Peter Helliar lashes out at critics of The Project amid year of low ratings

Peter Helliar has launched a passionate defence of The Project amid dwindling ratings, claiming “various people” have been lashing out at the show.

Peter Helliar is tuning out from The Project’s critics amid Network 10’s ongoing ratings woes.

The longtime co-host of the panel claimed “people are coming for the show” in an interview with the Herald Sun, asserting that The Project has “the most engaged audience in television” despite recent months of low ratings.

“I do get the sense that there have been various people coming for it a bit, I have seen a couple of things, we live in a very political world and people can be easily offended, so I know that there are people coming for the show,’’ Helliar said.

“But on the flip side what I do know and I generally focus on, is we have an audience that absolutely love the show and are passionate about the show.”

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The Project won Popular Panel or Current Affairs Program at the Logies this year.

He went on to say the proof in The Project audience dedication was in the overwhelming responses to stories.

“If we run a story about some people doing it tough and trying to raise some money, by the time we get off air there’s $100,000 raised. That doesn’t happen if people aren’t invested in the show.

“The idea of me looking at the ratings and worrying about what happened last night, sometimes people will say that was great or this wasn’t working, I hear those conversations, but as far as the external noise I don’t hear as much of it.”

Project audience numbers dipped to an all-time low in March up against Nine juggernaut Married At First Sight’s final commitment ceremony.

The Channel 10 current affairs program scored a dismal 185,000 in the 6.30pm timeslot in the five-city metro market on March 20.

This figure slightly rose to 265,000 by 7pm.

Last year, OzTAM ratings revealed The Project had lost almost a third of its audience since 2011, sending speculation soaring about the future of the program.

Audiences are in decline across the board, with Home and Away losing 49 per cent of its audiences in the past decade, while A Current Affair shed 37 per cent.

The Project also remains the dominant news and current affairs show for younger audiences, with 59 per cent of its audience being under 55, compared to 37 per cent of Nine News, 36 per cent of A Current Affair and 32 per cent of Seven News audiences.

Peter Helliar, Hamish Macdonald, Lisa Wilkinson and Rachel Corbett on The Project.

Metro ratings plummeted to just 367,000 in 2021, a 30 per cent decline from its five-city audience of 538,000 a decade ago, making it the lowest-performing nightly program on commercial TV.

In response, a spokesperson for the ViacomCBS-owned station told podcast That’s Entertainment in November: “Recent media reports inferring that The Project will not be on 10 in 2022 are completely fabricated, false and misleading.

“The Project has just celebrated its 12th birthday and is here to stay! At a time when information, context and understanding is more important than ever, The Project will continue to provide Australians with their dose of news delivered differently.”

This week, mystery has surrounded host Lisa Wilkinson’s extended absence, having last appeared on the program in mid-June.

Wilkinson was expected to return on Sunday night, but The Australian’s Media Diary column reported she would likely not appear as a co-host on the program again until late August.

On Tuesday, Wilkinson addressed her leave on Instagram with a picture standing outside the famed Hotel California in Palm Springs – and said she’s there for work.

“Plenty of room at the Hotel California! I’m here in the US for some very special @theprojecttv interviews. Can’t wait to share more…,” she wrote, with three love heart emojis.

The Australian has reported she will conduct interviews with musicians and movie stars from Hollywood and New York and file stories for the current affairs program before taking more leave, reported to have been booked before her Logies speech.

In her absence, Studio 10’s Sarah Harris, Flash presenter Georgie Tunny and Sydney radio presenter Rachel Corbett are expected to take turns keeping the seat warm.