim-Australian contestants and first Indian-Australians. Yet despite ongoing criticisms, The Block has a long history of diverse participants.

“Sometimes people only see diversity when they see colour. But diversity comes in many shapes and forms,” Turner insists.

“We were the first commercial broadcaster to have a gay reality couple front and centre on screen”

“We were the first commercial broadcaster to have a gay reality couple front and centre on screen. It’s never been that we’ve shied away from that, it’s just ensuring that it’s not tokenistic -that the people are there for the right reasons. As soon as we saw this cast presented, it was, ‘Yes. We’ve got to have those guys.’

“They just shone in terms of their character, and what they brought to the screen.”

In Survey Year so far Seven has the edge at a 29.0% share in metro Total People to Nine’s 28.3% and 10’s 17.0% (including Commonwealth Games).

But Nine is leading in 25 – 54 demos with 30.4% to Sevens 28.0% and 10’s 22.5%. It is also leading in 16-39 29.9% to Seven’s 29.0% and 10’s 22.4%.

The strong start for the Tree Change means Nine can look to the remainder of the year with quiet confidence.

“A fast start off The Block underpins the back end of our schedule”

“There’s no doubting that a fast start off The Block underpins the back end of our schedule, and gives you some surety around being able to launch other shows off the back of it. The more you can feed in at 7:30, the more you try and retain vertically, post-8:30. It all helps from a share and retention perspective,” Turner explains.

“We’re very pleased. It delivered above and beyond. As you’ll hear and see in the coming weeks, the Total TV number is also impressive. The live 9Now numbers are up 68%. year on year, the VOD numbers are accelerating.

“So I think what you’ll see across 7 days is quite a significant shift in numbers again, off a very good starting base.”

The Block screens Sunday – Wednesday on Nine.