Budget 2019: TV viewers have more love for Married At First Sight than live coverage

Viewers voted with remotes to watch dating show Married At First Sight rather than Josh Frydenberg.

Last night’s Married At First Sight episode featuring Mike Gunner and Heidi Latcham trounced the budget in viewer figures. Picture: Supplied

Australians flocked to watch reality dating show Married At First Sight on free-to-air television last night, snubbing Josh Frydenberg’s live budget speech, despite only weeks until the federal election.

The show, known as MAFS to its hard-core fans, was watched by 1.89 million Australians across the country on Nine Network, and by 1.39 million people across the five metropolitan cities.

The sixth season of MAFS has been a big hit for Nine, trouncing Seven Network’s My Kitchen Rules since their debut at the end of January, the first major head-to-head ratings battle of 2019.

Mr Frydenberg’s live budget speech on ABC TV was the 13th most watched TV program, with 751,000 viewers around the country, and 506,000 across the five cities, according to figures from OzTam.

The nation’s major newspapers have several pages of extensive budget stories and analysis, with The West Australian boasting a special 16-page budget wrap. Its website this morning screams ‘The PM wants your vote and he’s happy to pay for it’.

The Australian masthead has a 14-page special, with the front page screaming ‘ TO SURPLUS WITH LOVE’ and a caricature of Mr Frydenberg as cupid shooting money at Australians.

The Johannes Leak artwork of Josh Frydenberg splashed on the front page of The Australian.

Sydney’s Daily Telegraph has a caricature of Mr Frydenberg, Prime Minister Scott Morrison and other top Liberal and Labour politicians at The Lodge wrap-around, with a headline that says ‘$158b tax slash cooks up election showdown’.

Nine Entertainment’s mastheads, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Australian Financial Review, also have a string of stories on the budget. The SMH has run a picture of the PM as a gambler with a headline that says ‘PM gambles on election with $20b tax cuts’. The AFR has also run a caricature of Mr Frydenberg on the back of a ute playing a guitar, shaped like Australia, with the PM and Labour’s Bill Shorten in the background with a headline that reads ‘Back in black: poll pitch puts worker tax cuts first’.

The top story on ABC’s news website this morning is about the budget, with a headline that says ‘Budget matches ALP’s promises, but one key difference stands out’ and a picture of the treasurer.

The West Australian newspaper is owned by Seven West Media, and The Australian and Daily Telegraph are owned by News Corp.