SAS Australia: Channel 7’s secret weapon in TV scandal war

The battle between Channel 7 and Nine gained steam when The Voice jumped networks — and it looks like there could be another sneaky move on the way.

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No one thought it was possible, but there’s finally a show that can out-MAFS MAFS.

Channel 9’s controversial Married At First Sight has been seen as the unbeatable force at the beginning of each ratings year and it seems Channel 7 might be gearing up to take it on with the only offering that can compete against such putrid trashiness: Better Homes And Gardens.

Kidding. It’s SAS Australia. (Though I’d actually pay money to watch Johanna Griggs get drunk, glass Fast Ed, start a b*tchy rumour about Dr Harry and then dis Graham Ross’ box hedges).

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Seven has confirmed that filming for the third season of its extreme military-inspired reality show — which takes a group of celebrities and puts them through gruelling special forces training that aims to break them both physically and mentally — is set to begin in the coming weeks. The show’s UK-based host Ant Middleton has arrived in Sydney and completed hotel quarantine.

This could signal a programming shift that places it head-to-head with Nine’s ratings winner Married At First Sight.

Filming for the current season of SAS (that’s airing now) kicked off around May this year in the Blue Mountains and hit TV screens a few months later at the beginning of September.

The fast turnaround of three to four months between filming and broadcast capitalises on the controversial celebrities that are cast and ensures the scandalous revelations that come out in the on-camera interrogations are still topical.

The decision to film the upcoming series of SAS ASAP means it will be ready to roll out by February next year — flagging what could be a strategic move of Seven’s to combat MAFS-mania when the Nine trash-fest hits the air.

SAS Australia continues to shock this year with punch-ups, scandalous confessions and graphic scenes.

It makes sense. Married At First Sight has been top dog for years now. Beginning its run in 2015, it enjoyed a steady rise and eventually knocked Seven’s own one-time juggernaut My Kitchen Rules out of the number one spot.

It was a massive fall from grace for the Pete Evans-fronted cooking show. MKR smashed the ratings for about eight years but, by 2020, viewer numbers had plummeted 72 per cent from 2013. Producers desperately tried to save it by injecting cattiness and a love triangle but it was too late — the last-minute grab for eyeballs led to even more viewers switching off. Turns out people just wanted a cooking show about cooking. Huh.

But that’s the life cycle of most shows. Just like MKR’s nosedive, the same could happen with MAFS. Viewers eventually drop off when the format gets burnt and storylines start repeating themselves. We’ve seen it happen to Ten’s The Bachelor.

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MAFS still trumped its rivals this year, but there was significantly less buzz around it. And while the finale was watched by an average of 1.4 million metro viewers, it was the program’s least-watched final episode since 2017.

It could be the perfect time for Seven to strike.

The Married At First Sight experts could be battling it out with the SAS Australia soldiers.

Scandalous celebrity admissions are the drawcard on SAS Australia … L-R: Bra Boy Koby Abberton, actor Dan Ewing and embattled footy star Sam Burgess.

Ratings for the current season of SAS Australia haven’t been a bonanza — the most recent episode pulled in 606,000 metro viewers — but it’s been up against Nine’s The Block and The Masked Singer over on Ten.

If SAS producers manage to stunt-cast the upcoming series with a decent amount of scandal-plagued celebrities (*cough* Nadia Bartel *cough*), it could be a strong contender at the beginning of the ratings year, when Aussies have gone all summer without their regular free-to-air programming.

It’s also the only show that can beat MAFS at its own game. Scandals. Abusive behaviour and foul language. Cheating. Graphic scenes involving toilets. MAFS has proven over the years that these are the pillars of prime time free-to-air success.

The dating show has been racking up the ACMA complaints for years. While programmers once worked hard to avoid these viewer-lodged grievances, it seems Nine and Endemol Shine (the production company that makes MAFS) have an annual competition to see how many times they can get dobbed on. They wear the ACMA complaints like a badge of honour.

And Seven’s following. The TV watchdog confirmed recently it has also received complaints about the latest series of SAS Australia.

An early rollout from Seven next year could ignite a battle of the scandals.

And if it fails? Well. Then it’s time for Better Homes And Gardens: Uncensored.

Twitter, Facebook: @hellojamesweir

The novelty of sporadic glassings may be wearing off for some MAFS viewers.

Originally published as SAS Australia: Channel 7’s secret weapon in TV scandal war