In season five My Kitchen Rules perfects must-watch TV formula
MILLIONS tuned in to see the Captain cop his just desserts, proving that My Kitchen Rules has the recipe just right this season, but is it really about the food?
WHETHER it’s tuning in to see the Captain cop his just desserts or see the latest antics of ‘kooky’ Carly, it’s clear the My Kitchen Rules has the recipe just right this season.
There’s one golden rule of TV reality show success: Casting. Get the ingredients right, and you’re all set for a ratings goldmine.
CHLOE AND KELLY’S SHOCK LOW SCORE
Reality show fans want to see, drama, controversy and catty moments. There has to be goodies country girl Annie and baddies like Kelly and Chloe that the public love, and love to hate.
My Kitchen Rules has delivered that in spades. Hosts Pete Evans and Manu Feildel are popular but the Channel 7 cooking show has snagged massive ratings because of its contestants, not its hosts.
“Casting, editing and publicity is key to making My Kitchen Rules so popular,” Emma Ashton from Reality Ratings says.
“The publicity tends to focus on the villains and the audience is basically shown who to hiss and boo for next.”
Going into its fifth season, reality shows can show signs of going stale, but MKR is proving it has the right mix to rise above the others.
“The instant restaurant round is a clever concept. Natural drama unfolds as amateur cooks try and put out a meal for twelve people under the glare of the television cameras and sometimes in kitchens that are not their own and therefore are not comfortable in,” Ms Ashton said.
Have you caught MKR fever? What’s your favourite part of this season? Tell us in the comments below or on Facebook.
The a key element that sets My Kitchen Rules apart from other cooking shows is that it’s much more relatable to the general public.
“Food-as-entertainment trend started with Masterchefand is still strong, but MKR adds another element — the contestants don’t want to be chefs; they’re home cooks viewers can relate to,” cookbook editor and food writer Karen Lateo explains.
“MKR’s success is not the contestants’ cooking talent, but the clever casting and on-screen appeal. It’s about personalities — and personality clashes make good TV. It’s like old-school pantomime — everyone loves to boo a villain!”
The show was seen by 2.12 million people last night and continues to smash the competition in ratings and in social media commentary and debate.
“The producers of #MKR have built fandom into the core of the production and as a result they generated huge volumes of conversation on Twitter. From the outset the audience are encouraged to back their local hero,” Tony Broderick of Twitter Australia explains.
In many ways, Twitter has become the water cooler conversation of the digital age, with the added bonus being that it’s carried out in real time, not the next day.
“It makes the show even more entertaining to watch,” Ms Ashton said.
“Add in the fact that you can get your tweets on-screen it is an added incentive for the viewer to watch it live and be second screening at the same time.”
So will the Channel Seven’s rating juggernaut continue? With an average audience of over three million viewers Australia-wide every episode, it doesn’t show any signs of slowing down.
Have you caught MKR fever? What’s your favourite part of the show? Tell us in the comments below or on our Facebook page.