The Block sees a dramatic drop in ratings, losing one fifth of its viewers

Australia’s beloved home renovation show has seen a dip in viewership this season, losing one fifth of viewers from its heyday.

The wheels appear to be falling off TV juggernaut The Block.

The home renovation show has seen a dip in viewership this season, losing one fifth of viewers from its heyday, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The outlet reports the significant drop has plenty to do with viewer complaints that Australia’s favourite reality show has become “one big ad”.

The Scott Cam-hosted program typically dominates its competition, often regulating rivals on Seven and Ten to second place.

However, last week it was Seven’s My Kitchen Rules that reigned supreme in the number-one spot scoring 622,000 five-city metro viewers, according to OzTAM figures released on Friday.

The Block – now in its 19th season – came second with 526,000 metro viewers – a dramatic 20 per cent drop from last year.

News.com.au has reached out to Nine for comment.

Scott Cam and Shelley Craft host The Block.

The hosts promote Season 19 of the show.

In it’s glory days, The Block brought in an audience of a million-plus.

Although last year’s finale episode clocked up 1.4 million viewers, its season premiere episodes haven’t attracted more than one million metro viewers since season 14 in 2018.

The show’s Sunday room reveal episodes are performing better than its weekday Monday to Wednesday timeslots, as during the week more viewers are watching MKR.

In third place was Channel 10’s newly relaunched improv show Thank God You’re Here with 463,000 viewers.

The Block Season 19 cast.

The figures for Nine’s tentpole show are significantly lower than last year.

In 2022, The Block drew in 867K viewers in its season premiere, while MKR received 503K, and The Masked Singer had an audience of 598K.

An industry insider told Confidential that the ratings collapse is “seriously bad news” for Nine as The Block is meant to “bookend to the year for them”.

“A decline of more than 20 per cent year on year is a major issue for them,” the insider said.

“It comes hard on the heels of the failure of Rush, The Summit and Parental Guidance, the axing of Ninja Warrior and the ongoing decline of Lego Masters. No matter what claims its executives make publicly, Nine is now just the MAFS network.”