The Bachelors records lowest ever ratings in history of Ten franchise

June 2024 · 2 minute read

The 11th season of The Bachelors has premiered to the franchise’s lowest ratings in its decade-long history.

Channel 10’s reality dating series, which debuted its second season of 2023 on Sunday night, lured just 224,000 five-city metro viewers, with a total audience of 319,000.

Previously, its lowest opening night was for the 10th season, which aired in January and pulled 309,000 metro viewers.

A Channel 10 spokesperson said the network was confident The Bachelors would continue to attract viewers over the course of this season, particularly when factoring in delayed viewing and binge watching.

“That’s why we’re providing access to the shows on 10 Play before the broadcast on 10,” the spokesperson added of the network’s decision to put episodes online prior to their airtime.

Ten launched its new-look The Bachelors at the beginning of this year with an overhauled format which saw three bachelors front the series, while production moved from Sydney to the Gold Coast.

The network has continued with the concept for its latest season, which is airing at an unusual time of year going into Christmas.

Kicking off its first episode in the 7pm timeslot on Sunday, viewers watched newcomers Ben Waddell, Luke Bateman and Wesley Cortes greet 24 women at a new Bach mansion in Melbourne.

The Bachelors was given a drastic makeover for 2023 in response to the show’s declining numbers in recent years.

And while the January season struggled in linear viewing, The Bachelors proved more popular among delayed streaming viewers with a 68 per cent increase on average after the episodes aired, according to the network.

“The overnight is just a small part of The Bachelors’ viewing audience,” a spokesperson said.

In July 2021, pilot Jimmy Nicholson pulled 482,000 viewers on night one, and in August 2020, Locky Gilbert’s stint had an audience of 681,000.

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Both those seasons were quite a drop from Matt Agnew’s July 2019 season premiere, which had an impressive 828,000 viewers.

Looking to 2024, Ten welcomes Robert Irwin to its line-up of talent, with the 20-year-old conservationist joining I’m A Celebrity … Get Me Out Of Here! as co-host alongside Julia Morris.

Meanwhile, Deal or No Deal is back with Grant Denyer as host, Wheel of Furtune is set to hit screens with British talk show host Graham Norton, and iconic ‘90s series Gladiators will make a triumphant comeback, with Beau Ryan and Liz Ellis as hosts.

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