Outwit, outlast, outplay: Australian Survivor thrives to rewrites ratings records for Ten

Former swimmer Shane Gould wasn’t the only Australian Survivor winner. Channel Ten reeled in the ratings for a record season.

Shane Gould, right, outwitted, outlasted and outplayed Sharn Coombes to win the series. Picture: Channel 10

Channel Ten has scored another network ratings hit, with a record audience for its latest Australian Survivor series.

Ten chief content officer Beverley McGarvey said Australian Survivor: Champions V Contenders attracted the biggest total audience for the Australian series, up four per cent on season one on Ten in 2016, which held the previous record.

The latest season, which saw swimming champion Shane Gould crowned as the winner last night, had an average national audience of 1.02 million viewers, including 769,000 capital (five city) city viewers.

Australian Survivor’s total audience average, including five city metro television audiences and online catch-up viewing plus television encores, was 878,000, according to Ten.

The final was watched by 1.16 million people across the country last night, with audiences peaking at 1.43 million. The subsequent show, which saw Ms Gould beat barrister Sharn Coombes to take home the $500,000 prize after 50 days on a remote island and numerous challenges, was watched by 1.18 million people.

Across the five metropolitan cities, the final was watched by 862,000, rising to 877,000 for the winner announcement.

Australian Survivor first hit local television screens on the Nine Network in 2002, and then a few years later a celebrity version aired on the Seven Network in 2006. Ten started broadcasting the reality show in 2016.

Ten’s most talked about season of The Bachelor was a winner for the CBS-owned free-to-air broadcaster, hitting the highest total audience of the show’s six-series run.

On October 4, 1.68 million people across the country watched the series final to see footballer Nick “Honey Badger” Cummins snub the final two contestants. It was the first time an Australian bachelor didn’t pick a girlfriend in the final.

Audiences peaked at 1.87 million viewers during The Bachelor finale.

The sixth season of The Bachelor averaged 1.25 million people each episode, beating Richie Strahan’s season four record by 14 per cent.