Married At First Sight 2019 a ratings winner for Channel 9

The public’s appetite for car-crash viewing shows no sign of abating, latest figures reveal.

Married at First Sight’s Cyrell Paule. Picture: Matrix

The public’s appetite for car-crash television shows no signs of abating, with reality dating show Married At First Sight the nation’s most watched show yesterday.

The so-called “reunion dinner party” episode was watched by 2.4 million people across the country on free-to-air television network Nine, and 1.8 million across the five major cities, ahead of tonight’s final.

The sixth season of the show, known as MAFS to its fans, has consistently been the No. 1 show across the country since launch on January 28, beating Seven’s long-running cooking competition show My Kitchen Rules.

But not everyone is a MAFS fan, including ABC TV’s News Breakfast co-host Michael Rowland, who blasted the reality dating show live on-air this morning.

“This is a show that destroys relationships, it doesn’t celebrate relationships. This is a show that encourages cheating and adultery,” Rowland said.

“What sort of message is this show setting to teenagers like mine, who I’m trying to teach about the nature of stable, loving relationships? It’s the absolute cesspit of TV.”

The second and third most watched TV programs on Sunday was Seven and Nine’s evening news, which were watched by nearly 1.6 million and 1.5 million people across the country, respectively.

Nine’s 60 minutes scored 1.5 million viewers, with MKR in fifth spot with just under 1.2 million.

MAFS and MKR were the first two big shows to go head-to-head in the 2019 ratings battle, and were heavily promoted over the summer during Nine’s inaugural coverage of a string of tennis tournaments and Seven’s cricket season.