Big Brother’s new season premiere fails to attract viewers

Big Brother may be watching, but it appears not much of Australia is as the reality show fails to attract viewers.

Big Brother may be watching, but it appears not much of Australia is.

The new season of the reality show premiered last night on Channel 7 and only a reported 274,000 viewers from across the five metro cities in Australia tuned in, according to TV Tonight.

Season 15 of the Aussie edition of the global franchise was teased as Big Brother: House of Love and promised a cast full of sexy, young housemates. But even that gimmick failed to draw in a desired audience with the program ranking 19th in the day’s overall ratings.

Big Brother was a force on Australian TV when it first premiered on Network Ten in 2001, with an average 1.4 million viewers tuning into to each episode.

Big Brother Australia is hosted by Sonia Kruger. Picture: Nigel Wright

Fifteen sexy singles have been cast in the show. Picture: Nigel Wright

It stayed on Ten for eight seasons before a series of scandals forced the show off air in 2008. It was then revived by Nine in 2012 where it lasted for three seasons before it was again shelved in 2015.

Following a five-year absence, Seven bought the rights to the franchise and rebooted the program in 2020 with Sonia Kruger coming on as host.

However, since premiering on Seven, Big Brother has failed to attract a high audience similar to its heyday.

In 2020, the first episode drew in 853k and it dwindled down to 664k for its premiere in 2021.

The show has been compared to Love Island after it was promoted as the “House of Love”. Picture: Nigel Wright

A special celebrity edition in 2021 saw 377k watch the first episode, despite international drawcards such as Caitlyn Jenner, Thomas Markle Jr and controversial US politician Omarosa among the housemates.

And last year’s offering was not too much better with only 487k watching the launch episode.

In another blow for the network, viewers criticised Seven after they were left unimpressed with last night’s episode, as the format resembled a dating show rather than a reality series.

As the debut episode aired, viewers rushed to social media to call out the new-look series.

Fans have criticised the show for not including housemates from all walks of life. Picture: Nigel Wright

“Why didn’t they just rebrand the show instead? This is like Love Island meets MAFS #BBAU,” tweeted one.

Another fan agreed: “Seven really wanted the rights to Love Island but they’re already taken by 9 so they took beloved Big Brother and ruined it #BBAU”.

Other viewers were disappointed over the lack of diversity on the program.

The new season spices up the 22-year-old format by casting 15 sexy singles vying for the $100,000 cash prize, instead of the usual mixed bag of housemates.

“The best thing about the original #BBAU was the diverse cast: age, race, interests,” one said, with another noting, “Don’t think anyone wanted a Love Island/Big Brother mashup #BBAU.”

Big Brother continues 7.30pm Tuesday to Thursday on Channel 7 and 7plus