Worst TV ratings ever: Why The Bachelor has become boring

The Channel 10 show recorded its worst ratings in the franchise history, which shows people are bored of the show’s once winning formula, writes Karlie Rutherford.

The Bachelor Australia had the perfect conditions for takeoff.

Half the population in lockdown (anywhere from 2.0 to 5.0) and craving some new mindless escapism. Because we’ve binged the rest.

A publicity campaign that saw pilot Jimmy Nicholson, the new Bachie, on the front of every newspaper and every magazine.

But yet, the show hit turbulence straight away. (Will stop now with the plane puns.)

Ratings show not a lot of people are interested in pilot Jimmy Nicholson’s search for love on The Bachelor. Picture: Network Ten

The new season of the show has recorded its lowest rating numbers ever in its nine season history.

Less than 500,000 metro viewers tuned in to watch the first red carpet. Meaning more people were interested in watching a repeat of ABC’s Hard Quiz Kids Special than meeting one of the twenty ladies Nicholson supposedly snogs.

And Wednesday night’s episode was the lowest in franchise history. Just 360,000 metro viewers tuned in, meaning, the show didn’t even make it into the Top 20 programs of the night. Which is dramatic, considering, the show used to pull in a million metro viewers an episode.

The Bachelor Australia season nine has failed to take flight. Picture: Ten

Yes, the Olympics are on and yes, free to air television has taken a hit thanks to streaming services. But you can’t blame it all on sport and streaming, because other shows in the love genre (Farmer Wants a Wife, Beauty and the Geek, Love on the Spectrum) have weathered the streaming storm.

So the only explanation is The Bachelor has simply become boring.

The casting of Nicholson was great. Fans were crying out for a new face that hadn’t been regurgitated from reality shows past. And the girls, in themselves, fit the formula. But after nine series of the original franchise (not to mention The Bachelorette and Bachelor in Paradise) means viewers are very aware of the show’s formula and now want something else?

We know the game. We know the majority of the ladies on the show are not really there for love, they are there to see an increase in their insta followers. Which is completely fine, it just doesn’t make interesting TV.

Jimmy Nicholson with one of his favourites on The Bachelor.

The “villain” edit used to be something contestants would be embarrassed about. Now, thanks to the likes of Keira Maguire and Abbie Chatfield taking control of that narrative, it’s something to be celebrated. Which is not a bad thing at all, if that’s genuinely who the contestants are.

But this season it feels like some of the girls have become caricatures of themselves and more interested in the attention of the cameras than any attention from Jimmy.

But yet we all know Jimmy will be told by producers to keep those contestants (like Sierah Swepstone) in the competition, even though, from the start it is pretty obvious who he’s going to pick (in fact, the winner has already been leaked and if you don’t know who it is, you’ll probably guess it anyway!)

Bachelor contestant Sierah Swepstone has become this seasons villain. Picture: Channel 10

It’s not all bad news for Channel 10, with the show still the number 2 entertainment show in their target audience, the under 50s and 25 to 54’s and there is promise of more action and drama to come.

But maybe this time, when we’ve got enough real drama going on currently in our real lives that we don’t need to see faux or manipulated drama on our screens?

And if a refresh is what is needed, a source said The Bachelorette with Brooke Burton will deliver that.

“Not only is Brooke a fan favourite, she is the first openly bisexual and First Nations Bachelorette to grace our screens,” they said.

The Bachelor used to be compulsory viewing, and with a refresh and rethink, and more of a focus on the love, it can become that way again.